Post-Lottery Room Swaps & Room Changes
Students with a room assignment from the Room Selection process may request a different room for the following academic year after the Housing Lottery concludes.
- Columbia students living at Barnard as part of the BC/CU Housing Exchange are not able to request room swaps or room changes within Barnard campus housing. Requests to move back to a Columbia residence hall should be directed to the CU Housing office.
- Students in the Lottery who did not pick a room will be on the Guaranteed List for assignment over the summer.
- Students may also look for Room Swaps and / or apply for Fall Room Changes, Mid-Year Room Changes, and Spring Room Changes during the academic year.
Post-Lottery 1-for-1 Room Swap Requests
Post-Lottery Room Swap Request Form (on the Housing Portal)
- Form Opens: Friday, April 18, 2025
- Deadline: Monday, June 23, 2025
- How to Look for a Direct Swap (PDF)
Students may search on the Housing Portal for other students to make a 1-for-1 room swap with. This includes students who picked a suite together and want to swap assignments within a suite AND students who want to request swaps between rooms, suites, and/or buildings.
Room Swaps may only be completed between 2 students with active Fall room assignments. Students may not request to swap their room with another person after they have cancelled their room assignment via the Housing Cancellation Form. Students who plan to cancel housing but wish to arrange a room swap must complete all steps of the Post-Lottery Room Swap process with the other student before they cancel their housing.
Room swaps cannot be made for RA rooms and/or rooms in the Columbia Housing exchange.
The College reserves the right to cancel or reverse any room swaps as needed.
Post-Lottery Fall Room Change Requests (Classification with 400 Points only)
Post-Lottery Fall Senior Room Change Request form
- Form Opens: Friday, April 18, 2025
- Deadline: Monday, June 23, 2025
Only students classified with 400 points (i.e. rising-Seniors) may request a room change after the Housing Lottery (before the start of the Fall semester). Requests are prioritized by students' 123 Lottery Number (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, 2025. If provided a room change, a different student will be assigned to your previous room (ex. another student requesting a room change or to someone on the Wait List, etc).
Students classified with 200 or 300 Points during Room Selection (i.e. rising-Sophomores & Juniors) 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).