Here’s how the neighborhood assignment process actually works

(ALISA ROYER/The Stanford Daily)

After Stanford announced its implementation plan for neighborhoods — the hallmark of the University’s ResX initiative that seeks to reimagine the residential experience — many students were left with lingering questions about how the system will work. As the April 25 neighborhood application deadline rapidly approaches, The Daily sought out to answer the community’s most pressing questions, from what a neighborhood actually is to how the neighborhood assignment application differs from pre-assignment, living complex and room selection. So, here’s everything you need to know as you apply for your neighborhood. 

First, what actually is a neighborhood? 

Your neighborhood, which is intended to be your home for the rest of your time as a Stanford undergraduate, is a collection of residential buildings and students in which and with whom you can live. Undergraduate students will be divided into eight neighborhoods — temporarily named with the letters S, T, A, N, F, O, R and D — each of which includes a combination of frosh and multi-year residences, University Theme Houses (UTH), Row houses, Greek houses, cooperatives, apartment-style residences and housing options for students with disability-related accommodations. You can view a map of the neighborhoods and learn more about each one here .

With the intention of building a tight-knit community, each neighborhood will also have a professional staff, a community council and community gathering spaces. According to Residential and Dining Enterprises (R&DE) spokesperson Jocelyn Breeland and Senior Director of Communications for Student Affairs Pat Harris, R&DE and Residential Education are still ironing out the details of these resources. Each neighborhood will also have its own Neighborhood Theme Houses , which will only be open to students in that neighborhood. And, though each neighborhood will have its own dining options , students will be able to access all dining halls regardless of their neighborhood assignment. 

How does the neighborhood application process work? 

You can apply for your neighborhood, which requires ranking all eight neighborhoods in order of preference, as an individual or in a group of up to eight peers. Groups can consist of students from multiple class years. If you choose to apply in a group, your group will be assigned a unique name and code. Each member of the group must fill out an individual application using the group name and code, but only the student who is the creator of the group can rank neighborhoods and edit the rankings up until the April 25 application deadline. Neighborhood assignments will be announced on Friday, May 21. 

Is applying for your neighborhood the same as applying for housing? 

No. Applying for your neighborhood is the first step of a three-step housing assignment process. Your neighborhood assignment indicates which Stanford residences are available to you (remember, you can only live in buildings and with people in your neighborhood, unless you live in a UTH or serve in a student staffing role). 

Starting in mid-June, you will be able to complete the residence selection process, in which you will rank residences in your neighborhood. This is also when you can complete the pre-assignment process if you want to live in a cultural, ethnic or academic theme house, cooperative, Row house or Greek house, and it’s when ResEd will select student staff . If you need medical housing accommodations, this is when you should file a request with the Office of Accessible Education. Finally, in August, you will be able to select your room in your assigned residence — the last step of the assignment process. 

So if I complete the neighborhood application with a group, does my roommate need to be included in that group? 

Nope! While your roommate can be among the people with whom you apply for your neighborhood, they do not have to be. Remember: You can only live with people within your assigned neighborhood (except if student staffing or living in a UTH), so your roommate can be anyone who is also in your neighborhood.

During the residence selection process, “you may apply with the same group that submitted a neighborhood application together, or you can form a new group,” Breeland and Harris wrote in a statement to The Daily.

Who will be given priority assignment, and how will class year be defined for those who took time off from school this past year? 

Stanford’s housing system categorizes students based on cohort year (the year they came to Stanford), so students who took time off this past year will still be considered members of their original cohort. Neighborhood assignments will be made with the help of randomly generated numbers, though they will not be the only guiding factor. The University has said that their primary goal is to keep friend groups together and ensure that class cohorts are evenly distributed across all eight neighborhoods. So, if you choose to apply to a neighborhood with a group of students in multiple class years, this will not necessarily put you at a disadvantage, according to Breeland and Harris. Class year priority will become relevant during the residence and room selection processes, in which seniors will receive top priority, followed by juniors and then sophomores.

What if I want to live in a University Theme House (UTH)? 

You may live in a UTH regardless of whether it is located in your neighborhood. So, if you are in Neighborhood S but want to live in an ethnic theme house located in Neighborhood T, you can do that ! You are permitted to live outside of your neighborhood for up to two years, unless you have a staff assignment or hold an executive leadership position in a Greek organization. Students should apply to live in a UTH during the pre-assignment process, which will take place after neighborhood assignments are completed. 

