Housing
Quick Links:
- On-Campus Housing
- Off-Campus Housing
- Advice about Costs and Contracts
- Early Arrivals and Temporary Accommodations
-Undergraduates
-Single Graduate Students
-Graduate Family/Partner Housing
-International Living Center
On-Campus Housing
Undergraduates
Undergraduates will receive housing application forms with acceptance information. Return the application promptly to the Department of Campus Life, or apply online. On-campus housing is guaranteed for all first-year and transfer students who meet Cornell’s application deadlines: incoming first-year students must apply for housing by May 1, 2011; incoming transfer students must apply for housing within 30 days of the offer of admission, or by July 1, 2011, whichever is earlier. For more information about housing options for incoming students, visit http://www.housing.cornell.edu.
If you have sent an application for housing to the Department of Campus Life and have received confirmation of a housing assignment, you may move in to your Cornell residence on Friday, August 19, 2011. Students registered for PREPARE may move in early on August 15, 2011 (click here for details about PREPARE). Rooms are available January 16, 2012 for single students entering in the Spring ’12 term with confirmed assignments.
Residence-hall rooms contain basic furniture; blankets and linens can be rented. Cooking facilities are very limited. Residents often eat in the university-operated dining facilities by purchasing a meal plan. (Click here for details.)
Housing for Single Graduate Students
Single graduate and professional students may choose to live in a one-person apartment or studio (in Hasbrouck, Maplewood, or Thurston Court), or have their own bedroom within a shared two-bedroom or multi-bedroom apartment or suite (in Hasbrouck, Maplewood, Thurston Court, or Hughes Hall). Please note that Hughes Hall houses first-year JD Law School students only.
Most apartments are fully furnished, except for a limited number of one-bedroom apartments in Hasbrouck. All residences include a kitchen and bathroom, a common area for the shared apartments, and onsite laundry facilities, plus Internet access, basic campus phone service, and optional cable television (with an additional charge). Most residences for graduate students stay open year-round, including through the summer, although academic-year contracts are available for some residences.
For more information about housing options, contract periods, and housing rates, visit http://www.housing.cornell.edu and click on “Graduate and Professional Student Housing.”
Early accommodations for all graduate and professional residence areas may be available. Instructions about how to apply for early arrival will be included in the letter accompanying your contract. If you have any questions, contact the Housing and Dining Contracts Office at (607) 255-5368 or http://www.housing.cornell.edu.
Most graduate students choose to cook at home, but some students also decide to purchase a Cornell meal plan to eat in Cornell’s dining facilities. For more information about meal plans, visit http://www.dining.cornell.edu and click on "Meal Plans", call 607-255-5368 or email dining@cornell.edu.
Graduate Family/Partner Housing
There are two apartment areas for students coming to Cornell as a couple or as a family. The Hasbrouck Apartment Complex offers studio, one- and two-bedroom furnished or unfurnished apartments. Maplewood Park Apartments house couples and families in furnished one-bedroom-plus-study apartments. Both apartment areas are dynamic and richly diverse internationally. They offer a wide array of social, educational, and cultural activities and programs for students, their spouses or partners, and children. Community centers are located in each apartment area. This is where you receive mail and where you can participate in many community activities and programs. For more information about Hasbrouck and Maplewood, visit http://www.housing.cornell.edu and click on “Graduate and Professional Student Housing.”
You are eligible for an apartment in Cornell’s family/partner housing if you are accompanied by another adult and/or up to three legally dependent children (total occupancy may not exceed four people). All utilities (gas, heat, electricity, water, and sewer), as well as the university’s high speed Internet access, and basic campus phone service, are included in the rent. Cable for television reception is available by subscription for an extra fee.
If you have applied for housing and received written confirmation of your assignment in family/partner housing in Hasbrouck or Maplewood, you may move into your residence on July 1, 2011.
Early accommodations for all graduate and professional residence areas may be available. Instructions about how to apply for early arrival will be sent to you following your housing assignment notification. If you have any questions, contact the Housing and Dining Contracts Office at 607-255-5368 or or housing@cornell.edu.
Most graduate students choose to cook at home, but some students also decide to purchase a Cornell meal plan to eat in Cornell’s dining facilities. For more information about meal plans, visit http://www.dining.cornell.edu and click on “Meal Plans,” call 607-255-5368 or email dining@cornell.edu.
International Living Center
The Jerome H. Holland International Living Center (HILC) is a warm and friendly community of both U.S. and international students, housing undergraduate and graduate men and women. HILC promotes personal and cultural exchange through a variety of programs. For more information on the programs of HILC, contact the Residence Hall Director at hilc@cornell.edu or 607-255-5299.
Off-Campus Housing
Over half of Cornell students live off campus, usually in single rooms or shared apartments. Many apartments are within walking distance of campus or on a bus line. Students who can afford to buy a car on arrival will have more options. Listings of off-campus accommodations are kept by the Off Campus Housing Office and can be accessed here.
Rent for single rooms in group households ranges from $400-$600 per month. Double rooms are slightly less per person. Rooms may or may not be furnished. Bathrooms and cooking facilities are usually shared.
Apartments are usually equipped with one or more bedrooms, a kitchen, a bathroom, and a living room. Including utilities, one-bedroom apartments cost on average $600-$900 per month, and two-bedroom apartments cost on average $700-$1,300 monthly.
We do not generally recommend making arrangements for off campus housing from outside of Ithaca or through a third party. Those who arrive late to Ithaca will have fewer off campus housing options options. For optimal results, arrive in late July to mid-August. Cornell's Off Campus Housing Office (OCHO) has an informative website containing a wealth of information about finding housing, signing a lease, and much more.
Advice about Costs and Contracts
Not all housing options mentioned here will be affordable for every graduate student. The cost of university housing can be spread out over the year, is usually closer to campus, and provides support services and programming. A group living situation off campus will usually be cheaper, but you must arrive early in order to have choices.
If finances are a concern, we recommend that you do not sign a housing contract (lease) until you are aware of all your housing options. Calculate carefully what you can realistically afford before making your decision. Heating costs may not be included in your rent and may be an added expense. Due to the climate this can be expensive. Remember that in the U.S., once signed, a lease cannot be broken and the terms cannot be changed for any reason. This is true of housing contracts with Cornell as well. See the Off Campus Housing Office website for more information.
Temporary Accommodations
Temporary, on-campus housing is not available for undergraduate students.
A limited number of beds may be available for temporary housing, in August, for a daily fee payable upon arrival. Contact the Housing and Dining Office at 607-255-5368 or housing@cornell.edu to make arrangements. Temporary housing is available for registered students only, and friends, parents, or relatives cannot be accommodated. Temporary housing will be barracks-style, and reservations are required. Temporary housing will not be available for the spring semester.
If you are an undergraduate student, or if temporary graduate student housing is full, you should be prepared to pay for hotel accommodations until you can move into your room or apartment. A list of overnight accommodations can be obtained from the Off-Campus Housing Office. Rooms are $50-200 per night. There is no youth hostel in Ithaca.
Please be advised that lodging availability is extremely limited from August 1 to the beginning of the fall semester, so make your arrangements as soon as possible.