Daniel Concha Zegarra, Campus News Editor
The daily interactions of residential life increase the potential for learning.
At HBS, the MBA experience is more than attending classes; it is about having a sense of community and feeling that the place where students live for two years is truly their home. Considering that every student has different circumstances and requirements, they can choose from various on-campus and off-campus housing options based on their preferences.
After interviewing several students who are living in the residential halls, we gathered the top five reasons to live in the dorms:
Proximity: Living in the dorms means students are just a few steps away from Aldrich and Spangler halls. Many students mentioned that leaving their dorm room seven minutes before class was enough time for them to arrive at class – they even have time to refill their water bottle before entering the classroom. Plus, students can use tunnels to access buildings when it is too cold or too rainy to go outside.
Community: Being part of a residential hall offers a sense of community. All students said that they are part of a WhatsApp group where they exchange information about upcoming events. Moreover, many students have a WhatsApp group with those sharing the same floor to coordinate activities such as going to Trader’s Joe together.
Events: Hosting activities in the common areas of the residential halls is one of the highlights for most students. For example, Chase Hall organized more than eight events in the last three months including Lunar New Year, a Ramadan Iftar dinner, Machu Picchu Peruvian Night, and Ice Cream Night from Taiyaki NYC. The average number of participants was 40 students, and these events were mainly hosted around dinner time.
Convenience: Coming to HBS, for some students, involved a series of logistical challenges such as traveling several hours, bringing many pieces of luggage, and adapting to a different time zone. Moving to the dorms creates a smooth experience for students because each dorm is fully furnished, provides a weekly cleaning service, and has access to the tunnels.
Flexibility: Deciding where to intern for the summer is a decision that every student will face sooner or later during their RC year. Therefore, the dorms give students the advantage to store their belongings over the summer while they are not on campus and not requiring housing payment from the move-out day, which this year is on May 30.
For students interested in the dorms, reach out to the HBS Housing team. They are happy to share more information on the housing lottery, renewing rooms, and future enhancements in the residence halls.
Dorms are not the only on-campus housing option. We will be sharing more about the benefits of living in Harvard University Housing in our next edition.
Daniel (MBA ’24) is a Peruvian who spent 8 years in China before coming to HBS. He moved to Beijing to study a master’s degree as part of the Schwarzman Scholars Program at Tsinghua University. While in China, Daniel worked in technology, mainly mobile game development and publishing.
Comments