Speaking at a groundbreaking ceremony this past May, Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences Michael D. Smith stood in front of Old Quincy and declared, “The House system is the institution at the very heart of the Harvard experience.”

Smith’s words echo a common refrain at Harvard. Unlike at many of its peer institutions, at Harvard, undergraduates are expected to live on campus for all four years of their college experience.

In this environment, Harvard has prioritized projects to improve House life—pouring more than $1 billion into its ambitious plan to renew its 12 undergraduate Houses, and launching several social space initiatives at the House level.

But despite these efforts, every year, a few students cannot be enticed to stay in the Houses.

According to Jeff Neal, a spokesperson for the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, about 120 sophomores, juniors, and seniors chose to live off-campus in non-University housing this academic year. An additional 32 undergraduates chose to live in the Dudley Co-operative Society, which offers alternative housing for College students.

This week Harvard’s Houses prepare to welcome freshmen into their communities, but those who no longer live on campus say that, for them, the Housing Day hype is overblown. Students interviewed for this article who no longer live in Harvard housing say they are not so much drawn to the perks of off-campus life than turned off by a residential system in which they did not feel at home.

SEEKING A SPACE OF THEIR OWN

This past fall, Martin S. Molina Hernandez ’15 lived in a cramped two-room suite in Leverett with three other roommates. He often found it difficult to concentrate when he was living with his friends in the dorm, finding himself caught up in late night conversations and frequently getting distracted.

By the end of the semester, he realized he needed a change.

“I’ve gotten to a point in my life where I feel like I need [my own room],” he said. “You could always get a single at Sigma Chi, so I chose to live there.”

Hernandez, who is a member of Sigma Chi, now lives at the fraternity’s house on Mass. Ave. Hernandez said he enjoys having a place to himself that he can decorate and make into his own environment, which he felt he could not do in the dorms.

“You have the freedom to do whatever you want with your living environment,” he said. “I’m originally from Venezuela and my grandmother got me a hammock from there, so I drilled it into my wall by myself.”

Hernandez is not alone in feeling that Harvard housing does not always allow for enough personal space. Ellie M. Reilly ’13, a former Pforzheimer House resident, said that students’ disregard for their neighbors made it difficult for her to study on the weekends.

“There were people once yelling at 3 a.m. at Pfoho—blasting music and having a party until early in the morning,” said Reilly, who now lives in Somerville with three other roommates.

Reflecting on that memory, Reilly said she is “so glad” she lives off-campus.Reilly said that another perk of living off-campus is getting to cook for herself and live independently.