Haverford College
Haverford is 1,400 students on a 216-acre arboretum ten miles west of Philadelphia — the first Quaker college in the country, founded in 1833, and still run on a student-written Honor Code under which exams are unproctored and self-scheduled. First-years don't so much get a hall as get a Customs group: ten to twenty students placed together with upper-class Customs leaders who run the five-day orientation and then stay attached to the group all year. Every bedroom on campus is air-conditioned, and a commuter-rail station sits on the edge of campus.
What to wear in Haverford, month by month
This corner of the country breaks every generic packing list. It is not about surviving cold — it is about staying dry through a long gray winter and a famously short, beautiful summer.
| Move-in (late Aug) | 68–86°F | Genuinely hot and humid Philadelphia-suburb late summer, with afternoon thunderstorms. The A/C in every room earns its keep during Customs Week. |
| Sept–Oct | 50–78°F | Warm through September, then a long beautiful fall — the arboretum is the reason people photograph this campus in October. Layers and a light jacket. |
| Nov–Dec | 32–52°F | Gray, damp, and chilly rather than frigid, with the leaves gone by Thanksgiving. A real coat and something waterproof. |
| Jan–Feb | 26–43°F | The cold stretch — a few snows a winter that usually melt in days, plus a lot of raw wet wind. Warm coat, gloves, waterproof shoes. |
| Mar–Apr | 38–66°F | Wet March into a spectacular April — the campus is an arboretum and it shows, with magnolias and cherries through the quad. |
What Haverford College lets you bring
- Sheets, because the A/C is real — every bedroom has its own unit, so the room can actually get cold in September
- A rain jacket and shoes you don't mind soaking — the Nature Trail and the Duck Pond are the shortest routes across campus, and they're unpaved
- A bike or a SEPTA-friendly backpack — Haverford station is on campus and Philadelphia is about 20 minutes by train
- A winter coat that handles wet cold rather than deep cold — Main Line winters are gray, damp, and hover near freezing
- A surge protector and an ethernet cable for the desk
- Twin XL bedding (confirm your specific hall)
- UL/ETL power strip with a built-in circuit breaker — not a bare extension cord
- Damage-free wall hangings like Command strips — no nails or screws
- Low-draw LED desk and task lamps
- A fan, a reusable water bottle, and UL-listed electronics
- Open-coil / open-flame cooking: toasters, toaster ovens, air fryers, hot plates, electric grills, sandwich makers
- Candles, incense, wax warmers, and anything with an open flame
- Halogen lamps
- Extension cords without a breaker; outlet splitters and multi-plug adapters
- Space heaters and personal A/C units (unless your school provides/approves them)
- Hoverboards, e-scooters, e-bikes, and other e-mobility devices
- Weapons of any kind — including decorative — and fireworks
- Mini-refrigerators larger than 4 cubic feet
- Any appliance over 700 watts or with an open heating element — toasters, toaster ovens, Foreman-style grills, hot plates, and wax candle melters
- Halogen lamps
- Candles, incense, kerosene lamps, hibachis, and barbecue grills
- Battery-powered rideables — hoverboards, e-scooters, e-skateboards, e-unicycles, and e-bikes
- Space heaters, weapons, fireworks, gasoline or other fuels, waterbeds, and hot tubs
These come from Haverford College's official housing pages and cover the essentials plus the genuinely local rules. Double-check the current official guidance before you buy — policies and renovations change every year.
Getting your room at Haverford College
- 01Early June
Confirm your details, then open the Housing Questionnaire
Students have to confirm personal details in BIONIC and wait 24 hours before the Housing Questionnaire unlocks. It arrives by email to the new Haverford address in early June.
- 02By July 1
Submit the questionnaire — honestly
The questionnaire is due July 1, 2026, and the college is blunt that students should answer it truthfully rather than strategically: claiming to be messy to angle for a single mostly gets you a messy roommate. Accommodation requests through Access and Disability Services, and religious housing considerations, are due the same day. Parents shouldn't fill it out.
