Where do most students live at Harvard?

For someone considering Harvard, I'm curious about student housing options and where most students typically live. Are there specific dorms or areas that are particularly popular? Just trying to get a feel for student life there.

At Harvard, all first-year students live on campus in one of the freshman dormitories in the historic Harvard Yard, which forms the heart of the campus. These dormitories are the traditional base for the academic, social, and personal experiences of first-year students.

From the sophomore year onwards, Harvard has a unique housing system where students are sorted into one of the twelve residential houses. These houses are not just dorms but are meant to be a comprehensive living and learning experience, with their dining halls, common rooms, libraries, and other amenities. The houses are spread out in the river and quad area.

The river houses, which are closer to the main campus, are generally more desirable, but the quad houses, a bit of a further walk, have larger rooms and more modern facilities. Each house has its own unique culture and traditions.

Once you are placed in a house, you typically stay in that house for the rest of your undergraduate career. Over 98% of undergraduates live on campus all four years, so the dormitory life is central to a student's experience at Harvard. The living situation promotes a tight-knit community and unique traditions specific to each house. The housing system at Harvard is part of what makes student life there so unique.