‘Treat It Like a Lottery’: Interhouse Transfer Application Decisions Released

When the class of 2026 was sorted into upperclassmen Houses one year ago, some students immediately began planning their transfer applications.

Just after being assigned to Pforzheimer House, which is located in the Radcliffe Quadrangle, June Lee ’26 and her blockmates considered transfer options.

“We were actually discussing, ‘Should we submit a late medical form to move to the river?’” Lee said of her Housing Day experience. “But we were like, ‘You know what, let’s give Pfoho a shot and we’ll just definitely put in a transfer request.’”

Lee applied to transfer to several River Houses for the fall 2024 semester, and was notified last month that she would be transferring to Adams House.

In the first round of fall interhouse transfer, 142 students applied, according to a spokesperson for the Housing Office.

Students are required to live in their Houses for two full terms before transferring. There are three transfer application windows, one in the fall semester and two in the spring semester.

“Ultimately, the distance was too much for me, and also I didn’t have much house community,” said Lee. “So I didn’t really feel any remorse applying for a housing transfer.”

In addition to the inconvenience of the Quad’s location — which is distant from most classes and extracurricular commitments — some students noted safety concerns as an additional incentive to transfer closer.

“I do have a bike, so that’s helpful, but I still found it kind of challenging to bike back every night,” said Emma Y. Miao ’26, who transferred from Cabot House to Adams House. “I ended up falling off my bike — I’ve fall off my bike multiple times. Maybe it was my clumsiness, but I did want to avoid further situations in the future.”

However, Crimson Arts editor Aiden J. Bowers ’26 said he was “really happy” when he was accepted to transfer into the Quad — from Mather to Pforzheimer House.

“I like the Quad lawn, the aesthetic of the Quad. I also have heard and seen lots of great things about the community,” Bowers said. “It made me realize that it’s really something that’s pretty special — a really cool sort of solidarity, and a really welcoming place.”

Some other students who applied to transfer houses heard back that their application was unsuccessful. Jōsh P. Mysoré ’26, along with two of his roommates, applied to transfer from Pforzheimer House to one of several River House options.

The interhouse transfer application allows students to rank their preferred Houses, as well as select from several multiple-choice options to indicate their reason for transferring.

Mysoré said he wished the transfer application allowed for a more detailed explanation of one’s reason for wanting to transfer, instead of only a selection from one of several pre-written selection boxes.

“To some extent it has to be random, especially for people transferring from the Quad to the River — there’s going to be a surplus,” Mysoré said.

“The number of approvals is based on the number of available slots that Houses have, so that number will vary from year to year,” College spokesperson Jonathan Palumbo wrote in an emailed statement. “People apply for interhouse transfers for a range of reasons, and they are self-reported.”

Miao also said that there should be more room to elaborate one’s reason for transferring on the application, as she felt that this change would add more “humanity” to the random process of selecting whose application will be successful.

“I think the process right now is very robotic,” Miao said. “It seems like it’s a machine picking the spots, and it would be nice, even if you end up getting rejected or accepted or whatever it may be, to have room to say more about your reasoning.”

The transfer application only allows students to apply individually or as part of a pair. As such, some blocking groups needed to split up. Talia A. Natterson ’26, who applied to transfer from Cabot House to Adams House like several of her blockmates, was successful. However, the rest of her blockmates’ applications were denied.

“It obviously makes sense that they want a more limited number of people moving from house to house, but at the same time, I love my blockmates,” she said.

Taryn M. Riddle ’25 was denied in last year’s fall transfer round, but applied in a subsequent cycle and was accepted to transfer from Currier to Dunster House.

“You just have to treat it like a lottery — you either get it, or you don’t. I know a lot of people who were denied transfers and a lot of people who got them, a lot of people who got their second or third choice or something,” she said of the application process. “You never know.”

—Staff writer Natalie K Bandura can be reached at natalie.bandura@thecrimson.com.

—Staff writer Azusa M. Lippit can be reached at azusa.lippit@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X @azusalippit or on Threads @azusalippit.