House Transfer FAQ's

Why is this process being offered, and why now?

• Dartmouth's House Communities began in 2016 with the goals of building strong community, enhancing intellectual engagement - particularly in the residential setting, and creating more opportunities for residential continuity between terms and year to year with the particularities of the D-plan. 
• While our housing assignment policies continue to require that students live within the residence halls designated within their House Community, over the last two years we have been designing and implementing additional processes that allow options for students to live with students outside their current House in a residence hall: 1) All-House Room Draw, and 2) New this year, House Transfer. These options add to other all-House options already in existence: living learning communities, GLASS organization houses, and apartment-style living. 
• The House Transfer process is designed to respond to a concern raised from some students each year who sought a chance to join with students from other Houses in selecting their Housing for the following year.
• Anecdotally, we know there are currently some students each year for whom their connections to friends in other Houses are stronger than their friendships or connections within their own Houses. The House Transfer process gives groups of students an option to join together to be (re)assigned to the same House and have the opportunity to live together within their House Community. 
• This process does not allow for a group or individual to specify a preferred location, but rather, prioritizes placing all who apply as one group into the same House. The House Transfer process is also available to individual students who feel they have not connected with others in their House Community and are looking for a fresh start. As with groups, individuals are not able to specify a particular House, but will be assigned a new House based on availability.

Is this process the only way through which I can live with a friend or friends from another House? 

• College apartments, stand-alone LLC houses, All-House residence halls, and GLASS organization houses are already places on campus where students from any House Community can live together. The residence halls associated with each House Community are typically only assigned to students who are members of that House (e.g. Topliff Hall is designated as a South House residence, and so normally residents of that building are members of South House)

Do I need to request a House Transfer to live in a space that is already an all-House residence?

• No, submitting and being approved to transfer Houses is not necessary to live with friends with a different House affiliation in an all-House location. 

Why can't I give my preference for which House to transfer to?

• The House Transfer process is about creating a way for you:
  • As an individual: to get a fresh start in a different House with the priority being something different and not a particular location
  • As a group: to join with a friend or friends from other Houses with the priority being that you are a part of the same House Community.
• Given space limitations and to ensure a manageable number of students in each House, Undergraduate Housing cannot accommodate requests for groups to be assigned to a specific House. Groups will be assigned to Houses based on available space.

If I am approved through this process, what does that mean and what are my next steps? 

• If you and/or your transfer group are approved through this process, and you plan to live on campus in the fall, you will be eligible for the Room Draw for the House where the Undergraduate Housing Office has transferred you and your group. 
• The results of this process do not influence what room selection number you or others in your current or new House receive. Those numbers are assigned randomly based on completed termly housing application and by class year. 

How are things decided? How is priority determined?

• The spaces available in a particular House will determine how many additional students can be transferred into a particular House.

Can I do this more than once? 

• An important component of House Communities is continuity of membership. In order to enable this continuity as much as possible, any student may only participate in the House transfer process once during their time at Dartmouth.

Will anyone get bumped from a House or placed on a waitlist as a result of decisions in this process? 

• The only people whose House affiliation will be changed through this process will be those who opted in to participate and whose application to transfer Houses are approved. 
• For students who did not opt in to this process, their House affiliation will not be affected by others' participation in this process. 
• Your House will not be over-assigned as a result of this process. That said, there will be a waitlist for fall housing, as with previous years. Fall has the highest housing demand, and D-Plan changes occur throughout the summer. The fall housing waitlist allows Undergraduate Housing to assign vacancies as other students' plans are finalized..

If I am not approved through this process, what does that mean?

• Approval through this process is based on availability of spaces within the residence halls designated to each House Community. If you and/or your group are not approved through this process, you and the members of your group will each remain members of your current House(s). If you need fall housing, you will apply as a member of your current House. There is no penalty if you and/or your group are not approved through this process. 

I won't be on campus in the fall but I want to transfer houses with friends for when I return in the winter.  Do I participate in this process or is it offered again for each term?

• You should participate in this process this term as it is offered only once a year.

My current roommate and I within my House would like to live together, but in a different House Community. Should we participate in this process?

• The House Transfer process is designed to address a concern we have heard over time from a small number of students who feel their House membership limits them from living together with a friend from another House before they are eligible for other all-House living options. For that reason, this process has been designed to prioritize students living together with other people from a different House, rather than prioritizing where a person or group is placed. If you are already interested in living with a roommate in your current House, you can participate in Room Draw for your own House. 

If I am approved through this process, when does my House membership change? 

• Your new House Community affiliation will take effect at the start of Summer Term. 

I have housing needs already approved based on a medical condition - can I be sure that those needs will be met in a different House if my House Transfer group is approved?

• When House Transfer applications are approved, the Undergraduate Housing Office will place students together with their group in a House where all approved formal housing accommodations can be met (e.g. medical, religious, etc.)

Is there a chance I remain in my House after being approved through this process?

• Yes. After reviewing all applications for this process, and determining whether and where these requests can be met, your transfer group may be assigned in the House where you currently reside. More specifically, a transfer group of three students, from three different House Communities may be assigned to one of those three Houses because that is where a group of three can best be accommodated.
• Choosing to participate in this process requires acknowledging that the priority will be that you are placed in the same House as your friends from a different House, and you will not be able to provide a preference for a location. 

If I am approved for a House transfer and I don't like the House where I am assigned, can I stay in my current house?

• House transfer decisions are final.  Allowing students to decline an approved transfer would disrupt housing availability and limit available options for other students.