30 first-year students receive FYRE offers, an all-time low
No students chose to move out of Burton-Conner and New House
Among the 1102 students in the Class of 2028, 108 first-year students participated in the First-Year Residence Exchange (FYRE), a process that provides students with the opportunity to switch residence halls during orientation week. FYRE results were released after the end of Residence Exploration (REX) on Aug. 28. REX is a multi-day event in which students explore MIT dorms from Aug. 25–28.
30 first-year students had successful moves, which is the lowest number ever since 2017. Housing and Residential Services (HRS) provided The Tech annual FYRE results dating back to 2017. This number reflects a steady decline in successful moves ever since 2022, as there were 74 in 2022 and 39 in 2023. In 2021, however, the number of successful moves were 63. Similarly, the percentage of successful moves has consistently decreased in the past three years, from 71% in 2021 to 28% in 2024.
Out of all the successful moves, the most popular residence hall was Macgregor (9), followed by Maseeh (5) and Baker House (4). On the other hand, the residence halls that had the most students move out were Next House (7) and Baker House (6). No students moved out of New House or Burton-Conner.
According to Ashley Kennedy, the Director of Communications and Marketing for Housing and Residential Services (HRS), one possible reason for the lower success rate this year is that “students only ranked one residence in their FYRE application.” If the residence they apply for is at full capacity and no students requested to move out of the residence (e.g. New House), then students have a lower chance of receiving a FYRE offer. The FYRE process allows students to rank a minimum of one residence and a maximum of four residences.
Another major reason for the lower number of successful moves is that East Campus is currently undergoing renovations. “East Campus being offline naturally creates a higher occupancy across the housing system,” Kennedy said. As a result, there are fewer available beds for students.
HRS did not provide data on the number of requests for move-ins and move-outs for each residence hall.