Applications for living in Minerva Houses for the 2023-2024 academic year are currently live. Any student who is interested can apply until the application deadline on February 17.

Each Minerva has residence spaces, common spaces to study, hang out, and run events, and a kitchen. Each student on campus belongs to a Minerva, and it’s up to the individual how involved each student wants to be. Most students living in Minervas apply to the one they belong to, but there are exceptions for students who wish to be roommates with someone in a different Minerva, or if a Minerva house has extra unfilled rooms. The rooms in Minervas are known for generally being larger than those in other residence halls, and access to a kitchen attracts applicants as well.

To get a more clear idea of what Minerva housing is like, I interviewed some students about their experiences living in Minervas. The first student I spoke to was Will Grimwood ‘24, the former co-chair of Breazzano House. Grimwood has lived in his Minerva for two years, and speaks very highly of it. He says his favorite part of living there is “the community that exists in Breazzano as a house. Everyone knows each other, everyone is friendly.”

In reference to his time as co-chair of Breazzano, Grimwood has similarly positive sentiments. “I really enjoyed being Co-Chair, it gave me a lot of opportunities to learn about leadership, and meet a lot of really cool people who I probably wouldn’t have come across outside of the minerva programme. I have so many good memories from my time as part of Breazzano, and would 100% do it again. For anyone looking to learn some skills in leadership, it is a good open-application position.”

In addition, Miles Teng-Levy ‘25 enjoys living in Wold. He likes that his room “has so many windows, and (he) runs into people (he) knows in that building all the time.” He also enjoys Messa House’s Waffle Wednesdays event.

Of course, not every resident has had a perfect experience. Ysabel Thompson ‘24, a former resident of Green House, described her time living there as okay, though not without a few complaints. She had some issues with “the study room being dirty… and random furniture appearing in the bathroom.” Despite having lived in Green, Thompson belongs to Wold House, which she says is her favorite of the two because they do paintball, and as a member of the house she gets early notice for signups. Thompson and Teng-Levy agree that the physical location of the Minervas is convenient. Teng-Levy says “Wold has a great location too so it’s right in the middle of everything.” Most of the Minervas are closer to the academic buildings than the other residence halls, which means a shorter walk to classes, which is especially important during winter term.

Ultimately, Minerva residents seem to agree that a mix of convenient facilities and community are the best parts of Minerva living. If this sounds interesting to you, consider applying to live in your Minerva.