Apply for Winter Break Housing in the Housing Portal (November 2024).
Winter Break 2024-25
Halls close at 12 p.m. (noon) on Tuesday, December 17, 2024, for all residents (except those approved to live in Winter Break housing in designated open Winter Break buildings.) Access on ID cards will end at noon. Students may keep their belongings in their rooms over Winter Break but will not have access to those belongings.
A limited number of buildings remain open during the Winter Break period. If you are interested in staying on campus during any portion of Winter Break and you live in an open building, you must register or apply and receive approval from Housing Services. The cost of Winter Break Housing is $500 for the full winter break period. The cost will not be prorated for any partial winter break occupancy.
Halls open for the Spring semester at 9 a.m. on Friday, January 10, 2025. Residents who arrive before January 10 at 9 a.m. or reside in an open building during Winter Break without Housing approval will be assessed a fee of $100 USD per night through their student account.
Leaving for Winter Break
Residents leaving for Winter Break are asked to do so within 24 hours after their last exam, or by 12 p.m. noon on December 17, 2024, whichever comes first.
Residents cannot regain access to their space until January 10 at 9 a.m. If there is an extenuating circumstance requiring you to be on campus prior to this date and time, you must contact Housing Services at 412-268-2139 to have your request reviewed. Students that arrive before January 10 at 9 a.m., without Housing approval, will be assessed a fee of $100 USD per night through their student account.
Things to Know About Leaving for Winter Break
- Housing Services will conduct health and safety inspections for all living spaces, process maintenance requests, and complete projects over the winter break. As a result, residents can anticipate that maintenance personnel may enter their room. If any issues are found during inspections, a notice will be left in the residence indicating the item(s) to be addressed. If you have any questions, please contact your Facility Coordinator.
- The last person to leave for Winter Break should review the Leaving for Winter Break Checklist to prepare your room for Winter Break.
- When you return for the Spring 2025 semester, your ID will be pre-programmed to start working at your room door as of 9 a.m. on January 10, 2025.
Fall Housing Extension & Spring Early Arrivals
Starting November 1, 2024, residents with unforeseen or extenuating circumstances may email housing@andrew.cmu.edu to request an extension or an early arrival. Approval for an extension or early arrival is not guaranteed and may come at a cost.
University Affiliated Approved Early Arrivals
Residents involved with university organizations that are requiring early arrival for group purposes should contact the program coordinator of your group for details on your approved early arrival in January. Residents here for approved reasons will no be charged for their early arrival.
Open Winter Break Buildings
The following buildings will be open for the 2024-2025 Winter Break period.
All other buildings not listed below will closed during the entirety of the Winter Break period. Residents assigned to a closed building are responsible for finding their own winter break housing off-campus.
- Clyde House
- Donner House
- Fairfax Apartments
- Fifth Neville Apartments
- Margaret Morrison Apartments
- Morewood Gardens
- Morewood E-Tower
- Neville Apartments
- Residence on Fifth
- Roselawn Apartments
- Welch House
Staying for Winter Break
The cost of Winter Break Housing is $500. The cost will not be prorated for partial winter break stays.
Residents living in the following open buildings can request (available November 1st) to stay the entire Winter Break:
- Clyde House
- Donner House
- Fairfax Apartments
- Fifth Neville Apartments
- Margaret Morrison Apartments
- Morewood Gardens
- Morewood E-Tower
- Neville Apartments
- Residence on Fifth
- Roselawn Apartments
- Welch House
Residents who are currently assigned to an open building may reside in their own room during Winter Break, but are required to register online (available November 1st) in the Housing Portal before December 17 at 12 p.m. Registration is required for any portion of Winter Break and the cost is the same regardless of how many nights one stays in their room during the break period.
Residents residing in an open building for any portion of Winter Break without registering and receiving Housing approval will be charged a fee of $100 USD per night through their student account.
Don't Live in an Open Building?
Housing Services is not responsible for securing a space for a resident wanting to stay in campus housing over the Winter Break, and cannot/will not assist in finding arrangements for residents assigned to closed buildings. Residents who did not select to live in an open winter break building, but have encountered an unexpected extenuating circumstance and need to stay in university housing for any period of Winter Break, may follow these steps:
- Determine if you have friends or acquaintances that live in one of the open buildings and ask permission of them and their roommates (if applicable) to stay in their room over winter break.
