Overview
The Housing Assignments Office assigns students to a building through the Draw, Waitlist, or Walk-In assignments. Specific room and roommate assignment processes are pre-announced and approved by Residential Education and Housing Assignments. Room/roommate selections are made after you are assigned to a residence. Unless otherwise indicated, these assignments are made on the basis of class level and draw number.

Special Needs Students

Prior to The Draw, there is an exemption round for individuals with a documented medical condition. If you, a spouse, partner, or child, have special housing needs due to a disability or documented medical condition, please read Special Needs before you begin the regular assignment process.

Guidelines

1. Specific room/roommate assignments are made under the direction of the local Residence Student Affairs Specialist (RSAS) office.
2. In some residences, room/roommate procedures are delegated to Resident Assistants or house officers, or they are determined by house residents.
3. In-house room selection will be done by class level and draw number of each student (or pair of students).
4. If there are students from two class levels in the same room, the lowest class level applies.
5. Co-ops are self governing and may also assign rooms based on consensus meetings held before the start of each term.

 
Room/Roommate Selection

1. After the results of the Draw are announced in late May, individual residences hold in-house draw meetings to assign room/roommates for Autumn Quarter the week immediately following the Draw. (See In-house Draw Procedure 2009-10 for detailed guidelines, and the Schedule of Room Assignment Meetings in late May for meeting information).
2. Some Row Co-ops use consensus meetings to assign rooms and make roommate assignments.  The residences that use this method do not hold their meetings until shortly before classes begin.
3. In all cases, no room/roommate assignments are final until after students have moved in to their assigned residences (and they can change over the summer). If you have questions about room/roommate assignments, you should contact the local Housing Front Desk or RSAS office to which you are assigned.

If you don’t have a disability and you are assigned to a room that’s been designated ‘Accessible to Students with Disabilities,’ it is possible you may be required to move at the end of a given quarter. This situation may occur in order to accommodate another student with special needs. Your local residence office has a list of these rooms for your reference.

Housing Assignments reserves the right to reassign students at the beginning of each quarter in order to consolidate partially-vacant rooms to meet the undergraduate guarantee.

All students please go to the Moving-in section for all moving-related information, including checking in, what to bring, a move-in checklist, and mail delivery. This section will answer many of your pre-arrival questions, too, about your residence, the best way to get to Stanford, where to stay if you want to arrive before your move-in date, and more.

Sometimes you need to withdraw your housing application. You may desire a different residence after you have already been assigned. Or maybe you changed your mind after you’ve moved in. This section describes reasons for changing assignments, steps you may need to take, and related fees that might accompany your decisions.

Withdrawing an Application
You must withdraw your application by 5:00 p.m. on the deadline to avoid financial penalty. You should also know that if you withdraw your application:

1. You will not be considered for Undergraduate Housing for that quarter again until all other students have been offered an assignment.
2. You are no longer guaranteed housing for that quarter.
3. You will lose your guaranteed year (if you have a guarantee year remaining) if you do not apply for a later quarter that year.
4. You must withdraw your reassignment application by the Autumn Waitlist deadline to avoid financial penalty.

Reassignments
Change in Family or Marital Status

• If you are getting married or want to live as a couple on campus, you should know that married students, students with a same-sex or opposite-sex domestic partner, and students with children need to apply for housing for Couples without Children, or Student with Children. (See Graduate Housing).  Please note that the application deadlines for couples and families may differ from the undergraduate housing deadline dates.
• If you join the Waitlist for Winter- or Spring Quarter due to a change in your marital or family status and you are reassigned, you may not cancel your reassignment and remain in your original housing (your former assignment is allocated simultaneously to another student on the Waitlist).

Reassignments for other Single Undergraduates
After students are assigned to a particular residence, they may choose to seek a more preferred choice by trying for reassignment. There are two ways this can happen – after the Draw or mid-year.

1. After The Draw
   • If you receive an assignment that was not a preferred choice, you can join the Autumn Waitlist for reassignment on Axess by the July deadline. 
   • You will keep your original assignment if we cannot assign you to one of your more preferred choices.
   • You may not cancel your reassignment and remain in your original housing (your former assignment is allocated simultaneously to another student on the Waitlist).
2. Mid-Year
   • Reassignments are made at the Daily Walk-in meetings after students without housing are offered a space.
   • We will post a notice on our web site when the demand for housing has been met and we are able to start offering reassignments. (Typically this will be around the third week of the quarter for Autumn and Winter, and mid-March for Spring).
   • Please contact Housing Assignments with your name and SUID to be added to the reassignment position list even if you will be attending in person.
   • If you will not attend the meetings in person, please complete a Reassignment Request Form and submit it to Housing Assignments, 630 Serra Street, Suite 110 (Harold Module), or fax to
     (650) 736-1297.
   • ALL undergraduates must additionally submit a signed Reassignment Permission form signed by your current Residence Dean.
   • Your name will be added to the reassignment list based on the date you apply.

Mid-year Reassignment Variables

• If you currently have an assignment, be aware that students without University housing have priority for assignment.
• If demand from un-housed students is not met, it is possible that reassignments may not be offered.
• Reassignments are not offered during the Summer Term.
• A $200 reassignment fee will be added to your University bill if a reassignment is made. You will not be charged for applying.

Special Note about Walk-ins

• Walk-in assignments are not for students shopping for the perfect room or roommate; it is for students who seriously need housing.
• After all students without housing have been accommodated, we will offer any additional vacancies in the system for reassignment.
• If reassigned, your University bill will be charged a $200 administrative fee.

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Before You Move In

1. If you are not able to move in by the start of your contract, please email your housing front desk or your assignment may be cancelled and you will be charged a cancellation fee.
2. If you cancel an assignment, you are charged a cancellation fee between $100 and $400 depending on the date that you cancel.
3. You lose your application number and your assignment position.
4. You can cancel your assignment in Axess, or contact Housing Assignments in writing (e-mail from your Stanford account is OK).

Regarding specific dates and fees, see the grid with detailed information for each quarter in the Cancelling an Assignment section in the Residence Agreement.

If you need to move out of University housing for any reason prior to the end of your contract period, you must file a Termination of Occupancy form online.

The University may terminate your Residence Agreement and your occupancy rights at any time after giving you notice for specific reasons stated in the Residence Agreement. (For detailed information, please read the Termination of Agreement section in the Residence Agreement.)