University of Missouri Dorms: A Comprehensive Guide to On-Campus Living

Choosing the right dorm at the University of Missouri can significantly impact your college experience, contributing to your academic success and social integration. This guide provides an overview of the top dorms on campus, focusing on various factors including amenities, location, and student feedback. Proximity to classes, dining options, and social areas significantly influences convenience and lifestyle.

Understanding the Housing Process

Before diving into specific dorms, it's crucial to understand the housing selection process at Mizzou. The first step is to go through the admissions process and sign your contract, which is open now. You can sign your housing & dining contract with a $100 non-refundable application fee now. Visit the housing process guide for a step-by-step view of how you’ll live at Mizzou.

Starting March 1, the next step of the housing process starts - creating your housing profile and starting to roommate match. Matching with a roommate during this step is optional, but creating a housing profile is required. Once you’ve signed your contract and created your housing profile, you just need to wait for room selection in June! This is how you’ll choose your room on Mizzou’s campus! Instead of having a room assigned to you, we provide a self-selection process that gives you a say in your future home. Later in the process, you’ll pick your room and hall. This is your hub for life in a residential hall. You’ll log into the Housing Portal to sign your housing & dining contract, select your room, see your assignment once you’ve chosen a room, and more. This is when you can log in to select your space! If you complete your housing & dining contract and your housing profile by May 1, you will receive your access time in late May.

Key Steps in the Housing Process:

Sign the Housing Contract: Complete the Housing and Dining Contract in the Housing Portal with a $100 non-refundable application fee. Your parent or legal guardian is required to sign your housing & dining contract on your behalf. You’ll need to know your MU student ID number, username and password to complete your contract. Check your application status to find your ID number and username. Head to the Housing Portal to sign your Housing and Dining Contract.
Create a Housing Profile: Starting March 1, create your housing profile! This is how you’ll roommate match and be visible in the system when you room select. Complete your housing profile. You’re set to room select in June! Spend time researching. In a roommate pair? Discuss your options so you’re on the same page.

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Room Selection: Room selection takes place in June. Access times are assigned based on when you completed the housing and dining contract. You’ll see available room details like bed spaces, room type, etc. Honors students are among the first to pick their room. This is called Honors Room Selection.
- Room selection order:
  - Honors room selection
  - Standard room selectionBoth honors and standard room selection access times will be assigned in the order of contract sign date.
  - To select during honors room selection, you must:
    - Apply to the Honors College by Feb.
Roommate Matching: This is the process of creating a roommate profile in the Housing Portal. You pick a username and fill out a questionnaire on things like noise preference, what time you typically go to sleep, and more. Once you’ve made your profile, you’ll get a list of your top 50 matches. That’s perfectly fine. You do not need a confirmed roommate to select a room.
- During your room selection access time, head to the Housing Portal and select a room for yourself. You can either look for a room with one available space and view the profile information of the student(s) already assigned to that room, or you can choose a room with multiple available spaces. The most important thing is compatibility. After you complete your roommate profile in the Housing Portal, you’ll see your top 50 matches.
Roommate Groups: Yes! We encourage you to look for a space that already has a student assigned to it. It is possible that you and your roommate may not be able to initially select the same room with two available spaces. In this case, we recommend that roommate pairs each select an individual space they like. Since room selection is a very dynamic process, different rooms may become available as people change rooms or cancel. If a room with two available spaces opens later in the process, you can both choose that room. Double check that they’ve completed Phase 1 - signing the housing contract with application fee. Verify they aren’t already in a confirmed roommate pair. The person who sent the roommate request is the “leader”, and the one who accepts is the “member”. It doesn’t matter who is who! We recommend that whoever has the earliest room selection time should room select for the both of you. Either one of you can select a space for both of you! We recommend whoever has the earlier access time to select a room for you both during their room selection time, rather than waiting for the later access time. After you’ve both been assigned, you can still affect each other’s assignment. If you want to make sure they don’t move you, even if they switch to a different space, just break apart your roommate group. Yes! If both of you have completed a housing profile, you can create a roommate group together. Compare and see who has the earlier access time. That student can select a space for you both. No, you can only be in a roommate pair. For example, if you are interested in a 4-person suite, you and your roommate cannot choose who pick the remaining spaces.

Dorm Overviews: Finding the Right Fit

Mizzou offers a diverse array of dorms catered to different preferences and needs. From modern, plush facilities in new buildings to more budget-friendly, socially vibrant halls, there is something for everyone.

New & Modern Halls

1. Brooks Hall and Bluford Hall: These are the newest additions to Mizzou’s dorm options, built in 2016 and 2017 respectively. Their modern facilities are highly praised for cleanliness and aesthetic appeal. Both halls offer spacious community-style rooms and are well-equipped with contemporary furniture and ample natural light.

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2. Gateway Hall: Gateway Hall is well-known for its striking modern interiors and suite-style living. Built in 2015, it offers a mix of privacy and community with personal bathrooms and spacious lounges.