- When a suitable arrangement is secured, email housing@andrew.cmu.edu from your CMU email account, no earlier than November 1st, 2024 and no later than December 11th, 2024. In your email include an explanation of your unexpected extenuating circumstance, and the name(s), Andrew ID(s), and room assignment of the student(s) who have agreed to allow you use of their room.
Housing Services will reach out to all roommates and suitemates/apartment-mates (in multi-bedroom units) for the space you intend to occupy for winter break to confirm their approval of your use of the space. Because most residents leave their belongings in their spaces over break, and because Winter Break guests will have access to those belongings as a guest in their space, approval of all occupants in a unit is needed. Your request can only be approved once all roommates and suitemates involved have confirmed their approval of the Winter Break arrangement. If Housing Services cannot secure this confirmation, or if one of the roommates/suitemates choose to not grant approval, you will be notified that your request is denied.
Denied requests will result in needing to find other accommodations for Winter Break. For assistance finding a winter break housing arrangement please contact your Housefellow, as they may able to assist. Additionally, a list of hotels that will rent to students under the age of 21 is available by request; please email housing@andrew.cmu.edu.
If you must move into another assignment in an opened building for Winter break, please visit Leaving for Winter Break for further instructions on how to appropriately leave your own fall semester space.
Spring 2025 Cancellation Requests (Leaving the University for the spring semester)
Students leaving the University at the end of the fall semester for an approved reason must notify Housing Services of their departure and request to be released from the Spring 2025 portion of their housing contract. Housing cancellations do NOT happen automatically, even for reasons such as graduation, leave of absence, etc.
Students will be granted a cancellation exception (and released from the spring portion of their contract), only for the following reasons:
- Graduation (will no longer be enrolled as a CMU student)
- Spring semester study abroad
- Withdrawing/Transferring
- Leave of Absence
- Co-op/Washington Semester
- Exchange student returning home
If you need to request a spring semester housing cancellation, submit the Spring Cancellation request Form [PDF], to Housing Services via email (rmassign@andrew.cmu.edu), fax, or in person at the Residence on Fifth.
Spring cancellation requests can be made starting in mid November 2024 through Tuesday, December 17, 2024. All fall semester residents who will not be on campus for the spring semester — including exchange students only here for the fall semester — are required to complete the cancellation paperwork.
Any upper-class residents being pulled into Greek housing should first consult their organization’s president or house manager and email the room assignments staff for cancellation/room change parameters.
Students not returning for the spring semester must vacate their room by December 17 at 12 p.m. If you have an extenuating circumstance and live in an opened building for Winter Break, please email Housing Services. However, please know that there will be a $100 per night fee charged for any extension requests made by residents not returning for spring.
Please visit Leaving for Winter Break for further instructions on how to appropriately leave your own space.
Need storage for spring semester?
If you are leaving campus for the spring semester (studying abroad, leave of absence, etc.) and are interested in storing your items until your return, please check out our partnership and pricing with Dorm Room Movers. Please note that this option is only available for students that are going to be returning to housing.
Vacancy in Your Room for the Spring Semester
Any resident whose roommate is leaving university housing (due to graduation, study abroad/co-op, leave of absence or withdrawal) may pull-in a roommate of their choice provided that all of the below criteria are met:
- The resident leaving the room is approved to be released from his/his spring contract
- The selected new roommate (the pull-in) currently lives in campus housing
- And, the roommate being pulled in moves all belongings into their new assignment prior to 12 p.m. on December 17, 2024.
Residents interested in this option should email the room assignments staff as soon as possible with their name, room, the name of the roommate leaving, their reason for leaving, and the name and assignment of the person they wish to pull in.
Requests received after, or moves that cannot be completed before 12 p.m. on December 17, 2024, will not be granted.
Residents remaining in rooms with vacancies should expect that a new resident will be assigned over the break and will move in on January 10, 2025. Residents are required to keep the vacant set of furniture completely free of personal belongings. Residents whose belongings are spread out throughout the room, which prohibit Housing Services from being able to assign a new roommate to the vacancy, will be held financially responsible for the full cost of the vacant space. The remaining resident(s) should also anticipate an inspection for damages to be completed over the break period.
If a resident with a vacancy in their room knows of someone coming back to housing for the Spring 2025 semester and would like to request them as a roommate, please email with the name and Andrew ID of the person that you think is returning. These requests are not guaranteed but we will evaluate each request individually and work with the students involved.
Please visit Leaving for Winter Break for further instructions on how to appropriately leave your own space for the break periods.