Post-Lottery Room Swaps & Room Changes
Students with a room assignment from the Room Selection process have the following opportunities to request a different room in advance of the following academic year (students who did not pick a room in the Lottery will be on the Guaranteed List for assignment over the summer).
Students may look for Room Swaps and apply for Fall Room Changes, Mid-Year Room Changes, and Spring Room Changes during the academic year.
Note: Room changes & swaps are not available for Summer Housing room assignments.
Note: Columbia students living at Barnard as part of the BC/CU Housing Exchange are not eligible to apply for Barnard room changes or room swaps. Requests to move back to a Columbia residence hall should be directed to the CU Housing office.
Post-Lottery 1-for-1 Room Swap Requests (rising-Sophomores, Juniors, Seniors)
Post-Lottery Room Swap Request Form (on the Housing Portal)
- Form Opens: Friday, April 12, 2024
- Deadline: 4pm Eastern, Monday, June 17, 2024
- How to Look for a Direct Swap (PDF)
Students with room assignments may look for other students to make a 1-for-1 room swap with. This could include students who picked a suite together and want to swap assignments within a suite OR students who want to request swaps between rooms, suites, and/or buildings.
Room Swaps requests may only be submitted between 2 students with active Fall room assignments (i.e. not available for students on the Guaranteed List). A student may not request to swap their room with another person after they have cancelled their room assignment via the Housing Cancellation Form. If you plan to cancel housing but wish to arrange with another student to swap rooms, the Room Swap Request must be submitted and finalized before you cancel your housing.
Room swaps cannot be made for RA rooms and/or rooms in the Columbia Housing exchange.
The College reserves the right to cancel / reverse any room swaps as needed.
Post-Lottery Fall Room Change Requests (rising-Seniors only)
Post-Lottery Fall Senior Room Change Request form
- Form Opens: Friday, April 12, 2024
- Deadline: 4pm Eastern, Monday, June 17, 2024
Only rising-Seniors (who had 400 points in the Lottery) may request a room change over the summer before the start of the Fall semester. Priority will be determined by Lottery Number order from the 123 Lottery (or a randomized number if students took part in the 4, 5, or 6 Lottery or a pre-Lottery placement process instead).
Room change results will be communicated to your Barnard email by August 1, 2024. If given a room change, a different student will be assigned to your previous room (i.e. it will be given to another student requesting a room change or to someone on the Wait List, etc).
Rising-Juniors & Sophomores may apply for room changes starting with the Fall Room Change Request process or look for Post-Lottery 1-for-1 Room Swaps (see above).