77 first-year students receive FYRE offers, a significant increase from 2024
FYRE success rate increases from 27.8% in 2024 to 68.1% in 2025
Vivian Hir–The Tech
This year, 113 first-year students participated in the First-Year Resident Exchange (FYRE), a program that allows first-year students to move to another dorm during orientation week.
The FYRE application was open during the annual Residence Exploration (REX), a multi-day experience in which first-year students could explore MIT’s dorms through a total of 360 events held by dorm residents. The FYRE application was open from Aug. 23 to Aug. 27, and results were released on Aug. 27. A total of 77 first-year students were granted successful moves, a significant increase from the 30 successful students in 2024. The success rate more than doubled within a year, jumping from 27.8% in 2024 to 68.1% in 2025.
In a statement to The Tech, HRS Director of Communications and Marketing Ashley Kennedy stated that the reopening of East Campus did not affect the number of successful matches, and the considerable increase in move-in success rates could be attributed to bed openings from cancellations and one-to-one matches, among other factors. “Student moves during FYRE happen for a number of reasons, from personal to practical, so it’s difficult to draw conclusions about motives based on switch numbers,” Kennedy wrote.
In regards to changes to FYRE, Kennedy stated that HRS has not observed a major trend in the number of FYRE applicants “over the last few years.” She added that the process “fluctuates from year to year” based on the number of direct matches for a building switch.
Housing and Residential Services (HRS) provided The Tech with annual FYRE results data starting from 2017. According to the data, the highest numbers of moves and requests were 89 and 139, respectively, in 2018; the highest move-in success rate was 70.8% in 2021.
The residence halls with the highest number of move-ins were Simmons Hall (15), followed by East Campus (12) and Maseeh (11). In terms of move-outs, Next House and East Campus had the highest number (17), followed by MacGregor (12). On the other hand, McCormick and New House had the lowest number of move-outs, which were 1 and 2, respectively.
Students who want to switch dormitories during the academic year can enter the spring building switch lottery, which opens on Oct. 8 and closes on Oct. 22.