<p>Before the housing lottery, we had a system where, essentially, residence life just picked names and put them in dorms. Sure, we could indicate preferences, but nothing was guaranteed. There was a quote in the Justice from the housing director at Tufts at the time, who said "If I had to run the housing system at Brandeis, I'd probably kill myself." I wish I had saved that issue of the Justice.</p>
<p>Remember to take all tours of dorm rooms with a grain of salt. They'll never show a "Lofted Triple" (or whatever they're called now), they'll never show an older dorm, they'll never show a messy dorm... it's always made up, perfect, spacious, and clean. This applies everywhere, not just Brandeis. So remember - just because you saw a nice, clean dorm at another school, it doesn't mean you'll get it.</p>
<p>The new Brandeis dorms should be nice, though it's a shame to lose Ridgewood. I lived there my sophomore and senior years. It was a terrible waste of space, but they felt so cozy and "home-y".</p>
<p>I lived in Ridgewood as a freshman way back in the early 80s, and I'm sorry to see it go as well.</p>
<p>When I was a student, the housing lottery was actually very well organized and pretty fair. Basically freshman got assigned housing and the rest was handed out on a seniority basis, with the "lottery" only being used to choose among students of equal seniority. </p>
<p>This usually meant that sophomores got the worst housing and seniors got the best.</p>
<p>Actually we did see a lofted triple on our housing tour last year. But in general, you're right about how most schools present their housing options. Doubt that any of them mention "provisional" housing.</p>
<p>let me tell you -- the fact that they give priority in terms of housing based on when they get your matriculation deposit is NO joke! i might just be bitter (i have since transferred from brandeis), but as a freshman i was put in a lofted triple in the most run-down freshman dorm... and i mailed my decision and deposit the very last possible day, one minute before the post office closed. i still think it's a way to punish people who are on the fence about going to brandeis. it might also be no coincidence that 6 people out of my freshman hall applied to transfer...</p>