How to Apply

Timing is everything, and our room selection timelines vary depending on the your time at Penn. Updates, deadlines, and other specifics regarding room selection will be sent to your student email account. We recommend checking your email daily to not miss any time-sensitive information.

Students eligible to participate in room selection must be full-time students enrolled in a degree-granting program for Fall 2025 and in good financial and disciplinary standing in order to apply. Please check your standing in the Student Registration System prior to the start of the Room Selection process to be sure your graduation year is accurate.

Housing Application

On Wednesday, May 7, the first-year housing application will open at MyHomeAtPenn. All first-year students are required to live in on-campus housing for their first four semesters, and all are expected to submit a housing application to express their preferences for their housing assignment. The preferred deadline to submit the housing application in order to be considered in the first round of housing assignments is Thursday, May 29. The application is not first-come, first-served. All applications submitted by the preferred deadline receive the same randomized priority. The final deadline to submit the housing application is Monday, June 30.

Within the housing application, first-year students will rank the College Houses in the order of their preference. Please take the opportunity to learn about the culture, activities, room types, and amenities in each House through our College House webpages and the College Houses & Academic Services website. The housing application does not collect room type preferences, because first-year students are not eligible to request specific room types. First-year students who would like to request specific housing to support a medical need should submit a request for a medical accommodation for housing to Disability Services by Wednesday, May 21.

First-year students who submit the housing application by the preferred deadline will be assigned to their rooms by the housing system. The system arranges all students in a random order. For each student, the system checks to see if a space is available in the student’s first College House preference. If a space is available, the student is assigned to it. If not, the system moves on to the next student. For any students who were not assigned to their first College House preference, the system repeats the same process in the same order for their second College House preference, and so on. First-year students who submit the housing application by the preferred deadline will receive their housing assignment information on Tuesday, June 24.

Program Communities

First-year students also have the option to apply to a Program Community, a tight-knit living-learning community based around a specific theme. Check out the College Houses & Academic Services website to learn about the Program Communities available to first-year students. Students who want to apply to a Program Community will be expected to write an essay as part of their application and need to submit the housing application by the preferred deadline, Thursday, May 29. Students who are accepted into their requested Program Community by the House staff are assigned to spaces within the Program Community prior to the start of the randomization by the housing system.

Roommates

All first-year students will answer a series of Lifestyle Profile questions on the housing application to reflect on the time they go to bed and wake up and the environment they want to have in their room. First-year students may optionally request one specific roommate by creating a Roommate Group name and password in their application, and sharing that information with their roommate, who will use it to join the group on their own application.

First-year students who do not request a specific roommate but are assigned to a double, and roommate pairs who are assigned to rooms that house more than two students, will be matched with roommates based on their answers to the Lifestyle Profile questions. First-year students will only be matched with other first-year students for roommates. Roommates are matched so that all halls are co-ed but all students in a specific suite have the same legal sex, unless the student indicates that they have no preference about their roommate’s legal sex on their housing application.

Housing Application

On Tuesday, June 3, the transfer student housing application will open at MyHomeAtPenn. Transfer students admitted as second-year students are required to live in on-campus housing for their first four semesters, and transfer students admitted as third-year students for their first two semesters. All are expected to submit a housing application to and express their preferences for their housing assignment. The preferred deadline to submit the housing application in order to be considered in the first round of housing assignments is Monday, June 30. The application is not first-come, first-served. All applications submitted by the preferred deadline receive the same randomized priority. The final deadline to submit the housing application is Thursday, July 31.

Within the housing application, transfer students will rank all available College Houses in the order of their preference. Please take the opportunity to learn about the culture, activities, room types, and amenities in each House through our College House webpages and the College Houses & Academic Services website. The housing application does not collect room type preferences, because transfer students are not eligible to request specific room types. However, because upperclass housing has two different rent rates, the housing application does ask students which rent rate they would prefer. Transfer students who would like to request specific housing to support a medical need should submit a request for a medical accommodation and complete the review process with Disability Services by Thursday, June 19.

Transfer students who submit the housing application by the preferred deadline will be assigned to their rooms by a computerized randomization system. The housing system arranges all students in a random order. For each student, the system checks to see if a space is available in the student’s first College House preference. If a space is available, the student is assigned to it. If not, the system moves on to the next student. For any students who were not assigned to their first College House preference, the system repeats the same process in the same order for their second College House preference, and so on. Transfer students who submit the housing application by the preferred deadline will receive their housing assignment information on Thursday, July 10.

