| Housing Application |
EligibilityAll full-time registered Harvard graduate students are eligible to apply for a room in the GSAS Residence Halls. Most of the 411 rooms are assigned to first-year degree candidates in GSAS. Students in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, the Kennedy School of Government, the Graduate School of Design, and the Graduate School of Education, are given higher priority than students in other professional and graduate schools at Harvard University. Important Dates
by Friday, June 19, 2009
Application ProcessCompleting the GSAS Residence Hall Application OnlineAll eligible applicants are encouraged to apply for GSAS Housing online. After completing and submitting the online application, applicants must also mail the following items to the GSAS Housing Services:
Online applications will not be considered complete until ALL of the above items are received by GSAS Housing Services. To be considered in the first round of housing assignments the online application must be submitted and the above documents received by May 1, 2009. Absolutely no faxed or electronic housing contract will be accepted. Any applications that are INCOMPLETE, FAXED, EMAILED, OR LATE will not be included in the lottery and will be placed on the waiting list.
Please Note: Any student who knowingly falsifies an application will automatically lose the room s/he may have already been assigned, and may not be considered for an assignment in the future.
Assignment/Lottery ProcessGSAS StudentsThe first round of housing assignments for incoming and continuing GSAS students is completed in May, and notification of assignments will be sent via e-mail by the second week in June. Assignments are based on lottery number, room availability, and preferences indicated on the application form. GSAS Housing Services makes every effort to accommodate the desires of students, but cannot guarantee that a student will receive their top choice in the assignment process. KSG, GSE and GSD StudentsGSAS Housing Services distributes information about housing applicants from the KSG, GSD and GSE to each of these Schools, and they determine which students will be housed and what the waitlist order will be. Priority is typically given to those students whose current address is farthest from campus (e.g., international students and domestic students residing on the West Coast). Assignment/waiting list results are forwarded to GSAS Housing Services by the Housing contact at each school and used in the assignment of rooms. All inquiries regarding the application process and lottery or your eligibility should be directed to the housing contact at each school, indicated below.
GSAS Special Students/Visiting FellowsIncoming special students and visiting fellows should apply directly to GSAS Housing Services using the online application. Application information will then be forwarded to the Special Students Office which runs a lottery for special students/visiting fellows in June. All inquiries regarding the lottery or your eligibility should be directed to the Special Students Office (617-495-5392, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ). Any student who was a GSAS special student or visiting fellow during the 2008-09 academic year and who has been admitted to a degree program for the 2009-10 academic year is included in the lottery for continuing students. Students continuing to enroll as special students or visiting fellows are included in the lottery for special students. Students with DisabilitiesSpecial preference for a room may be given because of a medical problem or physical disability.GSAS students should submit a letter describing his or her condition , as well as a letter from their physician to the FAS Accessible Education Office at http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~aeo/. Students from other Schools should submit documentation to the Disability coordinator at their School. These requests are due by May 1, 2009.
Waiting ListAny applicants who do not receive an assignment in the first round of housing assignments, or applicants whose applications were late, will be placed on a waitlist. Applicants will be notified of their waitlist number after the first round of housing assignments and will be updated on their waitlist status periodically throughout the summer. As rooms become available, they will be offered to applicants on the waitlist.
Terms and ConditionsCorrespondenceGSAS will use e-mail as the primary form of correspondence with applicants. When necessary, written correspondence will be sent to the permanent address unless otherwise indicated on your application. It is the applicant's responsibility to ensure that s/he receives and follows up on information provided by GSAS Housing Services. GSAS Housing Services cannot be responsible for missed deadlines or cancelled rooms caused by problems with the applicant not receiving e-mail (or mail). Please notify GSAS Housing Services of any changes in your mailing or e-mail addresses. If you do not receive a written confirmation of your email address change within 1 week, please call the GSAS Housing Office at (617) 495-5060. OccupancyThe rooms in the GSAS Residence Halls are designed for single-resident use only and cannot accommodate a married couple or students with children. Students who plan to be at Harvard for only half a year, plan to move during the academic year, or expect children or a spouse to join them, should not apply to live in a GSAS Residence Hall. Duration of ContractThe room contract for the Residence Halls extends from Friday, August 21, 2009 - Thursday, May 20, 2010. Occupants who will be receiving a degree on May 27, 2010, may remain in occupancy until 12:00 noon on the day after Commencement, Friday, May 28, 2010, subject to the right of GSAS Housing Services to move the occupant to a different room for the period from May 20, 2010 until May 28, 2010. The Residence Halls remain open during the recess periods. Dudley House Meal PlanAll residents are required to enroll in the Dudley House Meal Plan, which consists of any four (4) meals a week, lunch or dinner, plus 16 floating meals each semester for a total of 160 meals during the academic year. The meal plan provides an excellent opportunity for residents to meet and interact with fellow students in a variety of disciplines and schools. The cost of the meal plan for the 2009-10 Academic Year is $2,108. Additional information about the meal plan is available in the GSAS Residence Halls Handbook . All applicants must indicate on their Housing Contract that they agree to enroll in the meal plan. If the applicant does not sign the meal contract, the application will be considered incomplete and will not be placed into the initial lottery. The meal plan will automatically be cancelled if you are not assigned a room or in the event that you cancel your room contract. Cancellation of Room AssignmentThe assignment process used by GSAS Housing Services assumes that students who are assigned rooms will accept them. If a student does not wish to accept the room assigned to him/her, there is a brief period of time in which s/he may cancel the assignment without being charged a cancellation fee. Students who cancel an assignment after the notification period ends are charged a minimum cancellation fee of $250.00. Also, those who do NOT respond to the official GSAS Room Offer Contract by the date specified on the offer contract will LOSE the room to the next person on the waitlist. Please note that by signing the Housing Contract you agree to be held financially responsible for any room you are assigned unless firstly, you notify GSAS Housing Services IN WRITING that you are canceling the assignment. Secondly, one is still financially responsible for the housing contract until such time as GSAS Housing Services can re-assign the room. Mid-Year Room VacateIf a resident chooses to vacate their room mid-year, s/he will be charged a room cancellation fee and will be held financially responsible for their room and meal plan fees until the room is filled by GSAS Housing Services. Billing of Room and Meal Plan FeesRoom charges and meal plan fees will be billed to your term bill in two installments, one in the fall term and one in the spring term. Because the fall term is slightly longer than the spring term, the housing fee for the fall term that will appear on your term bill is more than half the overall room fee. Smoking PolicyThe GSAS Residence Halls are smoke-free environments and smoking is strictly prohibited in all areas, including common areas and individual rooms on all floors.
