The Tufts Community Union Senate is launching a virtual tour initiative to film sophomore dorms and publish walkthrough videos before the March housing selection, aiming to reduce first-year confusion and increase transparency in the process.
Ruby Appleton, a Class of 2028 senator, initiated the project, saying that the idea stemmed from student frustration with the housing lottery system and a desire to make dorm information more accessible before selection begins.
“The general consensus is that the lottery system sucks, but there’s no other good option,” Appleton said. “Being able to see that, or make that information just more available is a thing that we should consider.”
Rising sophomores select both their housing groups and dorm assignments through the group formation and housing selection processes, with lottery numbers ranging from 1000 to 3000, determining their selection priority. The Class of 2029 received their lottery numbers on Feb. 4, with group formation scheduled for March 23–27 and housing selection from March 30 to April 2.
Appleton said Senate members began developing the project last semester and have worked in coordination with the Office of Residential Life & Learning to ensure the videos align with existing housing resources.
She added that improving access for students who cannot easily visit dorms in person was a central motivation behind the initiative.
“A lot of international students don’t have the availability to tour [dorms] like other people do,” Appleton explained. “So I thought it was really important that they get that.”
With multiple dorms and limited configurations available, having clear visuals can help students better understand the differences before ranking their choices.
“We wanted to highlight what was special about each of the dorms,” Appleton said. “For example, West is the only dorm with quads. So we made it a point to be able to feature a quad in the video, and Lewis has the most doubles, so we’re gonna show a double for Lewis.”
TCU Assistant Historian Michael Williamson, a first-year, who primarily worked in outreach for the project, emphasizes that the initiative aimed to provide a comprehensive view of the dorms, including exterior and common spaces.
Williamson also noted that while many first-years recognize dorm buildings from the outside, providing insight into what the interiors look like could add to their overall picture.
“Thankfully, we had a group of eight or nine people who were willing to show off their rooms to give the student body an idea,” Williamson said.
Although a timeline for future content of the dorms could not be confirmed, Appleton expressed her goal to build on this project by the end of the semester.
“Being able to expand and show all of the possible housing accommodations for students is 100% our goal in the long run,” Williamson said.
Christina Alch, the director of ResLife, confirmed that ResLife has been collaborating directly with the Senate on the initiative.
ResLife has worked with the Dean of Students Office’s communications team to improve the housing photos on their website. According to Alch, virtual tours have been a long term goal of the department.
“It is important to us that students learn how to make informed decisions when it comes to housing,” Alch wrote. “This project would add to the resources students have to consider when making their decision.”
Alch added that ResLife hopes to expand virtual tours to every residence hall in the coming years, allowing students to access updated resources at any time.
The first virtual tour was posted Feb. 21 on the Senate’s Instagram account, where students can view the walkthrough ahead of housing selection.
“People [have] come up to me and said: ‘Hey, thank you for making the video, I was able to see a little bit of insight as to what the dorms look like,’” Williamson shared.
However, Williamson explained that aspects of TCU’s social media outreach could have been improved via more in-depth videos to show off various dorm rooms.
While the videos may ease uncertainty, the housing process itself can still be stressful. Appleton encouraged students to remain flexible with their limited options.
“Housing is very stressful, and figuring [it] out … no one really likes doing it. Be aware of your number and be adaptable,” she said.
Despite the challenges, both senators said there was generally positive feedback from students. Williamson admitted to having a similar experience as the rest of the first-year class and expressed his gratitude for the Senate’s project.
“It has been very good to hear that a lot of freshmen are not in a similar situation to where I was a few weeks ago and not knowing what their housing options were,” Williamson said. “Ultimately, the goal of the Senate is to be supporting [the student population]…I’m glad that we’re making strides toward that.”
