GSAS Residence Halls
GSAS operates four residence halls with enough housing for approximately 400 students per year--all singles. The residence halls are located in the North Yard area, near the corner of Oxford and Everett Streets, adjacent to the Law School, just minutes away from the Science Center. Perkins and Conant Halls were constructed in the late 1890s, with some rooms including (non-functional) fireplaces. Child and Richards Halls are more modern and were designed in 1950 by the noted architect Walter Gropius of the Bauhaus school of architecture, famous for its minimalist (i.e., crummy) design.

Many graduates feel that living in the residence halls provides by the far the best opportunity for meeting other students, especially from outside of their departments. Even students who thought their days of dorm living were long over have found their stays in Residence Halls to be among their best Harvard experiences.

Applications and information are available in early March. Rooms begin to be assigned by lottery and initial assignments are mailed in June. As additional rooms become available, they are given to students on the waiting list until all rooms are filled. Incoming students are given priority over continuing students and those who enroll in the meal plan over those who decline it. Students with special medical or physical needs must include with their application a physician's letter explaining their condition or disability.

Will you get a room as a continuing student? Your chances depend on your lottery number and the number of room assignment cancellations during the summer. If you do not get a room in the initial lottery and your waiting list number is within the first 50, you are likely to be offered a room sometime during the summer. If your lottery number is larger than 50, it is extremely unlikely that you will get a room before classes begin in September. If you are going to stay on the waiting list, have a backup plan in case you do not get a room.

In case of a vacancy during the year, which occasionally happens, the free room is assigned according to the waiting list. Generally, at least one of the GSAS residence halls is open for housing during the summer. Priority for rooms is given to current residents of any of the residence halls who want to stay for the entire summer. Others are assigned rooms on an availability basis. Keep in mind is that summer housing contracts end in mid-August. Unless you have been assigned a room for the fall, there are no extensions. So if you are taking over a lease that begins on September 1, you will need someplace else to stay for a couple of weeks.

All students living in the Residence Halls are also required to purchase the Dudley House Meal Plan, a five meals per week plan.

Other Halls and Facilities
Administered by Radcliffe, the Cronkhite Graduate Center (495-8781), at the corner of Ash and Brattle Streets, houses 141 men and women from several Harvard graduate schools. Both single rooms and suites are available, with a mandatory 10 meal-per-week board contract for all residents. Radcliffe also offers several apartments for graduate women and their families at 83 Brattle Street (495-8187), with year-long (Sep-Aug) leases required. Contact the Assistant Director of Facilities and Administrative Services (495-8187) for more information.

GSAS students are eligible to live in the Law School Dormitories (495-5521), and occasionally, rooms are available for non-Div students in the Divinity School Dormitories (496-6569). Generally decisions are not made until late in the summer or in September. GSAS students working in the Longwood Medical Area may be interested in housing in Vanderbilt Hall (432-1630) at the corner of Louis Pasteur Avenue and Longwood Avenue, across the street from the Med School quad.