Schurz, Hatch, and College Ave. (Bingham Commons): These are all very nice. They’re so new and clean you can literally smell it (it’s like new car scent)! College Ave. offers suite style living, so if you prefer that it’s an option. These res halls, while pricey, have trendy interior design and nice flooring. These things may seem frivolous, but they actually are important!

Pro’s: Baja Mexican Grill is in the lower level of Bingham, which is a great way to use points; they have GREAT study rooms that are a blessing whenever you have an exam; flat screen TVs in the lounges.
Con’s: You have to cross College Ave to get to campus, the doors don’t stay open on their own making it harder to meet people, you lose that “collegiate” gross residence hall room factor.

Traditional & Convenient Halls

Johnston and Wolpers Halls: Renovated in 2015, Johnston and Wolpers Halls stand out due to their excellent location near Mizzou’s student center, rec center, and various dining options.

Gillett, Johnston, and Wolpers: Gillett, Johnston, and Wolpers are all distinctly different. Having an in-hall dining facility is probably what I’ve been most grateful for. You can just roll out of bed and wear flip-flops to breakfast. Personally, and I’m biased, these have a great location: in walking distance of three dining halls, close to classes, a block from the Rec. center. Plus, these halls offer that traditional “charm” that comes with the older residence halls. I seriously think that kids are closer in the older residence halls because you can commiserate together. I can’t stress it enough that you shouldn’t be scared off by the non-renovated residence halls because they’re so much fun! Plus you get the option paint your rooms. It’s noteworthy to point out that Johnston’s is an all female residence hall, and Wolpers is all male. Don’t worry though, you just make closer friendships!

Pro’s: Close food, doors that stay open, awesome location, nice and relatively big rooms, Wolpers/Johnston are both single-sex, balconies in Gileltt
Con’s: Wolpers/Johnston are both single-sex, Gillett will be closing at the semester break

Suite-Style Living

Discovery, Excellence, Respect, and Responsibility (The "Value" Halls): These are located to the South of Plaza 900 (the dining facility). These are all suites, which means no communal bathrooms! There are different types of suites, which may include a living area. If you’re worried about getting a suite because you feel you won’t make as many friends there are two big solutions to that. Join a FIG, this way you’re taking classes and living with the same kids so you’ll definitely get to know them. And second, college life is what you make it; be outgoing and head to your floor lounge and you’ll meet new people. It’s true of suite life or if you’re living in a double that you’re not going to make friends if you don’t make an effort to.

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Pro’s: No communal bathrooms, the residents halls are all new, more “apartmenty” feel, next door to Plaza, elevated hallways which connect the residence halls, next to the Student Health Center, across the street from the Virginia Ave. Parking Garage
Con’s: Starting to get farther away from campus, all suite style, not as many kids per floor as in other residence halls

Pershing Area

The Pershing Area will have undergone a HUGE expansion when you arrive. Right now all that is open is Stafford and Cramer. Next year Graham, Defoe, and all of Mid-Campus (Galena, Dogwood, and Hawthorne) will have opened. Graham and Defoe are renovated and Mid-Campus is currently being built. What I LOVE about Cramer and Stafford is that they’re old, they give you that college feel, and yet they’re so clean and have enormous rooms. Tall ceilings, walk in closets, spacious living arrangements - you can’t get better than that! Plus, I feel they just have a lot of storage in Stafford. Under the bed drawers and a hatch to their desk! One other secret about Cramer is that the 4th floor only consists of four double rooms. This is nice because it’s almost like a suite, but not as secluded. I can’t tell you too much about the rest of the Pershing Area because I haven’t seen it, but based on online reading Graham and Defoe will consist of your traditional doubles and suites. Additionally Mid-Campus will feature an assortment of living arrangements. Next door to all of these is Pershing Commons. This offers a 24/7 Subway and an all night convenience store called Mizzou Market- all of which you can EZ Charge! I wouldn’t suggest going there too much though, as my Stafford friends said they went through quite a bit of their EZ Charge due to the close proximity of the Subway!

Cramer and Stafford:

Pro’s: Right next to Pershing and the Student health center, great rooms, clean bathrooms, a central “quad” area between the two
Con’s: You have to do your laundry is Pershing - so don’t pick a rainy day because you have to go outside, they’re built in one long line so there isn’t a central area to congregate with friends (there is a lounge, but you don’t have to walk past it)

Renovated/New Residence Halls (Mid-Campus Housing):

Pro’s: New, great location, close to everything - it’s called Mid-Campus housing for a reason
Con’s: Will be more expensive because they’re new and there will be a high demand

Stadium Area

Now for the housing by the Football Stadium: Laws, Lathrop, Jones, Center, South, and North. Lathrop and Jones are both all female. These typically have a higher percentage of Greek Life girls in them because of the close proximity to Greek Town. I like the way Jones is set up because they have double balcony sets (something the new residence halls don’t have). Laws has R.O.T.C. housing and is right across from the R.O.T.C. building. Center, South, and North are typically where athletes stay because it is close to their training facilities. This area has two dining perks: Dobbs and Mizzou Market. Both are nice and I hear, although cannot guarantee this as fact, that Jones and Lathrop are connected to Dobbs via underground tunnels. Don’t pick your housing based on that though, because it could just be urban myth. One other great thing is being close to the stadium. You get to see the tailgaters, which is fun, and you don’t have to walk forever to get to Farot Field.