Program Communities

Transfer students also have the option to apply to the Transfer Living Community (TLC), a Program Community in Rodin College House designed specifically for transfer students. Check out the Transfer Living Community webpage to learn about the TLC. Students who want to apply to the TLC will need to select this option on their housing application and submit by the preferred deadline of Monday, June 30. Students who are accepted into the TLC assigned to spaces within the Program Community prior to the start of the randomization by the housing system.

Transfer Communities

Recognizing your journey to Penn is a unique one, the College Houses offer communities to meet your needs.  Within the housing application, you can select the Transfer Living Community as a Program Community choice. This community, located in Rodin College House, offers support and programming designed to best serve transfer students. 

Roommates

All transfer students will answer a series of Lifestyle Profile questions on the housing application to reflect on the time they go to bed and wake up and the environment they want to have in their room. Transfer students may optionally request one specific roommate who is also an incoming transfer student by creating a Roommate Group name and password in their application, and sharing that information with their roommate, who will use it to join the group on their own application.

Transfer students who do not request a specific roommate, and roommate pairs who are assigned to rooms that house more than two students, will be matched with roommates based on their answer to the Lifestyle Profile questions. Transfer students may be matched with other transfer students, continuing Penn students, and/or exchange students for roommates. Roommates are matched so that all halls are co-ed but all students within a specific suite have the same legal sex, unless the student indicates that they have no preference about their roommate’s legal sex on their housing application.

Housing Application

On Tuesday, June 3, the exchange student housing application will open at MyHomeAtPenn. Exchange students are required to live in on-campus housing for their program and are expected to submit a housing application to express their preferences for their housing assignment. The preferred deadline to submit the housing application in order to be considered in the first round of housing assignments is Wednesday, July 9. The application is not first come, first served. All applications submitted by the preferred deadline receive the same randomized priority. The final deadline to submit the housing application is Thursday, July 31.

Within the housing application, exchange students will rank all available College Houses in the order of their preference. Please take the opportunity to learn about the culture, activities, room types, and amenities in each House through our College House webpages and the College Houses & Academic Services website. The housing application does not collect room type preferences, because exchange students are not eligible to request specific room types. However, because upperclass housing has two different rent rates, the housing application does ask students which rent rate they would prefer. Due to limited room availability, exchange students should expect to live in a shared bedroom. Exchange students who would like to request specific housing to support a medical need should submit a request for a medical accommodation and finalize the accommodation review process with Disability Services by Thursday, June 19.

Exchange students who submit the housing application by the preferred deadline will be assigned to their rooms by the housing system. The system arranges all students in a random order. For each student, the system checks to see if a space is available in the student’s first College House preference. If a space is available, the student is assigned to it. If not, the system moves on to the next student. For any students who were not assigned to their first College House preference, the system repeats the same process in the same order for their second College House preference, and so on. Students who submit the housing application by the preferred deadline will receive their housing assignment information on Thursday, July 17.

Roommates

All exchange students will answer a series of Lifestyle Profile questions on the housing application to reflect on the time they go to bed and wake up and the environment they want to have in their room. Exchange students may optionally request one specific roommate who is also an incoming exchange student by creating a Roommate Group name and password in their application, and sharing that information with their roommate, who will use it to join the group on their own application.

Exchange students who do not request a specific roommate, and roommate pairs who are assigned to rooms that house more than two students, will be matched with roommates based on their answer to the Lifestyle Profile questions. Exchange students may be matched with other exchange students, continuing Penn students, and/or incoming transfer students. Roommates are matched so that all halls are co-ed but all students in a specific room have the same legal sex, unless the student indicates that they have no preference about their roommate’s legal sex on their housing application.

Application

The Rolling Undergraduate Application will open at 1 pm on March 25. At this time, there are very limited spaces available for students that are not required to live on campus. While students that have already met their Two-Year Housing and Dining Requirement are welcome to submit an application, they will be added to the housing waitlist. Students will be activated off the housing waitlist if space becomes available.

Students that are required to live on campus as part of the Two-Year Housing and Dining Requirement and are returning from a leave should complete this application. These students will be housed in available spaces across campus.

To access the Rolling Undergraduate Application, visit MyHomeAtPenn.

Application

Are you a currently enrolled student who missed out on Room Selection? You can submit an application via the Rolling Undergraduate Application to be placed on our housing waitlist. The Rolling Undergraduate Application goes live on the afternoon of March 25. To access the Rolling Undergraduate Application, visit MyHomeAtPenn.

For students who were on the waitlist for the Returning Room Selection process, we will honor your current waitlist standing in the Rolling Undergraduate Housing Application.