“As you consider which neighborhoods to rank, please keep in mind that all of the UTHs will be 100% preassigned and open to students from all neighborhoods,” Breeland and Harris wrote. “Therefore, students should not rank neighborhoods based on theme programs as they will always be eligible to preassign into all theme programs.”

What if I don’t like my neighborhood? Can I switch?

If you aren’t happy with your neighborhood assignment, you can try to switch neighborhoods, though the process for switching will not be formalized until next spring, according to Breeland and Harris. Though you can switch neighborhoods, keep in mind that you will receive the lowest priority within your class cohort for housing assignment. 

What is going on with EVGR-A and Mirrielees? 

Both Escondido Village Graduate Residences Building A (EVGR-A) and Mirrielees House offer apartment-style living, which, because it is highly sought after by upperclassmen, is distributed across all eight neighborhoods. 

“We wanted to be sure that every neighborhood had some portion of Mirrielees and EVGR-A, so upperclass students can continue to be a part of their assigned neighborhoods, while enjoying these more independent living options,” Breeland and Harris wrote. They said that each neighborhood will have a wing(s) and/or floor(s) of EVGR-A and Mirrielees. EVGR-A will continue to be used for undergraduate housing next year to accommodate a nearly 400-student increase in the Class of 2025.

I’m a sophomore who hasn’t been to campus yet. Will there be any recreation of the frosh experience I missed? 

Yes! Rising sophomores have the option to be assigned roommates and housing, as they would have been had they come to campus last year. You can also request to live in all-sophomore housing. R&DE wrote in a recent email on the application process that they “strongly encourage rising sophomores to consider participating in [the roommate matching program] as a way to alleviate any stress you may be feeling regarding the assignment process.” They also emphasized that applying to a neighborhood individually is something they expect many students to do. 

Students who took a gap year after their frosh year can also live in all-sophomore housing, though cohort-year sophomores will be given first priority. 

I’m an incoming frosh. Does all of this still apply to me?  

No; incoming frosh do not need complete the neighborhood application process. Instead, they will complete their own Approaching Stanford housing assignment process, in which they may be assigned to all-frosh housing in a neighborhood or to a UTH, like an ethnic or academic theme dorm. Incoming frosh will still be matched with a roommate, as in previous years. 

I’m completing a coterminal degree next year. Can I still apply for a neighborhood? 

While coterminal students may apply for undergraduate housing via the neighborhood process, the University is encouraging these students to apply for housing through the Graduate Housing Lottery due to potentially limited space in undergraduate residences. 

What about incoming transfer students? 

Incoming transfer students do not need to apply for a neighborhood and will still be provided with all-transfer housing, though the University has not yet selected the house in which this will exist and may also decide to rotate the location of transfer housing each year. These students will go through a separate Approaching Stanford process and will be matched with a roommate for their first year. 

More questions? You can ask them here and we’ll keep updating this story as we get new information!

This article has been updated to reflect that a decision to use EVGR-A for undergraduate housing for the next four years has not yet been made. The University told The Daily that Vice Provost Susie Brubaker-Cole misspoke in an April Parents’ Club Q&A session when she indicated that the building would be used to house undergraduates for the next four years to accommodate an increase in the incoming frosh class.

Georgia Rosenberg is the Vol. 261 executive editor for print. She was previously a Vol. 260 news managing editor and a Vol. 258/259 desk editor for university news. Contact her at grosenberg 'at' stanforddaily.com!

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ResX Neighborhoods and Housing Assignments

The Undergraduate Residence Governance Council shares a ResX update, including the neighborhood map and the undergraduate housing assignment process for the 2021-22 academic year.

Dear students,

We are writing today to share updates on ResX.

In February, we announced that we’re taking the next steps in launching the ResX initiative for fall 2021. Since then, we’ve been working with our teams in Residential & Dining Enterprises (R&DE), Residential Education (ResEd) and our student and alumni advisory boards  to begin implementing these steps with the goal of providing students long-term continuity and community in their Stanford experience. We have updated the ResX website , including the FAQ . Here are highlights.

Neighborhoods

As our president and provost shared in February, it is our most sincere hope that “our new neighborhoods will be your Stanford homes — they’ll be where late-night conversations turn into lifelong friendships, and where you’ll create and continue traditions that become cherished across generations of students.”

And now, we’ve got neighborhoods! Check them out on our website.

