The room draw process is overseen centrally by Yale Housing and occurs during the Spring semester. Students receive notification of the room draw portal opening in early spring and are expected to familiarize themselves with the timeline and regulations. All stages of room draw are run through the Yale College Housing portal.  

Stages of Housing Draw 

  • Intent Declaration: During the Intent stage, all eligible students will register their intent to live either on campus or off campus for the following academic year. 
  • Group Formation: Every student who has registered intent to live on campus must either create or join a housing group; students who are seeking to live alone in a single should create a group of one. 
  • Oversubscription & Regrouping: In cases where there is oversubscription (when the number of groups of a particular configuration is larger than the number of suites available), a pre-lottery is held to determine which groups will proceed to room selection and which will be disbanded and need to regroup.  
  • Lottery & Room Selection: After Oversubscription is complete, each group will be randomly assigned a room selection appointment.  

Rising sophomores are required to live on campus, unless they are married or over 21 years of age. Rising juniors and seniors are able to live on or off campus. The Housing office facilitates the room draw process and ensures it is fair and transparent to all who participate. All students, including those students who opt to live off campus, study abroad, or take a Leave of Absence are subject to the Yale College Housing regulations.