Get Ready To Apply!
Be sure to review the information below regarding housing for the 2024-2025 academic year. Keep checking back for more information! Please note: All housing process timelines are tentative and may be changed at the discretion of the Housing Assignments Office.
2024-2025 Housing Application
The housing application for 2024-2025 is live! The application will close on Friday, February 23rd at 12pm NOON EST.
Blocking provides students the option to select a preferred roommate - as well as a larger group of friends whom they’d like to live near. While blocking does not guarantee an outcome, it gives all students in the block the same room selection window time – which may allow you to select consecutive or proximate rooms depending on availability.
You and your preferred roommate may choose to be members of a block or simply enter the quad housing lottery as two person block. For rising sophomores, all students within a block must have the same quad connection and will select rooms in their connected quad.
As you might expect, smaller block sizes have had more success selecting rooms in direct proximity to one another, as it’s easier to find contiguous rooms when there are fewer rooms involved.
Juniors and seniors will indicate quad preferences on the housing application. When deciding your quad preferences, the quad connection should be the same ranking across all members, even if the quad connection is different. In the event quad eligibility differs across your block, the block leaders preference will be utilized.
Blocking Rules:
- Includes 2-8 students. (Preferred roommates are considered a 2-person block)
- Blocks may be comprised of students of any genders.
- Sophomores may form blocks with any student sharing their same quad connection.
- Every member of a block must complete an online application.
- Block leaders will invite all members of the block through the online application.
- Invited members MUST accept or decline the block invitation, otherwise they will not be accounted for in the block.
- Block members will all be assigned the same room selection window.
Blocking Mythbusters
- Blocking (or not) does not increase or decrease the likelihood of receiving a good lottery number.
- Blocking does not guarantee a specific upperclass housing placement. For example, a large block that has a high lottery number may be bumped to their second preference building because they are too large to fit in their preferred building within a Quad/Hollows/300 Swift.
- Blocking does not guarantee room or apartment type, nor does it guarantee a certain number of beds within a room, suite or apartment. All of these items depend on lottery numbers, bed availability, and the selections of students in front of you – to name a few variables.
Rising sophomores cannot participate in mixed blocks as sophomores are only able to block with other members of the class of 2027 sharing their same quad connection.
Mixed blocks are defined as any one of the following:
- Block members of differing class years (rising juniors and seniors)
- Block members of differing quad connections (rising juniors connected to two or more quads)
- Any combination of the above two
Block Type #1: Block members belong to different quad connections, but are the same class year:
- All members of your block are of the same class year.
- Members of your block belong to different quad connections.
- Mixed quad connection blocks will be allocated by lottery # and quad preference.
- Mixed quad connection blocks may be allocated to Hollows or 300 Swift, but not to a quad connection.
- If not allocated to Hollows or 300 Swift, your mixed quad connection block will be disbanded, and you will be allocated back to your quad connection(s)and allowed to create new blocks with juniors and/or seniors also allocated to your quad connection.
- Any mixed class year blocks still remaining within a quad will be assigned room selection windows after junior only blocks but before sophomore room selection.
Block Type #2: Block members belong to different class years, regardless of quad connections:
- Members of your block are seniors and juniors.
- Members of your block may belong to different quad connections.
- Mixed class year blocks will be allocated after all senior only blocks and all junior only blocks.
- Please note: In the last two housing processes, mixed CLASS YEAR blocks were not allocated to Hollows.
- If not allocated to Hollows or 300 Swift AND your block has different quad connections your mixed class year block will be disbanded, and you will be allocated back to your connected quads and allowed to create new blocks with juniors and/or seniors also allocated to your quad connection.
- Any mixed class year blocks still remaining within a quad will be assigned room selection windows after junior only blocks but before sophomore room selection.
Students who have applied for housing will receive their quad allocations on March 18. At that point in time, all students will be able to participate in the re-blocking period. This allows for disbanded blocks to form new blocks with other students within their quad allocation. It also allows blocks who may have had members leave since the application was submitted in February, to add new members or disband and form new blocks altogether.
The re-blocking period will conclude on Thursday, March 21. No changes to blocks will be accommodated after this date and time. All members of the same block will receive the same room selection time slot on March 26.