Pro’s: Close to Stankowski Field (the outside multi-purpose fields typically used for soccer, ultimate Frisbee, and football), near Greek Town, near by parking
Con’s: Far/Uphill walk to campus!

Specialized & Distant Halls

Mark Twain and McDavid: McDavid is typically the fine arts building, and Mark Twain houses both the honors communities and the Walter Williams scholars. While there is a dining hall in Mark Twain, it’s pretty far from any other dining establishment. They do have three elevators there though, which is a big perk.

Pro’s: Mark Twain Market means you don’t have to leave the residence hall, close by parking, the few residence halls where Geological Sciences doesn’t entail a 10 minute walk, and Mark Twain also has bathrooms within the rooms
Con’s: FAR from seemingly everything (OK, it’s not that bad, but people in the Rollins area definitely don’t trek over there very often)

Accommodations for Students in Specific Programs

For students in specific programs like Engineering and Journalism, choosing a dorm that aligns with academic needs is crucial.

Engineering Students: Hudson Hall is a popular choice due to its proximity to the engineering buildings.

Important Considerations

Cost of Living

Living on campus can be an expensive venture. The cost of living in university housing varies based on the dorm's location, amenities, and room size. We are deeply committed to providing the groundwork for a positive living experience. All spaces have been thoroughly assessed to ensure they provide plenty of space and include very similar furniture and amenities. Rates are based on room type.

University Policy

University policy requires first-time college students to live in Housing facilities. Your contract is for a complete academic year.

Gender-Inclusive Housing

This option allows two currently enrolled Mizzou students to room together, regardless of their gender or sex. This helps enhance our residents’ sense of belonging and facilitates a smoother transition to college life by increasing the options for selecting a roommate.

Housing Accommodations

Please read our Housing Accommodations page to review the steps and get started. Due to limited housing availability, we encourage you to start this process immediately after completing the housing contract and paying the $100 application fee.

Maintenance and Services

For maintenance issues during business hours, please submit a service request through the Housing Portal. If you are an occupant that does not have access to the portal, please have you contract holder submit the request or you can contact a CA or the Housing Main office for more assistance.

For apartments with in-unit laundry hookups, please have the following materials and request installation services with Campus Facilities:
- Washer
- Two 4’ water stainless braided supply hoses with all metal connectors at each end
- Four rubber washers for supply hose fittings
- Dryer
- One 4” x 48” flexible aluminum dyer vent duct
- Two 4” worm gear clamps
- One 5’ Nema 10-30P power cord

If you have questions about the process, reach out to your apartment manager at 573-882-0251. You can also call Campus Facilities Customer Service regarding your service request at 573-882-8211.

Technology

Enrolled students can utilize Tiger Wi-Fi with their university credentials. Non-enrolled residents will utilize the Tiger Guest Wi-Fi.

Mail and Deliveries

[Apt. Number]Columbia, MO 65201-8513If you are having a package delivered, be sure to bring it inside as soon as possible. For grocery and food deliveries, as well as personal drop offs, schedule these deliveries for times when you are in your apartment and can accept your order in person.

Apartment Temperature Control

The “fan” mode allowing for consistent air circulation is always on. This assists with decreasing humidity and alleviating stale air. “Cool” allows for you to set you temperature to 68 degrees Fahrenheit and above. “Heat” allows for you to set your temperature to 76 degrees F and below. Heating is necessary when temperatures are cold outside to prevent frozen pipes. When the outdoor temperature is mild, you can turn “off” your system.

Parking

One parking space per adult occupant with a max of two vehicles per apartment. Additional occupants must be added in the housing portal before a parking permission can be granted. Contact Transportation and Parking to receive permission to park at Tara.

Mizzou Mobile ID

Access your Mizzou Mobile ID through the GET app on your smartphone. It opens your hall's exterior doors, and if you have an electronic lock, it is the key to your room. To access the exterior doors and your student room, go to Open My Door at idcardmanager.missouri.edu. To access the building and your room, UCentre has a fob independent from your ID. To access the building and your room, Mizzou on Rollins has a fob and key system independent from your ID.

Community and Social Life

The community aspect of dorm life is influential in shaping one's college experience. At Mizzou, amenities vary widely from one dorm to another. National research shows that students who live in university housing are more successful. This helps enhance our residents’ sense of belonging and facilitates a smoother transition to college life by increasing the options for selecting a roommate.

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