The Guaranteed List is for eligible students who:
Are not able to pick a room during the Housing Lottery (because no spaces remain).
Or, do not wish to pick one of the rooms still available after their Selection Time starts.
Students who submit the Guaranteed List form before the deadline are guaranteed to be assigned to a room over the summer.
Deadline to Submit Form: 4pm EST, Friday, April 17, 2026
Cancel Housing without a Fee: Thursday, May 7, 2026
Deadline to Update Ranked Preferences: 11:59pm EST, Monday, June 22, 2026
Assignments Released: By 11pm EST, Saturday, August 1, 2026
Log into Housing Portal and click ROOM SELECTION (available after submitting the Intent Form)
Note: Students cannot submit the Guaranteed List form if they already have a room assignment (i.e. picked in the Lottery or from a Pre-Lottery process).
Room assignments for the Guaranteed List are made based on Point Value and Lottery Number.
Priority is not determined by how quickly students submit the form. You just need to submit it before the deadline!
Note: If students are in a Mixed-Point Value group, their individual Point Value and Lottery Number will be used for the Guaranteed List assignment.
Students provide ranked preferences for building and room types. Assignments are made in late summer after other students cancel their housing (e.g., for study abroad, moving off-campus).
Singles vs. Multiples: There are usually more requests for Singles than the number that open up due to cancellations. Consequently, students with higher / later Lottery Numbers may be assigned to Doubles or Triples.
Timeline: We wait until August 1 to release assignments to ensure we have received the majority of summer cancellations. This allows us to use the widest array of available spaces to match students' preferences, rather than assigning rooms in the order they are cancelled.
Students may include roommate requests on their form. Requests must be mutual (appearing on both students' forms).
The College will attempt to place requested students together or as close as possible (same suite, floor, or building). However, placing students in the same room depends on empty doubles being available due to cancellations from both students who picked a room.
Students may request to be assigned to a specific vacancy (for example, if a friend cancels their room).
Requests are not guaranteed. Based on available spaces and priority order, the room may be assigned to a student with a better / lower Lottery Number before your Guaranteed List form is considered.
Students who need housing accommodations for a disability or medical condition must submit an accommodation request (with supporting medical documentation) to CARDS before July 1.
Approved accommodations are taken into account and provide additional priority when room assignments are made; however, assignments depend on space availability.
Why are some students not able to pick a room during the Housing Lottery?
Each year during the Housing Lottery, many students pick rooms even though they are not completely sure they will be living in campus housing next Fall. This includes students who are waiting to hear back from a Study Abroad program, thinking about moving off-campus, considering taking a leave of absence from Barnard, etc.
That means that more students take part in the Lottery than the number of available rooms to pick.
After all the available rooms have been picked, the remaining students will need to submit the Guaranteed List form to be assigned to a room over the summer. Typically there are 100-200 students on the Guaranteed List each year.
Are students really guaranteed housing?
Yes! Students who submit the Guaranteed List form before the deadline at the top of the page are guaranteed to be assigned to campus housing for the upcoming academic year.
Where will I be assigned? Will I get a Single room?
Students on the Guaranteed List will provide ranked preferences for building and room types (similar to a Housing Application). They may also request to be placed with other students on the Guaranteed List or into a specific vacant room space.
The students on the Guaranteed List will be assigned towards the end of the summer into rooms that other students cancelled from.
Cancellations occur in all types of rooms across campus. However, we cannot guarantee that specific room types or buildings will open up due to cancellations or would be available for you to be assigned to based on your priority.
Because there will be a finite number of vacancies to work from, it may not be possible to place students in one of their top preferred buildings or room types. We strongly recommend that students rank in order as many building & room type combinations as possible, in case they are not able to be assigned to a top preference.
Usually there are more requests for Singles than the number that open up due to cancellations. This means that some students (with the highest lottery numbers) may be assigned into Doubles or Triples with other upperclass students. The Portal will use the roommate matching questions to find the best match for students from among the available spaces.
While the College will try to place students with requested roommates or into specifically requested rooms if possible, those requests cannot be guaranteed.
How do you prioritize the assignments? Do I get priority if I submit the form earlier?
Room assignments for students on the Guaranteed List are made based on Point Value and Lottery Number.
Students who submit the Guaranteed List form before the Lottery for their Point Value starts will be generated a random number for the Guaranteed List.
Priority is not determined by when / how quickly students submit the form. Students just need to make sure they submit the form before the deadline listed at the top of this webpage (and they may edit their preferences through the deadline at the top of this page).
Note: if students are in a Mixed-Point Value group, their individual Point Value and Lottery Number will be used for the Guaranteed List.
When are assignments made / sent to students? Why do you wait so long to send out the assignments?
Room assignments will be emailed to students' Barnard email addresses by August 1. Assignments may be sent out in groups as opposed to all at once.
We wait until we expect to have received the majority of the cancellations over the summer, so that we have the widest array of available spaces to match to students' preferences. This helps to find better matches for students instead of just assigning them to rooms as each cancellation is received.
Can I request to be placed with another student on the Guaranteed List?
Yes, students may include roommate requests. Those requests must be mutual (i.e. on both of your forms). The College will do its best to place you together if possible; however, that depends on whether any completely empty doubles are available.
If the College cannot place you and your requested friend together in the same room, we will try to place you as close together as possible (in the same suite, floor, building, etc.) if possible. Students who wish to live with/near each other should coordinate to make sure their ranked building & room type preferences match.
Can I request to be assigned to a specific room that another student cancelled from?
Yes, students may write in a request to be assigned to a specific vacancy on their Guaranteed List form. However, assignments to specific rooms cannot be guaranteed.
If you request to move into a double where one student cancelled, please ask the remaining students to email housing@barnard.edu (before July 1) to mutually request you as a roommate.
Requests to be placed into a specific single may not be possible due to students' priority order on the Guaranteed List. Based on the available spaces, the room may be assigned to a student before you in priority.
What if a need a housing accommodation?
Students who need housing accommodations for a disability or medical condition should submit an accommodation request (with supporting medical documentation) to CARDS before July 1.
Approved accommodations will be taken into account and provide additional priority when room assignments are made.
What if I don't like the room assigned to me?
Students may apply for a Fall room change or look for a Room Swap after classes start in September.
Students who are not able to get a room change in the Fall are encouraged to apply again in December for a Mid-Year Room Change when more options may be available (because of students graduating mid-year, leaving to study abroad, etc).
Students who no longer plan to live in campus housing should submit the Housing Cancellation Form (please note that cancellation fees would apply).
If you are thinking about cancelling housing, we strongly encourage you to read the information at http://barnard.edu/reslife/housing-options/off-campus and/or talk to Res Life staff before making that decision. Students who move out of campus housing lose their guarantee of housing for the future (and may not take part in Room Selection). Students are also encouraged to check with the Financial Aid office to see if their aid package would be affected.