Any students who are participating in pre-assignment will not be able to reblock.
Students may decline housing for a variety of reasons:
- Met residency requirement (class of 2025 or lower)
- Housing accommodation to live off campus
- Enrolled in sponsored program (study away, Marine Lab, etc.)
- Voluntary leave from Duke (medical or personal leave, voluntary withdrawal)
- Involuntary leave from Duke (academic dismissal, administrative financial withdrawal, administrative withdrawal, disciplinary dismissal/suspension)
All declines are reviewed and verified via respective university offices and programs. Students who are declining housing should complete the Decline Housing form via the housing portal.
Students returning to Duke are still required to meet the three-year residency requirement. You may contact housing regarding your residency status while your return application is under review.
Single rooms are NOT guaranteed. We strongly encourage all students to identify a preferred roommate in the event that single rooms are not available during room selection.
Housing and Residence Life is currently NOT conducting an off-campus lottery for the fall 2024 semester. Decisions for a spring 2025 lottery will be made in early September. If decisions change or develop regarding any off campus options, eligible students will be notified.
Class of 2027 may choose to submit a Roommate Appeal Form to live with a preferred roommate with a different quad connection. Students will be asked to provide a thorough explanation for their request. Your preferred roommate must also submit the request. HRL will assign the approved roommate pair into one of their connecting quads based on capacity. The application will be available on the Housing Portal starting Tuesday, January 23 until 12pm on Tuesday, February 6.
Connections can be viewed here.
All appeal requests must be submitted by 12pm EST on Tuesday, February 6th.
Terms of Appeal:
- Once you submit your appeal request, it will be reviewed by a committee of staff and faculty. They may be in contact with you to discuss your appeal and may request any applicable documentation. Decisions regarding your appeal will be made by February .
- If your appeal is not granted you will follow the general assignments process based upon your original quad connection. You will be expected to find a roommate or block within your original quad connection.
- If your appeal is granted, you and your preferred roommate (if you have one) will be assigned the same quad connection and will submit your housing application with the ability to form a block with students also assigned to that connection.
Regardless of your appeal outcome, you must apply for housing when the application is open between February 20th and 23rd.
Students will be assigned a room selection time slot based upon their individual or block lottery number. The order for room selection will be as follows:
- Senior only blocks and senior solo applicants
- Junior only blocks and junior solo applicants
- Mixed blocks (for mixed block definitions, review the Mixed Blocks section)
- Sophomore only blocks and sophomore solo applicants
Students participating in pre-assignment (students with accommodations, LLC members, quad council members) will select their rooms the week of March 25th. The above order will apply along with any additional stipulations per their group.
Students participating in general room selection will select their rooms on a specific date and time. You will be notified of your room selection time slot the week of March 25th. Room selection will occur across multiple days between March 27th and April 12th.
Housing and Residence Life will make good faith efforts to meet a student’s sincerely held faith practices or beliefs that conflict with a Housing and Residence Life policy, procedure, or other requirement.
We ask that students proceed through the typical housing selection process. If you are not able to find a space that meets your faith practices or beliefs through the housing selection process, a separate form for religious housing exceptions is available on the Housing Portal. Please note that religious exceptions are not guaranteed, but will be considered as space permits.
Requesting exceptions for religious purposes is separate from the disability accommodations process. If you are seeking housing exceptions for religious purposes and accommodations for medical conditions/disabilities, please follow the process for requesting SDAO housing accommodations. After accommodations are approved and assigned, a separate form for religious housing exceptions is available on the Housing Portal. Please note that religious exceptions are not guaranteed but will be considered as space permits.
Duke also offers alternative move-in days for students who for religious reasons do not want to move in on either Saturday or Sunday or for whom the arrangements do not enable them to comply with their religious obligations. Students will not be penalized financially for not moving in on "move-in day" should the day/time conflict with observance of a religious holiday.
For students requesting items inside a residence hall be modified for religious observance (motion sensors, Shabbat entry) please submit a Maintenance Request and Housing and Residence Life will do our best to support all requests.
