List of MIT undergraduate dormitories

This article describes the undergraduate dorms at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, with a focus on student culture and dormitory life (including meal options). All undergrad MIT dorms are officially coed and reserved for unmarried students, except McCormick Hall, which remains women-only. Because living conditions are strongly affected by architecture, there is coverage of that topic here. For a more esthetic architectural focus, see the article Campus of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The MIT administration has emphasized incorporation of shared dining facilities into several larger undergraduate dormitories, as places where daily informal social interactions can occur. After discontinuation of "mandatory commons" in 1970, required meal plans were reinstituted in fall 2011 for residents of several dormitories, despite the vigorous objections of some students. As of 2015^[update], the MIT meal plans offer a mix of choices, required for residents of some dorms, and optional for all other undergraduates and all grad students.

Five MIT undergrad dorms have dining halls, and require a "mandatory house dining meal plan program" for all undergraduate residents. However, upperclassmen living in these dorms have the option to sign up for fewer meals on a plan (at reduced cost), giving them more flexibility in arranging for some of their own meals.

The mandatory meal plan dorms are:

The other dorms are designated as "cook-for-yourself" communities, and have kitchens on each floor, or in each suite of apartments. Residents of these dorms may also opt to sign up for a meal plan at another dorm with dining facilities, or may eat at any dining hall on a "cash" basis. Groceries and prepared food can be bought on-campus or at nearby stores, and free shuttle service is available to selected grocery stores further off campus. In addition, there is a fresh produce market on campus open one day per week throughout most of the calendar year.

Baker House, located at 362 Memorial Drive, is a co-ed dormitory at MIT designed by the Finnish architect Alvar Aalto in 1947–1948 and built in 1949. Its distinctive design has an undulating shape which allows most rooms a view of the Charles River, and gives many of the rooms a wedge-shaped layout. The dining hall features a "moon garden" roof that is also very distinctive. Aalto also designed furniture for the rooms. Baker House was renovated for its fiftieth anniversary, modernizing the plumbing, telecommunications, and electrical systems and removing some of the interior changes made over the years that were not in Aalto's original design.

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