LIVING

RESIDENTIAL LIFE LESSONS

The undergraduate residential experience is a central component to college life. At Tufts, we aim to enhance student experiences by offering a range of dynamic housing options for students, from traditional residence halls to apartment style, suite, and themed housing. While living on-campus for your first two years is both guaranteed and required, Tufts supports students throughout all of their undergraduate years as they continuously develop community on-campus. Many students share that residence halls are some of the most formative social and community spaces on campus. Are you ready to explore what it means to live at Tufts? If so, keep reading!

BY JOSH COHEN ’24

CONNECTING WITH NEW HALLMATES

After settling into your new home-away-from-home at Tufts, you’re eager to connect with all of the kind, outgoing, and supportive students around you! First, you check in with your resident assistant (RA), an upperclass student motivated to connect first-year students to campus resources and support their personal and academic growth, to hear about upcoming floor programming events. From crafts nights, sundae socials, and DIY boba to academic resources and time-management presentations, your RA is charged with cultivating a sense of community in residential spaces. Often, the relationships developed in residential spaces emerge as some of the most defining and enriching connections for students.

Looking for other opportunities to build connections in your residential community, you connect with your hall’s Scholar in Residence. Faculty members with an interest in interacting with and supporting students outside of the traditional classroom setting are invited to live among students in residence halls, and they provide students with an intellectual and academic component to their residential experience. Scholars will host events such as “are you smarter than a professor?” trivia nights, faculty panels, and even invite students to share meals!

CONTINUING STUDENTS AND SPECIAL HOUSING OPTIONS

Exploring your options for continuing student housing, you are presented with several enticing living arrangements and residential communities to select from! While most residence halls follow a traditional layout, many special interest and themed housing options allow students the opportunity to live among peers in small, wood-frame houses around campus. From identity, religion, and language-centered living communities, you will have the unique ability to select into a range of affinity spaces. Often, students living in these communities cook meals together, share in the activities and practices they value, and sponsor events open to the greater campus community. Are you interested in creating your own living community based on a shared interest? If so, Tufts offers continuing students the opportunity to create their own themed house revolving around a shared interest and to connect with other students through these intentional spaces. Now, the decision is in your hands…where do you see yourself living at Tufts?