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Undergrad Housing- Females ● Undergrad Housing- Males ● Graduate Housing Info ● Off Campus Housing Options
Assalam-Alaykum
As a freshman, deciding where you want to live can be a daunting task, especially because there are numerous options available. Needless to say, your home at MIT plays a major role in your college experience. That is why you need to choose an environment in which you not only feel comfortable, but one which also caters to your needs as a Muslim woman. Currently, many of the undergraduate Muslim women who live on campus reside in McCormick, the only all-women’s dormitory on campus. There are several advantages to living in McCormick, such as its location (located right across from the Student Center and just a 5 minute walk to the infinite corridor); its condition (clean; relatively quiet); and its convenient facilities (laundry room, exercise room, living rooms, kitchens on each floor).
In order to obtain housing in McCormick, incoming freshmen must apply during the summer because McCormick is one of the few dorms that has implemented a new advising program known as "Residence Based Advising.(RBA)." This new advising program, because it is "residence based", ensures that the other members of your advising group are also McCormick residents. There will be several forms mailed to you during the summer explaining the housing selection process; watch for forms regarding the RBA program for prospective McCormick residents. The application deadline is Monday July 16th, and the Application is available online at this link.
In McCormick, and many of the dormitories on campus, freshmen usually live in doubles or triples; a lucky few might get singles. Although living with another person sounds intimidating, don't let this discourage you from applying! Having a roommate can often be a rewarding experience, and one to which you will quickly adapt. In general, the few dormitories on campus that offer singles to freshmen are coed (however, it is possible to live in an all girls suite in MacGregor) which often, but not always, means coed bathrooms.
If you do apply to live in McCormick, you will be given your room assignment and the names of your roommate(s) before you arrive on campus. However, you are allowed to choose your roommates. Insha'Allah, during the summer, the MIT Muslim Students Association (MITMSA) will try to organize a list of incoming Muslim freshmen and their contact information. This will give you the opportunity to get in touch with other Muslim sisters; this can possibly give you the option of picking them as roommates as well. Inshallah, for you to find a Muslim roommate beforehand, just contact Syed Fareed Ahmed and let him know that you would like to subscribe to our roommate email list , which will allow you to get contact information of other Muslim freshmen concerned about the same issues.
For more information on McCormick, check out the website at:
http://web.mit.edu/mccormick/www/
Or feel free to contact any of the following MSA sisters on McCormick, the housing process, or MIT in general:
If the idea of living in McCormick doesn't suit you, but you are interested in living and sharing facilities only with other girls, MacGregor Hall might be another option. MacGregor is arranged into suites of 6 to 8 singles, each suite with it's own kitchen and bathroom. It is possible to live in an all-female suite. However, we highly recommend living in McCormick because it is much closer to campus and has a larger community of sisters. Also, be aware that if you decide not to opt for McCormick, you will have to go through the regular housing lottery process that takes place during orientation.
For graduate students who want to live in MIT on-campus housing, Green Hall is a popular choice. This dorm is for graduate women only, and is also extremely close to campus (situated right next to McCormick). For more information on Green Hall, check out the website at:
http://web.mit.edu/greenhall/www/
Or at the housing info page:
http://web.mit.edu/housing/
-Fadilah Khan and Tanya Reza
Housing for male Muslims is, in a way, a tougher issue than it is for females because there is no completely all-male dorm. In my opinion, the two biggest concerns are roommates and co-ed living spaces. I will try to present ways that others have dealt with both of these concerns.
All dorms on campus, except for MacGregor, have singles and doubles. Since your chances of getting a single in any of the dorms except MacGregor is low, you will most likely have to room with another person. For many reasons, we have found that you may want to consider finding a Muslim roommate. We in the MITMSA hope that we have made it easy, inshAllah, for you to find a Muslim roommate beforehand.
Just contact the MIT-MSA Executive Committee and let them know that you would like to get contact information of other Muslim freshmen concerned about the same issues. You can then write to each other and perhaps even plan to room together before you arrive on campus.
The other concern about living space that you may have as an incoming freshman may be the coed living environment prevalent throughout the housing system. In most dorms this also means coed bathrooms. Some dorms have all male suites or private bathrooms. In specific, MacGregor and Burton-Conner have a few all male suites and NewHouse has somewhat more private bathrooms with doors that lock even though the suite is coed.
While NewHouse is a coed dorm, it is the dorm that has the most Muslims on campus. In NewHouse, the Muslims pray Fajr together, eat suhur during Ramadan, and relax with foosball and pool when the need for a break arises. NewHouse's coed environment has not presented an issue to the Muslims. Many of the Muslims there are happy with their living arrangements and, actually, other Muslims are considering moving there as well.
So what should you do to make sure that you will find housing that is appropriate to your needs next year? We suggest that you first consider trying to find a roommate or decide on if you would prefer to live in a single. Next, you will want to get in touch with the MSA Imam Suheil Laher. Specifically, if you find a roommate that you would like to live with, let them know that you want to live with this person.
Time is important in this process. The earlier you move on this the more likely that it will go smoothly insha'Allah. Do not wait until the standard lottery process for then the process will become considerably more difficult and the options more limited.
If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to e-mail the MSA board at msa-ec@mit.edu.
-M Bilal Kaleem
If you are a first-year graduate students, then you probably participated in the Graduate Student Housing Lottery in May. By now, most of the choices have been made. So there is no use in telling you which places have the best Islamic environments.
But graduate living is a little less like dorm living, so it makes less of a difference. Each residence has its advantages. Tang Hall is where most first-year graduate students live, and consists of single-sex suites. Ashdown has the advantage of being right across the street from the musalla, but is mainly coed suites (meaning men and women often share common areas, but bedrooms are single sex. There are also a few all female suites). Edgerton is the most modern and has a strong Muslim presence, but is more expensive too. For sisters, there is the additional option of Green Hall. This dorm is for graduate women only, and is also extremely close to campus.
For families, Eastgate provides high-rise style family life near the T, while Westgate provides a townhouse atmosphere.
For more information about these options, including pricing and contacts, visit the Graduate Living Options webapge.
As an incoming undergraduate freshman, you are required to live on campus, which makes your choice easy. You have none.
For First-year graduate students, we recommend living on-campus at least your first year, until you become familiar with the area, and are settled. However, there are several reasons people live off-campus too, from having a bad housing lottery number, to wanting to live with someone in particular, but note that the housing prices in Boston are very high, and living alone is very expensive.
For many reasons, we have found that you may want to consider finding a Muslim roommate. We in the MITMSA hope that we have made it easy, Inshallah, for you to find a Muslim roommate beforehand. Just contact the MITMSA EC and let them know that you would like to subscribe to our roommate email list , which will allow you to get contact information of other MIT Muslims looking for roomates. You can then write to each other and perhaps even plan to room together before you arrive on campus.
If you are conducting an off-campus housing search, you probably want to start with the Off Campus Housing Office , where you can get lots of information about the Cambridge area, as well as apartment listings. Other popular listings can be found from the Boston.com/Boston Globe Listings, from Apartments.com, or from ApartmentRatings.com.
In addition, MSA NATIONAL has recently endorsed a National MUSLIM ROOMATE SEARCH WEBSITE , where you can post is you are looking for a room to share, or if you have a room and need someone to share it with. Please look into this service too.
Time is important in the housing search. If you are looking for housing in the Boston area, the best times are in June and August, but you must be quick. The good deals that are posted in the Boston Globe on Sunday morning, are often gone by Sunday afternoon.