Juniors currently studying abroad who requested on-campus housing on either West or Central campus were informed of their housing assignments last week via e-mail.
Out of the 494 juniors confirmed to return next semester 238 requested on-campus housing. In their on-campus housing applications, students included preferred living locations and the name of a specified roommate, if they requested a double room.
Sixty-six pairs of students who designated a roommate were assigned a double and seven pairs have not yet been assigned a room location. Ninety-five students who requested single rooms were given their assignment and eight students have not yet been assigned a single-room location, said Marijean Williams, director of housing assignments and communications at Residence Life and Housing Services.
When assigning rooms, RLHS prioritized students' indicated roommate pairings over their preferred living locations, she said.
"They may have been matched with their preferred roommate, but many have gotten their fifth or sixth location preference," Williams added.
Room assignments were dependent upon when students sent in their housing applications, she said, adding that although the official deadline was Oct. 31, some students are still sending them in.
In an e-mail sent to all juniors who are currently studying abroad by RLHS before the housing application deadline, administrators stressed that it may be safer for juniors to apply for off-campus housing if having their preferred roommate is a top priority, Williams said.
Several juniors who requested on-campus housing said they were pleased with their housing assignments.
Junior Melanie Tannenbaum, who is currently studying aboard in Madrid wrote in an e-mail that she requested a two-bedroom apartment on Central, but was assigned a one-bedroom with her preferred roommate.
"Considering what was available, I think we're pretty lucky, especially after that e-mail that was sent out to all abroad students saying there was a really slim chance that any of us would get to live with the roommates we wanted," she said.
Several juniors, however, said they felt the wording of RLHS' e-mail pressured them to live off campus.
"I wish I could have stayed on campus another year, but the housing lottery seemed too risky to bother with," junior Erin Lewis wrote in an e-mail from Paris.
The intent of the e-mail was not to scare juniors away from living on campus, but rather to remind them that they may not receive their first-choice roommate or location through the on-campus process, Williams said.
"We were just trying to let them know what the circumstances were so that they could make an informed decision that would best meet their needs," she said, adding that all students who did not enter the off-campus lottery are bound to their on-campus housing assignments at this point.
RLHS is developing a new system to open up more on-campus rooms by allowing juniors to live off campus in both the fall and spring semesters, Williams said, noting that the goal is to have this new system in place by 2010.
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