🏠 Wellesley College — Parent Guide

🏠 How housing selection works at Wellesley College

guarantees on-campus housing for all four undergraduate years and requires all students to live on campus unless they are commuting from a parent's local home. The is central to Wellesley's educational model.

First-Year Assignment:All incoming students are assigned to one of Wellesley's residence halls before they arrive. Assignments are based on a lifestyle and preference questionnaire. Students cannot choose their specific hall. Most first-year students live in dorms that class years, creating a mixed-class community.

Room Selection:After the first year, students participate in an online room selection lottery each spring. The process is generally based on a random lottery number within class year cohorts — rising seniors draw first. Students may form roommate groups and draw for a shared room or .

Community Structure:Wellesley's residence halls each have their own and ; they are largely self-governing communities. Dorms are not segregated by class year, so all-class community mixing is the norm.

Special Communities:Wellesley offers Multicultural, International, Science, and other theme-based communities in designated floors or rooms within existing dorms. Application is separate from the general lottery.