Housing for New Students

If you're a returning student, please visit the returning student housing page.

Information for Prospective Students

SUNY Geneseo is a highly residential campus. This mean the residential experience is built into the educational mission of the college. In support of this, there is a two-year (four=-semester) residency requirement. 

Our housing options for incoming students include doubles, singles, corridor and suite options. Living Learning Communities are a large part of our campus and almost 1/3 of students live in an LLC. There are academic based, interest based, and identity based LLC options. Priority for housing placement takes into account deposit date and application submission date. SUNY Geneseo allows students to preference housing type, apply to an LLC, and preference 1 roommate if desired. Note all application requests are preferences and not guaranteed. Ability to get 1 or more of your preferences has to do with deposit and application submission dates. If a student is interested in preferencing a roommate, they should ensure both students request all the same preferences and apply for the same LLCs (conflicting preferences or a late application can result in students not being placed together). Students preferencing a single should not preference a roommate. 

See below for next steps information for incoming students.

Information for Admitted Students

New Student Housing Applications are available typically March 1st. Access to this form is available after students deposit and set up their my.Geneseo accounts (typically 1-3 days after that account is activated).

Securing on-campus housing as a new student (first-time first year or transfer student) is a straightforward process that's done mostly online. Remember SUNY Geneseo has a two-year residency requirement. All students must live on campus in College housing for two academic years unless they are commuting from the home of their legal guardian.

If you plan to commute, please read the instructions and submit a Release from Housing Form prior to June 1.

If you are a transfer student, coming in with more that 30 credits of college coursework, you have met the residency requirement and are not required to live on campus. You are still guaranteed on campus housing and must simply complete the Housing Application and Residential License to be housed.

Anytime you are asked to log-in to our sites, it is always your Geneseo email.

Room Rates 2024-2025

  • Standard Double $4,851.00
  • Designed Single $5,358.00
  • Superior Single $5,480.00
  • Townhouse $6,400.00 

There is typically a 3% increase to room rates between years. 

Fall 2024 Information

  • IMPORTANT: The deposit you paid after deciding to come to Geneseo covers your housing deposit!  So don't worry about any extra fees, you are all set.
  • Housing applications (also called - New Student Housing Application Contract) are due June 1.
    • NOTE: Deposits and applications will be accepted after these dates, but you may miss out on certain Communities if you submit late.
  • Housing applications are made available 24 - 72 hours after a deposit is made and a student sets up their my.Geneseo account - it is not immediate and there is no notification to you that it has become available.
    • Housing for all residents is managed through software called Symplicity.  
    • Symplicity is accessed by visiting go.geneseo.edu/symplicity. You log in with the same username and password as your Geneseo email account.
    • Information about you, your preferences, potential roommates, and important policy information is available through Symplicity.
  • Communication is sent to your Geneseo email address. Be sure to check it regularly.
  • Housing assignment notifications will be sent out by August 1.

Move-in Day

Nassau Suite

1. View the options

Check out the Residence Halls and Living-Learning Communities page to learn about Geneseo's on-campus housing.

Our incoming students live throughout the residential campus (North, Central, and South Villages) and all areas provide a variety of offerings. You can offer your preference for a few factors to help us determine your placement. Most of our students live in double rooms in corridor communities and about half of our incoming students live in LLCs! 

While most of our students live in doubles, some singles are available. A very small amount (typically 1-2 floors) of suites are available outside of LLCs. Note that some suites have designed triple rooms in them that are considered standard occupancy rooms. 

What is an LLC?

A Living Learning Community, or LLC, is a floor or building in which those of similar academic interests, personal interests or hobbies, or identities come together to live. A few of our LLCs involve courses, others have specialized programming, and some are cohort communities - where people of similar interests live together. 

Shared-Interest LLCs:

  • Arts & Wellness: Exploring personal wellbeing through visual, performing, and musical arts.
  • Food Culture: Exploring food, food culture, and food security in Livingston County and around the world.
  • Digital Arts & Gaming: Building community, wellbeing, and entrepreneurial skills around digital arts (photography, videography, social media) as well as video gaming and eSports.
  • Global House: Exploring the role of diverse cultures in and out of the United States.

Identity-Based LLCs:

  • Kuumba House: A community of students of diverse backgrounds who come together to celebrate their identities while nurturing their leadership skills. (Connected to Umoja House for returning students.)
  • Lavender House: A community of LGBTQIAA students and their allies.
  • Sensory Retreat: A community of students who would benefit from a quiet, less stimulating and smaller residence hall community.
  • Substance Free Housing: Students living in this community agree to refrain from alcohol and drug use in the living space.
  • Transfer Student Experience: Students interested in living with other transfer students.
  • First Generation Student Experience: Students interested in living with other first generation college students. A first generation student is a student whose family did not graduate from college.
  • International Student Experience: Students interested in living with other international and exchange students.