In consultation with students, we worked to prioritize:

  • More all-frosh housing, and all-frosh housing in every neighborhood.
  • All-sophomore housing in every neighborhood for the 2021-2022 academic year.
  • Ensuring every neighborhood meets a broad spectrum of disability accommodation needs.
  • Ensuring students can move from RF houses to a more independent style of living.
  • Ensuring every neighborhood includes Row houses and apartment-style living.

We’ve been talking with students about how to name our neighborhoods.  There have been a lot of great ideas including things like naming the neighborhoods after trees, elements and colors. We want to take some time to work with our community to find the right long-term names. We’d love to hear your ideas! Please share them here . Until then, we will be going with the most traditional of names, S-T-A-N-F-O-R-D. Each neighborhood will be one of the letters of the Stanford name (Neighborhood S, Neighborhood T and so on). This temporary approach reinforces how each neighborhood will be an integral part of our community as a whole.

Assignment process

Residential & Dining Enterprises (R&DE) will begin the neighborhood assignment process. This will be a three-step process:

  • Step 1: Rank your neighborhood preferences starting April 9, 2021.  All upperclass students will have the opportunity to rank their neighborhood preferences as individuals or in groups of up to eight people. This will be your home for the remainder of your time at Stanford.We know many of you haven’t yet had the opportunity to connect with each other. It is absolutely okay to pick a neighborhood solo! We expect that lots of you will be doing this, and there will be many opportunities to connect with your new neighbors once you get to campus this fall. You will receive an email with information about your choices and instructions to apply on April 9.
  • Step 2: Rank neighborhood housing choices and apply to live in a University Theme House, starting June 2021. You will be able to rank your housing choices within your neighborhood and apply to live in a UTH. Want to know more about University Theme Houses?  Look here!
  • Step 3: Pick a room, starting early August 2021.  You will be able to pick a room in your house. If you are solo and looking for a roommate, you have a couple of options:  (1) We will be working with the class presidents to help answer your questions about ResX, and they will host some opportunities to help you find people that you would like to live with next year. More information is coming soon. (2) We also know that many rising sophomores want the Stanford experience of being purposefully matched with a roommate as we traditionally do with our first-year students. We are working on an optional process to match rising sophomores. More information is coming soon.

Many of you have questions about how dining will work in the neighborhood system. Here are some answers:

  • Students on a dining hall meal plan will be able to use their meal plan in any dining hall , regardless of their neighborhood assignments.
  • Students will be paying the same meal plan cost, whether they live in an RF house with a dining hall, Row self-op house or the Suites. This will be a substantial reduction in meal plan costs for the Row self-op or Suites plans in comparison to previous years.
  • Students living in a Row house, Suite or co-op will be able to use up to five meal swipes per week and five guest meals per quarter in a dining hall. You’ll be able to eat with friends across the neighborhoods.
  • Students in co-ops will continue to pay less for a meal plan in exchange for sharing in the work of operating the house. In addition, co-op living will include dining hall meal swipes and guest meals. This means co-op residents will be able to eat with friends across the neighborhoods, participate in special neighborhood dining hall dinners, or stop by a dining hall when it is convenient to do so.

More to look forward to this fall

As we get ready for fall, we are committed to working with students to create opportunities for community and connection on campus. Here’s where you can learn more.

And as we continue to work our way through the implementation of ResX, we’d love to hear from you. Please share any thoughts and feedback here . Also, if you’d like to request a meeting, please click here . If you’d like to see what we are working on next, check out our current projects .

We look forward to building these new communities with you!

Susie Brubaker-Cole Vice Provost for Student Affairs

Sarah Church Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education

Tim Warner Vice Provost for Budgets and Auxiliaries Management

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Assignment Results

If you have applied in the pre-assignment round for students with disabilities, you will receive an email with your assignment.

If you have applied for housing, you can find your housing assignment on Axess on the day the results are announced. If you are assigned during the Rolling Assignments, you will also receive the assignment results by email.

It is your responsibility to check Axess to find out your housing assignment. The announcement dates can be found on the R&DE Calendar . If you have problems viewing your assignment, contact Housing Assignments by submitting a ServiceNow ticket.

2022-23: Spring Quarter

2022-23: summer quarter, 2023-24: autumn quarter, 2023-24: winter quarter, 2023-24: spring quarter, if you were not assigned.

To be considered for additional vacancies, join the next round of assignments on Axess.

If You Were Assigned

If you are happy with your assignment, you do not need to do anything to keep your housing. You signed your Residence Agreement when you applied for housing. You may view a copy of the agreement at the  Residence Agreement  page.

