Housing selection in full swing

By February 14th, students interested in living in on-campus housing next year submitted a housing application and $100 deposit. Each of these students' names will now all be given to the CCC, which will use a computer program to randomly pick a lottery number for each name. Those lottery numbers will then be appearing in those students' mailboxes on the 21st.

The actual housing selection will be on Tuesday, March 20th, for Fuller and Ellsworth apartments, and on Thursday, March 22nd, for everywhere else on campus. This way, students who are hoping to get certain spots in Ellsworth and Fuller, but are not able to, will still have time to contemplate what other on-campus options would like to pursue.

Students who wish to optimize their chances of getting the housing they want will be organizing themselves into groups of people with whom they'd like to live next year. This way, they will have a greater chance of having a high number as whoever in a group gets the highest number will be able to bring the whole group in to sign up together when his or her number comes up on selection day.

Tracy Cree, Associate Director of Residential Services and coordinator of the housing selection process, said that this year the selection days for Ellsworth and Fuller apartments and the rest of the campus are being held two days apart because many students in the past have found themselves in a bind if they opted for an on-campus apartment, but were not able to get what they wanted and were then short on alternatives. This way Residential Services hopes to reduce the number of people who end up on a waitlist over the summer, hoping that someone else will withdraw their application (for a fee) and choose to live off-campus or not return at all. Nevertheless, people who end up on this waitlist usually end up getting lucky and finding a place on campus anyway. It's mainly just an issue of preference-those students who have an idea of where they want to live will benefit from planning ahead of time and being informed of their options.

Ms. Cree also recommends that students bring something to do, such as homework, a hand-held games, or books to read, while they wait for their number to be called.

Students looking for more help with the housing selection process can refer to the yellow "Housing Selection Process 2001" booklets, available at Residential Services, across from Daniels. Additional information is also available online at http://www.wpi.edu/Admin/RSO/, and students are always free to call Residential Services at extension 5645 if they have any questions.