In light of last semesters housing lottery and the lack of on-campus housing for then-rising juniors and seniors, students are now scrambling to find off-campus housing for next year. The mad-dash last semester to find housing off campus was so stressful that students started as early as September of this year to avoid being locked out. Next years upperclassmen are afraid that they will not be granted on-campus housing if they do not get a head start in the search, and many current sophomores and juniors are skipping the housing lottery altogether and opting for off-campus living. Even local landlords have noted that students are searching for houses and signing leases much earlier this year than in previous years. Many students have already secured their homes for next year and some have even signed two-year leases to eliminate the housing search entirely.
In a school of over 5,000 students, it is no wonder that housing is a hot commodity and that the use of a lottery appears to be the optimal and most effective way to designate who will live where.
It is understandable that housing cannot be guaranteed, as there are too many students to house on campus, and it is impossible to tell any individual student what his or her chances are for a particular year. Beyond that, we recognize that the housing-assignment process for dorms that are not for seniors only cannot be moved any earlier in the semester, as each incoming freshman class brings a large number of students in need of on-campus housing to the Hill.
Between a one-question survey sent in October asking whether students were looking for on-campus housing for the following year and various information sessions in the fall detailing the process of looking for off-campus housing, the Office of Residential Life and Learning (ResLife) is taking the right steps to accommodate all upperclassmen. Yet additional measures can be taken to give rising juniors and seniors a better idea of where they stand in the lottery, and therefore, whether they can afford to wait until the spring when housing is released.
This system, despite being the most sensible and convenient means for determining student housing, poses challenges for students deciding between on- and off-campus housing. ResLife does not release the average lottery numbers for students, who secured singles or suites in Sophia Gordon Hall or other popular dorms for juniors and seniors, which makes it nearly impossible to determine if a students or groups lottery number is high enough to wait until the spring. Students who wait to find out about on-campus housing risk struggling to find off-campus housing if there is not enough room.
Releasing average lottery numbers from previous years would help students decide whether to wait for the lottery or to take matters into their own hands and look off campus. Holding the lottery for Sophia Gordon Hall earlier in the school year might also help students figure out whether they can live on campus sooner, which would give them more time to find off-campus housing if necessary. Though there are resources available for students looking to live off-campus, more can be done to support them throughout this process.