If you did not receive an assignment to a residence high on your list of preferences, there are some limited opportunities for reassignment during the academic year. There are no reassignments for summer quarter.

Specific Apartment Assignment

You are not immediately assigned to a specific room or apartment. Specific apartment assignments are made shortly before classes begin, after students have been assigned to a specific type of housing.

Special consideration for assignment to renovated or larger apartments is not offered. If you have a disability or documented medical condition that should be considered when making your room/apartment assignment, contact the  Office of Accessible Education  at (650) 723-1066 to make your needs known. Please do not send medical information to Housing Assignments or to your Housing Service Center.

Applying with a Friend in The OAE Graduate Housing Lottery

Main navigation.

If you want to live on campus with one to three friends, you may apply for housing in a group. What's different about applying for graduate housing when a member of your group qualifies for The OAE Graduate Housing Lottery ?

Some Things Remain the Same

All group members must submit an individual housing application in Axess with the group information, as described in Applying with Friends In Graduate Housing .

Your  Assignment priority level  matters. You will not automatically be assigned along with the OAE student if your priority does not warrant the same type of assignment, or an assignment at all.

Your group still gets a random lottery number.

How The OAE Graduate Housing Lottery Differs

Each member of the group must submit their graduate housing application by  The OAE Lottery Deadline . Here's a link to the  The OAE Lottery Timeline . 

Participating in The OAE Lottery means relinquishing your right to participate in the standard First Round Lottery. You may still take part in the Second Round Assignments or Rolling Assignments.

Any disability-related accommodations approved for group member(s) registered with the OAE are specific to them and don't apply to you. In the same way that priority does not transfer between group members, neither do accommodations.

Only the residential choices listed by  the student requiring the accommodations  will be used for assignment consideration; group retention level is not applicable.

Single graduate students can apply as a group up to The OAE Lottery Deadline. No groups can be considered after that time.

Your group could be assigned to a space (e.g., an apartment type or building) that is ranked lower on your list. How your housing assignment is determined in the OAE Lottery depends - first and foremost - on the approved disability-related accommodations. Check out the cards below.

The OAE Lottery

1. OAE approved disability-related accommodations

2. Your  assignment priority level

3. Your group's random lottery number

4. The housing choices listed by  the student requiring the accommodations

The Standard Lottery

1. Your  assignment priority level

2. Your group's random lottery number

3. Your housing choices

4. Your group retention level

NEWS... BUT NOT AS YOU KNOW IT

Teacher assigned students to write ‘ways to kill’ a classmate

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The incident happened at Crestwood Middle School in Chesapeake, Virginia in January 2022 (

A middle school teacher has been arrested after giving her students an assignment to write about killing a classmate.

The assignment directed students to come up with ‘ways to kill’ one particular pupil within the English class at Crestwood Middle School in Chesapeake, Virginia, according to court records obtained by WTKR on Wednesday.

It was a student’s idea, but the teacher ran with it, the documents state. The students proceeded to work on the assignment on their tablets.

The students’ ideas for killing the student included burning him alive, chopping him, throwing him out the window and giving him to a dog to eat, per the records.

The teacher in Chesapeake, Virginia, surrendered his teaching license

On that night in January 2022, the boy shared the assignment with his parents, who informed authorities.

Questioned on the incident, the teacher explained that the student who was the subject of the assignment did not seem upset by it. The teacher added that it was difficult to engage the students, but admitted that the assignment was not appropriate and should not have been carried out.

The teacher has pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count of contributing to a minor’s delinquency.

Beside being arrested, the teacher surrendered his license to instruct. He has not been identified.

The teacher was employed at the middle school from August 2020 to April 2022, according to the Chesapeake School District.

‘Our practice is that we do not comment further on such situations involving personnel,’ stated the school district.

‘The safety of our students is our top priority, and Chesapeake Public Schools expects all employees to act with the utmost professionalism to provide a positive learning environment for all students.’

He was let go more than a year before a kindergartner wrote a story in class about her mother firing a gun in a fight with her father. The teacher at Donelson Elementary School in Arlington, Tennessee, reported possible child abuse, which led to the mother’s arrest.

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at [email protected] .

For more stories like this, check our news page .

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  12. Assignment Results

    2023-24: Spring Quarter If You Were Not Assigned To be considered for additional vacancies, join the next round of assignments on Axess. If You Were Assigned If you are happy with your assignment, you do not need to do anything to keep your housing. You signed your Residence Agreement when you applied for housing.

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