Room Selection Process
New Undergraduate Students

On This Page
Applying for Housing
Cancelling Your Housing Contract

Living at UMass Amherst - Residential First Year Experience
Living at UMass Amherst - Transfer Students
Residence Hall Contract and Application Guide

Congratulations on your choice to attend the University of
Massachusetts Amherst! We are sure that you are excited about coming to campus and joining the UMass Amherst community.

Applying for Housing

New and transfer students must first read and sign the Residence Hall Contract on SPIRE. Once a student signs the Residence Hall Contract, they are subject to the cancellation fee schedule below if their plans change.  Only students who are certain they want on campus housing should sign the Residence Hall Contract and apply for housing.  Please review the Residence Hall Contract and Application Guide above for important information, dates and times above.

Once the contract has been signed, new and transfer students will use the housing preference application on SPIRE to submit preferences for themes/areas, living communities and special housing options.  For more information about the options available to new freshman and transfer students, please review the Living at UMass Amherst Residential First Year Experience or Living at UMass Amherst Transfer Students above.

The dates for the preference application are:
NEW FRESHMAN STUDENTS: June 2 through July 18
NEW TRANSFER STUDENTS:  June 2 through July 25

New Freshman and Transfer students who missed the late housing applications which ended on July 18th (for freshmen) and July 25th (for transfer students) and are interested in a Fall 2008 on-campus housing assignment may come to the Housing Assignment Office located at 235 Whitmore beginning 9:30am on Sunday, August 31st. The HAO will be open from 9:30am to 6:00pm on Opening Day. When students walk-in for an assignment they will be provided with a selection of available assignments on a first-come, first-served basis.

Cancelling Your Housing Contract

If you decide not to attend the University or not to live in on-campus housing and have already signed the residence hall contract and/or submitted a preference application, you are subject to the cancellation fee schedule below:

The student who has signed the housing contract must contact the Housing Assignment Office at 413-545-2100 to request a cancellation of the contract, application and/or the assignment.

Please note: Contacting another department on campus including the Admission's Office and the Registrar's Office does not constitute a cancellation request. As stated in the residence hall contract, the student must contact the Housing Assignment Office directly by calling 413-545-2100 and requesting a cancellation.