Summary of FeesApplication FeeOnline application — $55.00 USdollars The application fee can be paid by check, money order or credit card. Checks and money orders should be made payable to "Harvard University". Credit card billing information must be included with the Housing Contract. Only Visa and Mastercard are currently accepted by the University. Continuing students may elect "termbill me" on the Housing Contract. Room Fees
Meal Plan Fee$2,108 for Academic Year 2009-10, billed by term in two equal installments of $1,054. Meal plan fees are placed on student term bills. Cancellation FeesIf you are assigned a room and choose to cancel your assignment, you will be billed on the following schedule: For assignments sent before June 15, 2009:
For assignments sent after June 15, 2009 the cancellation fee schedule (from date sent until July 31, 2009) in effect will be outlined in the room assignment email. Please Note: All cancellations must be made in writing to GSAS Housing Services. Upon cancellation you will be provided with a cancellation confirmation. Please save this confirmation as proof of cancellation. You will need to present your confirmation if billing issues arise.
Early Arrival HousingMost students do not need to arrive before the date on which the contract starts, August 21, 2009. In past years, early arrival requests were granted only to students who needed to arrive early for an academic reason. The Housing Office required written notification from a student's department that confirms the student is arriving early for academic reasons. Residents who were actually granted permission to arrive early were charged an additional fee for occupying their room prior to the start date of the contract. Every effort was made to place students in their academic year room, but, when necessary, GSAS Housing reserved the right to place students arriving early in an alternate room until the start of the contract. Because of the number of facility projects going on in the GSAS residence halls during the 2009 summer, our office will most likely NOT be able to accommodate early arrival requests. Early arrival requests must be made in writing and received by GSAS Housing Services no later than July 15, 2009. There is NO GUARANTEE that an early arrival request will be granted. Two-Room AccommodationsThe two-room suites in Child and Richards halls consist of two small connecting rooms. Students may live in these rooms alone or with a roommate. If you prefer to live in a two-room accommodation with a roommate, you must indicate on your online application the name of the student with whom you are interested in sharing the suite. This information should be included in the box reserved for other factors that should be taken into consideration when assigning you a room. This box is located at the end of the online application. Students will not be assigned to share a suite unless both applicants indicate on the application their desire to do so. Construction NoticeDuring the 2009-2010 academic year many construction projects will be under way in the North Yard area (adjacent to the residence halls) that may result in noise, vibrations and dust in all halls during construction hours. City of Cambridge regulations currently permit construction work from 7AM – 6PM, Monday – Friday, and 9AM – 6PM on Saturdays. Occasionally, Sunday construction hours are approved by the City of Cambridge. All projects are monitored by Harvard University’s Construction Mitigation Team to ensure that they do not exceed limits on noise, vibration, dust or radiation set by City regulations and that they work only within the designated construction hours, except when specific permission is granted by the City to exceed these hours. The staff of GSAS Housing Services and the Construction Mitigation Team work to keep residents informed about construction projects affecting the Residence Halls and to minimize the impact of these projects on residential life. However, residents should understand that all construction projects having changing timelines, and, although the GSAS Housing Services Office does its best to inform students in advance of upcoming noise, it is not always possible to anticipate disruptions. For updated information on the construction, please visit: http://www.construction.fas.harvard.edu/ or call the Mitigation Hotline directly at 496-0857. Law School Project - (Adjacent to Child and Richards Hall; will impact residents of Richards, Child & Perkins Halls) Throughout the year, construction work will be taking place around Child and Richards Halls in relation to a major Law School building project. Residents of Child, Richards and Perkins halls should expect noise and disruption in relation to these projects. Construction HoursConstruction hours for the University's projects are currently scheduled from 7:00 AM - 3:30 PM, Monday through Friday. City of Cambridge regulations permit construction work from 7AM - 6PM, Monday - Friday, and 9AM - 6PM on Saturdays, so the scheduled hours could be increased if the project falls behind. Emergency work is sometimes completed in the evenings or on Sundays through a special permit. Despite the mitigation efforts outlined above, we anticipate that residents of the Halls will experience significant disruption from the construction projects. Rooms will be best suited for students who typically rise before 7AM and who have a space outside of the residence halls where they can work during regular construction hours (e.g. a lab, office or studio). We anticipate that the level of noise caused by the construction would prevent most individuals from sleeping or studying in their rooms during construction hours. For construction project information and/or voicing concerns, please see www.construction.fas.harvard.edu. It is unlawful and contrary to Harvard University policy to discriminate on the basis of age, creed, national origin, race, disability, sex, or sexual orientation. GSAS Housing Services |