<p>My freshman son just received lottery #245 - I think that's a good one but will it get him into an apartment? What do you think his options are?</p>
<p>Are they already doing the lottery for next fall? Did they say anything about the new freshman dorm that is supposed to be opening? I assume you got this because your son has confirmed that he is attending – but it seems quite early to be doing housing assignments.</p>
<p>He is currently a freshman - that is his lottery # for sophomore year.</p>
<p>Ah, that makes sense. Thanks.</p>
<p>From what I understand, usually just juniors get the apartments. I think he would probably be able to get a suite in Panther or Pennsylvania hall. There are very few five person suites but more 3 and 4 person suites between those two dorms. See my post in the other lottery question. This PDF gives a lot of information on which dorm has what configuration of rooms. I would highly recommend these two upper campus dorms. They are very nice and a great view. <a href=“http://www.pc.pitt.edu/housing/documents/HousingSelectionBrochure.pdf[/url]”>http://www.pc.pitt.edu/housing/documents/HousingSelectionBrochure.pdf</a></p>
<p>The number 245 may be low enough to get into a 2 or 3-person apartment in Ruskin.</p>
<p>What about the oakwood apartments? I havent heard much about them - do they go fast as well?
I’m still a bit confused about the whole lottery system. When it is my son’s time to choose, Is there some sort of real-time list that shows you what is currently left to pick from (kind of like open seats in a class) and the exact locations (like “apt. 305 in ruskin” for example), or do you just put in for a 3 person apartment anywhere? Do you know right away if you got what you asked for? Do you have 1st, 2nd and 3rd choices like when he signed up for freshman housing?<br>
Sorry for all the questions - I just don’t get it.</p>
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<p>They’re on Atwood, incredibly old, and the building is small. I haven’t known anyone who ever stayed there (although obviously SOMEONE did at some point). There is also Centre-Plaza apartments down on Centre Ave near the grocery store. Those are also older and tend to be left around because you have to rely on the shuttle to get anywhere near campus in a reasonable amount of time.</p>
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<p>The former. Whomever in his group has the lowest number is the decider for the group (i.e. if three boys A, B, C have numbers 245, 678, and 3299, boy A will be logging on to pick their rooming since they used boy A’s lottery number). Be aware that boy A will need to know the meal plan preferences for both boy B and C when they choose housing (and I can’t remember if he would also need to know boys B and C’s peoplesoft ID number, but it may be good to have). He will essentially see a list of all the apartment/suite buildings and which exact room numbers are remaining to be picked for each building. </p>
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<p>Yes. Say Boy A goes online and there are rooms left in Ruskin, Panther and PA. He picks Ruskin. Apartments 206, 314, 517, and 609 are left. He clicks on 517 and puts in his name and boys B and C. They are now living in 517 for next year.</p>
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<p>Technically all the rooms still available when you go to select housing are your options. There’s no ranking. You just log on, click on the available buildings/rooms and call it a day.</p>
<p>I will add that you may be able to predict ahead of time what kind of room you can get. Panther Central will release the list of apartment/suite lottery people (in order) about 1-2 weeks ahead of when you pick your room. You could count you spot in that list, count the number of apartments available, and know whether or not you can get an apartment in the building you want.</p>
<p>So when he fills out housing paperwork does he indicate he wants a 3 person apartment, then he goes on a list, then they release the “winners”?
What happens if you lose?</p>
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<p>Exactly so. He grabs a form from Panther Central that he and his friends fill out with their information including lottery number. They have to give it back before a certain deadline. PC sorts through all the forms to create the list of winners who can pick apt/suite housing. If they are on it, they will see a time when the person with the lowest lottery number (their person A from my previous post) can pick their housing.</p>
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If they lose, they will go through housing as single people picking a bed in a room. They may get lucky and find 3 beds in a 7-person suite or something, but it’s a person-by-person basis <em>I believe</em>. You should ask PC about that.</p>
<p>And if they don’t make the apt/suite list, it’s possible that they still get a suite because some people end up going off-campus and PC goes to the wait list. That’s how my soph ds got his 4 person suite in PA Hall.</p>
<p>I think if they don’t get an apt. or suite, they’ll go off campus. The sophomores choose housing in mid-march and the housing deposit is refundable until april 15th.
When does the list of apt/suite winners come out? Is there one list for both juniors and sophomores?</p>
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<p>Feb. 20 at 5 pm</p>
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<p>Yes it is one list because sometimes sophomores and juniors room together, so you can’t separate the list by year.</p>
<p>Makes sense. Thanks for all of the info!</p>
<p>Do most sophomores and juniors participate in this lottery? Still trying to get a handle on the Pitt housing.</p>
<p>You are guaranteed 3 years of housing if you pay your deposit by the date required. The lottery is done every year for housing in the fall. If you want to move off campus, then you don’t participate in the lottery (for sophomores/juniors).</p>
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<p>Most sophomores probably yes. By junior year, a good portion of people have moved off campus, so it seems to be a smaller number. I’d guess that a huge chunk of Panther/PA and the quad are comprised of sophomores, while Ruskin/Bouquet tend to be more Juniors.</p>