Early release of housing numbers has pros and cons

Though many students were pleased with Office of Residential Life's earlier release of housing lottery numbers this year, the decision may have in fact made finding housing more difficult for juniors.

This year the number of juniors who were allowed to live on campus was at a record low, though many past problems have been avoided, according to Yolanda King, head of the Office of Residential Life (ResLife).

"Due to lottery numbers being out early, the class of '05 had accurate information to assist in the selection process," King said. Rising juniors were able to start looking earlier, knowing that they needed to find off-campus housing.

However, the solution of issuing housing numbers earlier may have actually aggravated the crunch. All sophomores were searching for off campus housing in the fall, instead of just the ambitious ones, thus pressurizing the search process.

"Because of all the hype about not getting houses, more people have started to look earlier, and consequently there has been increased stress about the whole issue," Sarah Freeman, a rising junior, said about her long search for an off-campus house.

The release of this year's housing numbers raises serious questions about the future availability of on-campus housing for juniors. Though the number of senior spots went up from 551 to 687, those allotted for juniors dropped from 228 to 141.

This leaves about only 12 percent of the rising junior class with on-campus housing, compared with about 58 percent of seniors. Seventy of the 141 junior spots were assigned in special interest houses and on-campus apartments, leaving 71 beds available to rising juniors in the now completed housing lottery.

But the Off-Campus Housing Office, one of the services available to rising juniors and seniors, recently appointed a full-time coordinator, Donna Rodriguez, to assist students in their search for living. It also employs knowledgeable students to aid those seeking help, and they have been able to develop materials referencing many types of off-campus housing for students.

"The Off-Campus Housing Office has worked well for all students. The fact that the OCH office is available to rising juniors has made the transition from on-campus to off-campus housing more feasible," Rodriguez said.

Many rising upperclassmen took advantage of the appointment times and walk-in services that the OCH provided, and many have called back with success stories, according to ResLife.

As students have tried to sidestep the housing lottery in recent years, special interest housing has become more popular. "It seems that students are becoming more and more interested in living in special interest housing for a couple of reasons - they enjoy the smaller, more intimate communities, and value the different themes that are available," King said.

Although special interest housing is a good way to stay on campus, students are selected for this housing based on the ways that they can contribute to the community. "A person doesn't need to be international or from a certain country. They just have to contribute," freshman Emilio Commotti said about the International House, which has recently become a popular place to live.

Rising juniors who did not receive on-campus housing through the student lottery are able to sign up for the waitlist in the ResLife until Thursday, Apr. 17. They will be put on the wait list in order of their assigned lottery numbers.