Lottery Information for New Students

Who is eligible for housing?

All Rice Graduate Housing buildings are open to full time, currently registered Rice University graduate students only. Students at other universities (except for Rice-sponsored summer programs), postdocs, and non-students are not eligible to apply for housing.

Why do you have a lottery?

Our buildings - RGA, RVA, and MSA are a great place to live and each year we have more applicants than we have spaces. The lottery was developed to make sure that more new students have an opportunity to live in Rice Graduate Housing and get oriented in their first year. The lottery also accommodates all students regardless of what part of the world they come from. Each student has an equal chance of getting into the apartments because the lottery is not based on first-come first served basis.

How do I apply for housing?

The lottery application is available online. The deadline for taking applications is May 31, 2010 at 11:59pm CST. Applications must be received in the office by the deadline date to be considered for the lottery. Please make adequate preparation as there are no special considerations if your application is not received.

Your application needs three things to be complete:

• A completed housing application submitted via this website
• $350 security deposit - This should be mailed to the address below. We only accept checks or money orders in US Currency. The deposit should be payable to "Rice University"
• Proof of acceptance to a Rice University Graduate Department. A copy of your department acceptance letter is sufficient proof.

The mailing address is:

Rice Graduate Apartments
Attn: Manager
1515 Bissonnet St.
Houston, TX 77005

Please ensure your name appears on your deposit check or money order so we can correctly credit your account.

BE SURE TO FILL OUT THE APPLICATION COMPLETELY. IF WE DO NOT RECEIVE YOUR APPLICATION, DEPOSIT AND A COPY OF YOUR ACCEPTANCE LETTER YOU WILL AUTOMATICALLY BE PLACED ON THE WAITING LIST.

After May 31, 2008, applications will be accepted and put on a waiting list in the event that there are any cancellations from the students who win a space in the lottery. All the applications on the waiting list will be considered on a first come, first served basis.

If you are a new student, a security deposit of $350 is required along with your application and acceptance letter.

No. We only accept checks, money orders or traveler's checks made payable to "Rice University". The check or money order should be denominated in US dollars. Electronic transfers are not accepted. Alternatively, you can ask one of your friends to pay on your behalf, using one of the allowed methods.

Note: A check can be referred to as a "demand draft", which is a "Manager's Check" issued by a foreign bank that is drawn on a U.S. bank. This is an acceptable form of payment.

Some departments are willing to guarantee the housing deposit of their students, but this service is not provided by all departments. The department must send an IDT (inter-department transfer) to the graduate apartments in the amount of $350. The department will guarantee your apartment security deposit in case you do not arrive in August. When you move into the building in August, you will need to pay the $350 deposit then, and the department IDT guarantee will be discarded. This is a no-cost option for the academic department unless you fail to arrive in August.

Yes, your deposit will be returned when you move out. However, any apartment cleaning or repair charges will be deducted from your deposit.

Yes, you can email us your original acceptance letter or a scanned PDF or JPG file. Or, you can fax it to 713-527-0730.

The lottery will occur no later than June 4, 2010. Notices for those who win a space will be emailed on June 6, 2010 with a copy of the Housing Agreement. To secure your space, you must reply to the email by June 22, 2010. You will receive notification of your roommate in a separate letter in July. Room assignments will be made based on the questionnaire in the application. We will try and honor all roommate requests made by the May application deadline, provided the person you are requesting also won a space in the lottery.

To be fair, we run a lottery that consists of all applications completed by the May 31st deadline. If we have, for example, 130 rooms available, we offer the rooms to the first 130 winners. The rest are automatically placed on the waiting list in the order of their lottery number and will be notified as rooms become available.

Please note that apartments are also assigned according to your lottery number. Because of this, our limited efficiency apartments are usually only available to the first lottery winners.

We cannot estimate your odds with certainty because it depends on how many students will apply by the application deadline.

Yes, we will refund your housing deposit if you do not win the lottery and do not receive an apartment from the waiting list.

Prospective residents may request a specific roommate on their housing application. However, all mutually requested roommates must have a housing application, enrollment deposit and proof of acceptance to a graduate department at Rice University on file by May 31st, and win a space in the lottery in order to be guaranteed placement together.

Requests for a roommate may be made on your housing application if both students request each other as roommates. All apartments are same sex and non-smoking. If you do not know anyone as a potential roommate, you will be assigned whenever possible with a roommate who indicates similar preferences about room use, organization, and lifestyles in the Rice Graduate Apartments Application. Roommate requests based upon race, color, religion, sexual orientation, physical characteristics, or national origin cannot be accepted.

Your roommate information will be emailed to you at the end of July.

A Housing Agreement is a contract between the landlord and the tenant, and sets forth the rights and responsibilities of both parties. The Housing Agreement allows the tenant to occupy and use, for a specific period of time, land and permanently affixed structures on that land. In return, the tenant pays a specified rent. Once the parties sign the Housing Agreement both are bound by its terms. You will be required to sign a Housing Agreement at RGA. RGA's Housing Agreements are unique. If you live in an off-campus apartment you generally are required to share responsibility for the entire apartment Housing Agreement. That means if your roommate doesn't pay his or her share, you have to come up with the money or face possible eviction. In our community, you'll have an individual Housing Agreement so you're never responsible for your roommate's rent - no matter what! You are responsible for only your share at the Rice Graduate Apartments.

In event you are assigned a unit and fail to take occupancy, your deposit will be forfeited and you will be required to pay 85% of one months rent. This penalty covers our cost of re-leasing the apartment.

We offers nine-month Housing Agreements (August - May 15th ) for the academic calendar year. You can extend your lease for the summer up to 12 months but you cannot shorten your Housing Agreement. Once you sign the Housing Agreement and move in, there are no provisions to break the Housing Agreement.

The move-in date for the 2009-2010 academic year is Saturday, August 15, 2009. Check-in will begin at 10 am CST. Exceptions are made for MBA Students whose programs start earlier.

We do not not have storage facilities for your belongings. DO NOT SHIP YOUR BELONGINGS BEFORE YOU MOVE IN. We cannot sign for packages for non-residents.

Please email us at gradapts@rice.edu with your updated information or housing preferences

All graduate apartment buildings are smoke-free communities. Smoking is strictly prohibited in the rooms, common areas and the hallways. Smoking is allowed only in front of the building and the parking lots. Please properly dispose of cigarette butts in the provided containers at the building exits.