Welcome to the Virtual Dorm Tour

You've investigated the Core Curriculum, the Nobel Laureates, and all the things to do in the city of Chicago. By these standards, you are University of Chicago-ready. Your next question: What about the dorms? Will I be comfortable? Are there places to hang out with my new friends? What if I need someplace quiet? What are community bathrooms like? Who's there to help me? How far will I live from campus? What if I don't like my roommate? Do I even have to have a roommate?

The purpose of this website is to give a virtual dorm tour of the housing options available to you at the University of Chicago. We know that you might feel like you have to pick a dorm based on little to no information (we did). We are current students who went through the same process, and we are here to provide you with some insight on dorms from the student perspective.

So click on a dorm to the left and happy hunting!

Dorm-English Dictionary

Dorm/Residence Hall: The building you live in. I lived in Burton-Judson (BJ) for three years. With the exception of two dorms open only to second, third and fourth years, they house students from all four years together, so you get to know a bunch of upperclassmen really well. It's great for choosing classes, getting help with homework and finding out about great places in Chicago!

House: Each dorm is broken down into subsets called "houses". You can preference a dorm, but you're assigned to the house within the dorm. The houses are divided in different ways-sometimes by floor, sometimes by the part of the building you're in-but these are the people you'll interact with every day. So, while I lived in BJ for three years, I lived in Salisbury House in BJ. People get pretty attached to their houses, and there's a lot of house spirit. Houses form Intramural (IM) teams, make house t-shirts, etc. Each house has a house lounge where you can hang out, watch TV, play games, etc. Each house also has its own table at one of our three dining halls, where you can choose to eat with the house. Some of the most interesting conversations you have on campus will take place at your house table. This doesn't mean you can't get to know people outside of the house, but it's just a great smaller group of 30-105 people on campus that you come to know really well over the years.

RA: Resident Assistant. An upperclassman who lives in your house; pretty similar to the setup at most schools. The bigger houses will have two RAs; one male, one female. They run a study break each week and are around to act as resources if you need it.

RH: Resident Head. A graduate student, junior faculty member, or staff member who lives with his/her family, pets, etc. in an apartment in your house with you. This isn't for extra policing, but as a support system. Your RHs will bake for you, take you to the doctor if you sprain your ankle (it happens) and organize house trips into the city. Usually house trips are paid for with the house budget, so they're discounted or free. Sometimes they're high-brow, but my house also went to go see a Jerry Springer show.

RM: Resident Master. A senior faculty member with family/pets/etc. who lives in a swank apartment in your dorm with you. This only applies to the larger dorms. This person runs (cheap!) dorm-wide trips, hosts lectures, hosts receptions for your parents, and eats in the dining hall with you.

Two important questions

How long do I live in dorms? You are guaranteed housing for all four years if you want it, even if you study abroad and come back to campus. You're required to live in the dorms as a first year, unless you're a commuter student (i.e., from Chicago). After that, you can choose to stay or not. About two-thirds of students live in campus housing. The rest live in off campus apartments. You may choose to stay in your house, your dorm, or switch dorms each year. If you love your house, you can stay. If you want a bit of a change, you can move to a different dorm. Most houses see 30-50% of their students come back each year, which is really high.

Do I have a roommate? You can preference a single room (there are no guarantees) or a double room. Either way, you'll have a pretty social dorm life, because people are always hanging out in other people's rooms, in the hallways, or in lounges. Things tend to work out either way.