Students participating in housing processes which conflict with religious observances may contact the Housing Assignments Office for options on how to navigate. Housing Assignments my offer proxy options for room selection processes.
Application Process Timeline
Tuesday 2/6 – LLC member/SDAO Accommodation session at 7pm
Tuesday, 2/13 – Rising sophomore information session at 7pm;
Thursday, 2/15 – Upperclass information session at 7pm;
Monday, 2/19 - Upperclass information session at 7 pm;
Tuesday, 2/20 - Friday, 2/23 – 24-25 housing application available via housing portal.
Tuesday, 2/28 - Deadline for housing office to receive new or change approvals from Student Disability Access Office (SDAO)
Tuesday, 2/28 – Deadline to cancel study away application and participate in the 24-25 housing process
Monday 3/18 - Thursday 3/21 - Re-blocking period for upperclass students
Monday 3/18 - Students receive quad allocations
Tuesday, 3/26 – Room selection window information available
Week of April 2nd - 24-25 housing room selection; schedule TBD
Week of April 9th - 24-25 housing room selection; schedule TBD
Week of April 16th - Assignment summary available to students.
Duke Kunshan students are required to live on campus while in Durham, and to follow the same housing processes and deadlines as Duke students, including requesting special accommodations. Students will submit their housing applications via the Duke Housing Portal in June and may indicate their preferred Duke Kunshan roommate.
Duke Kunshan students are NOT eligible for Living Learning Communities as these communities manage their own recruitment processes.
The Housing Assignment Office will develop communications via email and website specifically for Duke Kunshan students.
If you are the member of a Learning Living Community, you will still need to apply for 24-25 housing. Once we receive roster information from the group directly, you will we be able to select your assignment based on availability in your LLC designated area.
Please reach out to your LLC advisor with any questions regarding LLC membership or housing.
Students who preference a substance free lifestyle should find a roommate who also holds the same values. Students can indicate preference for substance free living on the lifestyle questions within housing applications to assist in roommate matching.
Students returning to campus for the Fall 2024 semester should complete a housing application via the Housing Portal. Students studying at the Marine Lab for the Fall 2024 semester should decline housing via the Housing Portal. Students studying at the Marine Lab for the spring 2025 semester will be able to cancel housing in October 2024.
Housing process for Duke Robertson Scholars:
- During the fall semester, Duke Robertson Scholars may decline housing for the spring semester due to the Robertson Campus Switch. This is part of our annual spring assignment process.
- Duke Robertson Scholars are confirmed with the Robertson Scholars program and housing decline is processed.
- Duke Robertson Scholars are contacted during the spring semester to participate in the fall housing process.
Housing process for UNC Robertson Scholars:
- During the fall semester, UNC Robertson Scholars are contacted by the Robertson Scholars program and instructed to apply for housing at Duke for the spring semester.
- The Robertson Scholars program confirms UNC Robertson Scholars with the Housing Assignments office.
- UNC Robertson Scholars housing applications are managed via spring assignments process. Robertson Scholars are assigned and must go through housing confirmation process and select a meal plan.
NOTE: Robertson Scholars are NOT guaranteed a specific housing assignment, preferred roommate, nor will they be able to swap with another student.
Fall Study Away:
- Students may not maintain a fall housing assignment while pursuing study away opportunities. As a result, you will need to decline housing. If you do not decline housing by Wednesday, February 28th and you have NOT cancelled your study away application, we will cancel your housing application for you. You can access the decline housing form via the housing portal beginning Thursday, February 1st.
- Students who study away for the fall semester should plan to live on-campus when they return in the spring semester. Students are required to fulfill the 3-year/6-semester residency requirement.
- PLEASE NOTE: Students who leave for study away in the fall, are not guaranteed a specific housing assignment, near a specific block, nor will they be able to swap with another student who is planning to study away and will need to apply for spring housing.
Spring Study Away:
- Students who plan to study away for the spring semester and are required to live on campus (sophomores and juniors) should apply for 2024-2025 housing. The application can be found through the housing portal starting Tuesday, February 20th.
- Students who study away for the spring semester will be able to participate in the room selection process and select their room for fall.