Academic-Related LLCs:

  • Dante House (on pause for 24-25): A community valuing learning in and out of the classroom through civic engagement and service to the community.
  • Eco House: A community interested in exploring and increasing sustainability awareness and activism on campus.
  • Business and Society: Established to develop skills for business majors and non-majors, to connect students to the diversity of the fields in Business, and learn about the impact on society.
  • First-Knight Experience: First-year students who have not yet declared a major or are exploring majors.
  • STEM: Students interested in supporting collaboration, wellbeing, and equity in all STEM fields.
  • Tesla House (on pause for 24-25): Physics, Geological Sciences, and Education centered community.
  • Writers House: A community of writers - including literary writing, science writing, song writing, poetry, music, film, plays, short stories, and the teaching of writing.

2. Complete the application

After March 1 (or if admitted after then, within 1-3 business days of paying your housing deposit and setting up your my.geneseo account), your Application will be available to you in the Symplicity residence software. Log into Symplicity using your Geneseo username and password and you will see a blue box that reads "Get Started" with your housing application.

If you feel that you warrant special housing consideration due to a medical condition, you must contact Dr. Amy Fisk (afisk@geneseo.edu), Assistant Dean for Accessibility Services, by the housing application deadline, June 1. Please visit the Office of Accessibility Services webpage to learn more about the housing accommodation process. 

Note that all components of the housing application are preferences, not guarantees. You can provide your preference for one roommate, the style of residence hall you prefer (corridor or suite), and apply to live in a Living Learning Communities (LLC) that interests you. Students should not apply for LLCs because of their location or hall as those change regularly and are not the main purpose of the LLC.

3. Tell us your roommate preference/Form a roommate group (optional)

While there are a small number of students who have a specific person they would like to live with, most of our incoming students are assigned to a room with a roommate by Residence Life. While this can be stressful for some students, living with and being open to living with new people is one of the great experiences of college. Our housing software system asks basic lifestyle questions that are used to match you with another student, your future roommate. You can expect questions about cleanliness, guests, sharing items, and more. 

Our entire Residence Life staff works intentionally over the summer, during orientation, and throughout the semester to help residents connect, engage, and get to know each other.  Resident Assistants assist all incoming students in the process of building relationships with their roommates by facilitating a Shared Living Agreement during Orientation. Working through interpersonal conflicts is a key part of social, personal, and emotional development. The most important aspects of having a roommate, whether you have chosen them or not, include the ability to set reasonable expectations, communicate effectively, demonstrate empathy, compromise, and develop resilience.

If you want to live with a friend, you will need to form a roommate group in the Symplicity Residence software. This step is optional. New students are assigned to residence halls according to deposit dates (first come, first served), so unfortunately we can't guarantee placement in your preferred housing or with your preferred roommate. New students may only preference one roommate. For visual instructions, you can view the Roommate Preference Form instructions. 

  1. After you access your Symplicity Residence account, navigate to the "Roommate" tab on the top menu.
  2. You will then be asked to "Choose a Term". Select the term for which you are selecting your housing (i.e. Fall 2023).
  3. Click on the "Find Someone You Know" tab.
  4. You will see a box labeled "Enter a Roommate Code". In the event that you are forming your roommate group on behalf of your friends, you will need to ask your friend for their passcode. All students can find their passcodes in the upper-right corner of the Symplicity Residence home screen. As long as you type your friend's passcode in the "Roommates:" field correctly, their name should appear in the larger text box below the magnifying glass. By clicking on the highlighted name, you can add your friend to the group. 
  5. When you finish, click the "Save" button. (Note: It is not necessary to type your own passcode in the "Roommates:" field -- you will be added to the group automatically.)
  6. If you can view your friends' name in the text box below the magnifying glass, your group was created successfully.

Things to Note About Roommate Preferences

  • Note early placement LLCs such as Sports Leadership may have an earlier roommate preference deadline.
  • Students who are preferencing single housing should not preference
  • If you type a passcode incorrectly, or if you try to type a name in the "roommates" field instead, a small triangle with an exclamation point will appear, and nothing will happen.
  • You must have paid deposits and completed their Application to be preferenced as a roommate. In the event that your friend's Application is not completed, or saved in draft format, their name will not appear in the text box, even if you typed their passcode correctly.
  • Roommate preference will not be honored if one person's application is late or if both students preference completely different housing options and/or LLCs on their forms.
  • Roommate preferences cannot be accepted late as our staff starts placing immediately to be able to get housing assignments out.
  • The Symplicity Residence software allows the formation of mixed-gender groups.

Group Size Restrictions

Incoming students are only able to preference one roommate.

Housing Resources and Links

  • Campus Map: Has all of our residence halls and academic buildings. You can report directly to your residence hall when you arrive!
  • Orientation: Orientation and New Student Programs.
  • Residence Halls & Living-Learning Communities: Housing options at Geneseo.
  • Symplicity: Geneseo's Symplicity housing software, where you can complete your housing application.
  • What to Bring: What to bring, what to leave home, and room and furniture dimensions.
  • Weeks of Welcome (Fall Only): The first few weeks of the fall semester are filled with events and activities just for new students.