THE SIMON'S ROCK LOTTERY

Many have recently received an utterly confounding email recently detailing the “Housing Lottery & Selection 2019-2020 Academic Year”. While these emails are oftentimes immensely confusing, dense, and occasionally borderline incomprehensible, do not fear, for here is a summarized translation of what all of this means from a certified veteran of the Housing Lottery process:

The first thing you should know is that the lottery is exactly as it sounds. Essentially, students are designated a randomized lottery number skewed by their year and credit count. The lower this number, the better. If a student decides to participate in the lottery, they must come to one of the lotteries at the time and place specified for the housing they are trying for. Students may participate in the lottery for the following housing: Lake Mansfield Biber, Handelman, and Harper, Cottage, Checker Chance, Orchard-3, Pibly and the Mods, and lastly Carriage. Any other dorms such as Hill and all the tri-dorms are left as options for students who default, which will be elaborated on shortly.

For all group housing, every participant’s lottery number is added together and their housing is then decided based off of that number. They must also turn in a form by the relevant deadline detailing their group, which comes before the actual lottery for their chosen housing. For Carriage, the only standard dorm option, one must likewise apply with their given roommate or roommates.

If one does not get their desired housing in the lottery, they default, which means that their housing will be decided by Campus Life over the summer. One can tailor their preferences via a form that will be sent out sometime during the summer which will be taken into account when assigning housing. One can request a roommate, a single, dorms tiered in order of preference, and other specifics. While they are taken into account, no preferences are guaranteed to be provided.

If you have any sort of accommodations, be sure to provide all documentation by the due date specified in the email (the end of this month). Accessibility accommodations are most certainly taken into account when deciding housing.

Those are the solid details, but here are some other, looser details that are, nonetheless, helpful:

Rising sophomores oftentimes default due to their inherently low lottery numbers. However, it is not unheard of for them to get into higher dorms such as the Mods with other upperclassmen. That said, such arrangements are rare and inadvisable to rely on. Most sophomores typically go to Carriage, while some move to Hill or stay in the Tri-Dorms. If one applies to Carriage, they are almost guaranteed the room of their choice due to it hardly being a reach, so if one wishes to play it safe that is always an option.

While this is an understandably stressful process, do not wait to figure out your arrangements. The more thoughtful during and certain of your decision the better it will be, even if your plans end up failing. Rarely is one certain of where exactly they will be living, so the closest you can get to it the better.

For reference, here are some brief descriptions of the main dorms available in the lottery:

• Carriage: Carriage, which resides on upper campus is typically considered the Sophomore dorm, and is where most Sophomores go if they default. In the interior it is fairly nice, and is generally considered a step up from any of the Tri-Dorms. It has mostly doubles, with some singles and a couple triples.
• Mods: Apartment-style housing on lower campus intended for mostly Juniors and Seniors. Sophomores can get in, but the chances are low and instances are rare. They are generally considered the nicest housing on campus, and they have a living area with a kitchen alongside two singles and one double.
• Pibly: Apartment-style housing on upper campus. Is considered good housing, and is mostly intended for Juniors and Seniors, with occasional Sophomores. Has a kitchenette and three singles.

Angus Finn MacLeod

Angus is the Director of Opinions and Humor for The Weekly Cad.