On the HBS campus, six residence halls—Chase, Gallatin, Hamilton, McCulloch, Mellon, and Morris—offer a unique and vibrant community of single-occupancy spaces. Since 1927, residential living has been a core component of the MBA experience. MBA students live in a close-knit community that fosters learning both inside and outside the classroom. This blog is written by Hayden Tanabe (MBA 2025), Co-President of the Student Association, and one of the students residing in the halls.
I’ve always been a Los Angeles boy. I was born, raised, went to school in, and worked there before moving for the first time ever to HBS. Moving can be scary, and I hoped that living on campus would make it easier to make friends, adjust to Boston weather, and give me the flexibility I wanted.
Socially, the proximity to classmates has helped me make more connections. It seems like I can always walk outside to the lawn and find friends doing something that will inevitably keep me busy for hours (and it usually ends with getting frozen yogurt from the Spangler Dining Hall). And in the dorms, we have Dwell Ambassadors whose responsibility is to plan events for and build community among our residents. I met one of my closest friends and fellow section presidents, Thalia, at one of these events at the beginning of our first year. And one year later, we’re still in the dorms, now as next-door neighbors in Gallatin Hall. On a random Monday, you’ll typically find us knocking on each other’s doors to see what is happening.
Most HBS students have internships between their first and second years. Not knowing where I was going to spend my summer when I started school (spoiler that I went back to Los Angeles), I didn’t want to be locked into a year-long lease and need to find a subletter to save money while I was away from Boston. The dorms are only 9-month leases, which gave me the summer flexibility I wanted and helped me save money as a byproduct. Plus, returning residents get free summer storage, which made the transition into my second year in the dorms even easier than the first.
Academically, I love that I can leave my dorm with only 5-minutes before class and still make it on time. And I’ve found this is especially true when it’s raining or snowing outside. For me, I get to use the underground tunnels from my dorm, straight to my classroom in Aldrich, without stepping foot outside. In an indirect way, living in the dorms has also helped me save money by not needing to invest in a whole new wardrobe!
Living in the dorms has truly helped me maximize everything that HBS has to offer.