Columbia Housing and Columbia Residential Life can't wait to welcome you to campus. We understand that moving into a residence hall can be both exciting and potentially a little intimidating! Please know that we balance building preferences with a limited number of rooms in popular buildings and cannot guarantee first choice selections for every incoming student.
However, we are here to support you every step of the way, from helping to build a community to supporting you in your new home. Every floor is staffed with a Residential Life Resident Adviser (RA) who will welcome you into your new residence hall and assist with your transition to campus. RAs plan events and other programming to help you connect with residents on your floor and in your building, and they are an excellent resource for questions about campus and student life. In addition, campus-wide programming dedicated to first-year students is organized throughout the academic year to help new students find their community.
We encourage you to give your building a chance. Although you may not have been assigned into your top choice residence hall, all our residence halls can be a wonderful place to connect with your peers, to find your community, and to form lasting friendships. We recommend that you watch the building tours produced with actual students to hear more about their experiences as residents and to learn what they enjoyed most about life in their residence hall.
Room Swaps
Before the start of fall term, students may consider a room swap. A room swap is when two students in different rooms or buildings agree to swap assignments. Both students must agree to the swap. It may be helpful to use social media to connect to other first-year students who are looking to swap.
To initiate a swap, both students should email Columbia Housing.
Room Transfers
The transfer request period begins on September 19. During the first two weeks of the term, Housing receives and processes cancellations and assesses available inventory. This two-week period is essential to determining open spaces available for transfer requests and we are unable to process requests submitted before this time. We appreciate your understanding.
Due to limited inventory, transfer requests are not guaranteed. Requests must be submitted by September 30. Learn more about the policies and procedures associated with room transfer requests.