- 03First week of August
Customs group and room announced
Haverford aims to announce housing assignments and Customs groups during the first week of August. Packages may not arrive on campus before August 1, so time any shipments to that window.
- 04August 26
Move in, then start Customs Week
Arrival is Wednesday, August 26, 2026, between 9 a.m. and noon unless your student is pre-approved for an early arrival. The president and the dean of the college welcome new students and families, and then first-years join their Customs groups for the five days before classes.
Where you'll live at Haverford College
Customs groups and the first-year halls
There is no roommate request and no hall request at Haverford. Students fill out a Housing Questionnaire, and the Customs Committee uses it to build Customs groups — ten to twenty first-years with similar living styles, placed together in one of four buildings with their Customs leaders. Most first-years get a single room, though some doubles happen, and everyone is on the Traditional meal plan. Every bedroom on campus has air conditioning.
The landmark 1877 building at the center of campus, four residential floors of singles, doubles, and triples off wide carpeted hallways, with window A/C units, a microwave and sink in each central space, and laundry in the basement.
Three stories split into nine separate sections, three per floor, and all single rooms — the most private of the first-year options. Room numbers read section-floor-room, so 234 is section 2, floor 3, room 4. Window A/C, a microwave per section.
Part of the North Dorms with Lunt and Comfort, four stories of four suites each — singles and doubles arranged around shared suite space. Compact rooms (about 8' × 10'), window A/C, a microwave on every floor.
A two-story building of single bedrooms opening onto wide hallways, with built-in bookshelves and armoires. One of only two buildings on campus with central air rather than room units, plus two laundry rooms per floor and two kitchen areas.
Each group gets a team of upper-class leaders — Customs People, Upperclass Advisors, and peer mentors covering academics, health, and identity-based support. They run the five days of Customs Week before classes and remain the group's first point of contact all year.
The Haverford College move-in checklist
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Bedding6
Bath5
Laundry4
Storage & organization6
Desk & study4
Electronics6
Cleaning5
Kitchen — within the rules5
Health & meds4
Clothing — see the seasonal guide7
Move-in day go-bag5
Your items
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Haverford logistics, sorted
How to send a package to a Haverford student
Haverford College
370 Lancaster Avenue
Haverford, PA 19041-1392
The Honor Code is not decorative
You're really enrolling in two colleges
Haverford & around
The arboretum, the Duck Pond & the Nature Trail
The whole campus is an accredited arboretum, ringed by a mile-plus crushed-stone Nature Trail that students walk, run, and use as a shortcut. The Duck Pond and the black squirrels are Haverford institutions in their own right.
Ardmore & Bryn Mawr
Lancaster Avenue strings the Main Line towns together — Suburban Square in Ardmore for groceries, restaurants, and a Trader Joe's; Bryn Mawr for the movie theater, the college, and the Blue Bus that gets you there free.
Philadelphia
SEPTA's Paoli/Thorndale Line stops at Haverford station on the edge of campus and reaches 30th Street and Center City in about 20–25 minutes. Museums, the Italian Market, and a real city, without needing a car.
The Blue Bus, SEPTA & PHL
Between the free Bi-Co Blue Bus to Bryn Mawr, the Tri-Co van to Swarthmore, and regional rail, first-years rarely need a car. Philadelphia International is about 30 minutes by car, or a train connection through Center City.
Where to stay near Haverford College
The Radnor Hotel
~10 min driveA comfortable independent hotel in St. Davids with gardens and a restaurant — the standard Main Line choice for college weekends, and the one most Haverford families land on.
The Wayne Hotel
~15 min driveA restored 1906 hotel in the middle of Wayne's walkable downtown, steps from restaurants and the train — small, so it books far ahead.
City Avenue hotels
~15–20 minThe cluster along City Avenue in Bala Cynwyd — Hilton, Homewood Suites, Courtyard — has the volume when the Main Line is full, and puts you between campus and Philadelphia.
Haverford College gear & gifts
Haverford College — links & contacts
- Office of Residential Life: hc-reslife@haverford.edu
- Phone: 610-896-1298