Arrival & Your New Home
Arrival & Check-In
Students will be able to check in to their Fall 2026 residence halls and rooms on Wednesday, Aug. 26. We’ll send an assigned check-in time to your Whitman email as the date gets closer.
Families who need overnight accommodations in Walla Walla are encouraged to make reservations as soon as possible. Find information about nearby lodging, restaurants and activities and other helpful tips about traveling to Whitman.
Housing Survey & Assignments
At Whitman, new students are matched with other incoming students to form roommate pairs who live together in a double room their first year. In mid-May, you’ll receive an email with a link to our housing survey.
In early August, you will receive your room and roommate assignments by both email and a mailed letter.
More About the Survey
You’ll be asked about a variety of preferences, from how late you like to stay up to how tidy you prefer to keep your room. It will help you think about what you’re looking for in a roommate, as well as allow you to indicate which halls you would prefer to live in.
Explore Whitman’s first-year halls. Photos, videos, details, etc. All four first-year residence halls are great places to live!
Why don’t I have the option to choose my own roommate? We match roommates to create a more inclusive community and based on lifestyle habits to help make for a smooth start to college life. You might not live with your best friend right away, but college is about learning and growing. You’ll get the chance to meet someone new, learn from each other and maybe even build a friendship that will last for years to come.
Residence Hall Teams
Our residence halls are more than a group of students living together—they are a community. Your hall section is led by a Resident Assistant (RA), who is a student like you. RAs plan section events and gatherings to ease your transition to college and help connect all the students living in your area. Each hall also has a Resident Director (RD) or a Community Director (CD)—professional staff members who live and work in the hall to support students.
Mailing Services & Shipping Boxes
You will be assigned a mailbox at the post office in the Reid Campus Center when you arrive, but your mailbox number does not need to be included in your address.
If you need to send boxes to Whitman ahead of your arrival, please ship them using the address shown below. Please do not ship items more than two weeks before the beginning of the semester. You can pick up your packages on Move-In Day, Wednesday, Aug. 26, at Reid Campus Center.
Your Mailing Address
Your mailing address while enrolled at Whitman is:
Your Name
Whitman College
280 Boyer Ave.
Walla Walla, WA 99362
Meal Plans
Our food service is provided by Bon Appétit. You can learn more about our on-campus dining options, view menus and read about our Flex Dollars meal plans on Bon Appétit’s Resident Meal Plans page.
Will You Need a Car?
Whitman strongly recommends that new students do not bring vehicles to campus. Most students find they don’t need them. Parking is also limited. Campus is within walking distance to downtown, a grocery store, restaurants and coffee shops.
Walla Walla has affordable public transit and is bike- and pedestrian-friendly. The college offers a free bike-share program and has an on-campus bike repair shop. Thanks to a new Whitman car-share program launching this summer, students can access electric vehicles for hourly use. There are ride- sharing services in town—to catch a ride from our local airport, for example.
The college also coordinates bus services to Seattle, Portland and Pasco during academic breaks (see below). The Grape Line Shuttle also offers service to the Pasco airport. These suggestions align with Whitman’s commitment to sustainability. For more information, visit the Transportation page.