About Your New Home

Your room is furnished with basic items:

• Bed frame
  • 36" in height
  • Adjustable in height ranging from 9.5 inches to 33 inches off the floor to allow for storage under the bed
• Mattress is twin extra-long (38" x 80")
  • You will need to bring your own pillows, linens and blankets
• Chair
• Chest of drawers
• Desk
• Wardrobe or closet
• Trash can (3.5 gallon size)
• Windows are covered with mini blinds or shades
• Exterior window screens not provided

Keep in mind when packing

Please be mindful of the size of your room when packing and shipping large items. It may be helpful to wait until you've settled into your room to purchase additional items. There are plenty of shopping outlets in New York City and in the surrounding area.

What to Bring

Review our recommendations of what you should - and should not - bring to campus.

Do not remove furnishings!

Provided items in your room must remain in the space during occupancy.

• Bedrooms and common areas within suites: residents are responsible for cleaning their assigned spaces.
• Bathrooms:
  • Private bathrooms (i.e., bathrooms that are located within a room or suite and accessible only to those residents), are cleaned by the resident. This applies to buildings like Carman Hall, East Campus, and others. Please visit your building page in the Residence Hall Directory to learn more about the bathroom and cleaning responsibility. Cleaning supplies are provided at the start of the academic year and residents can request additional supplies as necessary.
  • Corridor-style bathrooms, meaning single or gendered bathrooms available to all residents on a floor, are cleaned by Facilities. 

Learn more about cleaning expectations.

Prepare for life in the residence halls by reviewing the Guide to Living, a collection of policies and procedures created by Columbia Undergraduate Housing and Residential Life in collaboration with other campus partners.

The Guide to Living includes helpful information about decorating your room, prohibited items in the residence halls, hosting guests and gatherings, and more.

Laundry facilities are located in each residence hall and are accessible 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Laundry is free to undergraduate students living in the residence halls.

Telephones are available in residence hall corridors to place complimentary outgoing calls to the Hartley Hospitality Desk (212-854-2779) and Public Safety (212-854-5555). Hall phones cannot be used to place calls outside of the University.

The University assumes no responsibility for the loss or damage of students’ property while they are living in the residence halls. If belongings are not already insured through a parent or guardian’s homeowner’s policy, Housing strongly encourages residents to insure them through another vendor.

Refrigerators are not provided in first-year residence halls. You may keep a refrigerator in your room as long as its volume does not exceed 2.5 cubic feet.

Columbia Housing facilitates refrigerator-microwave combination unit rentals for students through MicroFridge. MicroFridge units are delivered to student rooms before their arrival.

Note that other than MicroFridge combination units, which meet our size and energy requirements, microwave ovens are prohibited in rooms.

Service requests are submitted when University-owned spaces are in need of maintenance. To submit a request, select the “Request Service” button on the Housing homepage, then “Columbia Undergraduate Housing Maintenance,” and follow the instructions.

Examples of maintenance requests include lock changes or repairs, missing furniture, malfunctioning plumbing, repair or replacement of safety equipment and lack of heat or air-conditioning, if applicable. Residents who are responsible for cleaning their own bathrooms may also use the service request form to request cleaning supplies at no cost.

Emergency service requests, such as a gas or water leak, should be reported immediately to the Facilities and Operations Call Center at 212-854-2222.

High-speed wireless access is available in all Columbia Housing residence halls, supported by Columbia University Information Technology (CUIT). The CUIT Service Desk is able to help you configure your computer’s network connection and answer computer-related questions.

Cable television is available in residence hall lounges and fitness rooms.