<p>:P no guarantees. hope you get EC though, we'd love to have ya.</p>
<p>It's really just going to be a lot easier to list your real preferences, then switch in the adjustment lottery if you feel you'd like to be adjusted.</p>
<p>From the CPW, I think Baker is a nice place to live. However, I heard that Baker has parties very often. It sounds fun but does that distract people from studying?</p>
<p>parties? what parties? maybe on the 6th floor... Baker is pretty quiet actually ;/
However loudness is probably one of the correct stereotype you are intended to have, if we are to get the proper people to come to the dorms, including good-looking female engineers</p>
<p>So if list</p>
<p>1) McCormick
2) Macgregor
3) Burton Connor</p>
<p>Does that increase my chances of getting into McCormick?</p>
<p>I didn't think McCormick would be one of the more difficult ones to get into, so you have a pretty good chance of getting into it either way.</p>
<p>From what I've heard it's probably not going to do you any good trying to play the system. I tied Baker and MacGregor at #1, and tied Burton-Conner and Simmons at #2. Hopefully I'll land in one of those four (preferably the #1's)</p>
<p>I did hear a story at Theta Xi, from a Spaniard named Luis. Apparently he found out how to 'play the system'.</p>
<p>He wanted a particular dorm (I don't remember what it was, exactly, I'll say Simmons). He starts under the assumption that all Frosh are placed in one of their top three choices. So he goes and ranks McCormick as #1, which "I'll obviously not be placed in", and ranks Baker #2, "so it was the most popular, so I'd never be placed in it anyways, because I've ranked it second and not first. Then I rank my dorm third, and I'm forced to be placed in it."</p>
<p>Interestingly enough, he did get placed in Simmons. The brothers all told him he was a moron, and I should just rank how I really felt. So perhaps it was just a fluke.</p>
<p>-Jared</p>
<p>Haha I considered doing that (with Chocolate House and cultural houses that rejected you), but I assumed the system would simply remove them from your preferences and didn't bother. Oh, and your top 4 choices are the same as mine, only I ordered mine out (in the same order you mentioned them, as it so happens) - maybe we'll end up in the same place next year!</p>
<p>If you put a dorm you aren't eligible for, the system simply ignores it and shifts everything else up. The lottery looks to maximize benefit, though so ranking other popular dorms high can help - but if everybody does this you might just get stuck in your 5th choice by arbitrage, so be careful. Also, don't listen to Luis, he''s a goofoff.</p>
<p>That's cheating, and MIT does not allow that! MIT should place him in his 15th pick ;)</p>
<p>But he cheated ridiculously enough that they can hardly hold it against him. ;)</p>
<p>joke or not, it's not cheating, it's gaming the system, which MIT encourages...
second of all, there is no second of all..</p>
<p>Yes yes, semantics - the point is, he benefited from it only accidentally! Putting dorms above the one you actually want is a poorly conceived idea. No matter his other choices, his legitimate first choice should still have been first!</p>
<p>and it was, probably just excessively popular. From the housing lottery's point of view, he got his second choice. The algorithm cares not for ethics. It won't get back at you for making silly decisions. It does what it does, and second choice means, more or less, happiness achieved.</p>
<p>I don't think it's particularly unethical -- as River Phoenix says, we're not particularly concerned here that anybody follows the rules.</p>
<p>I do think trying to game the housing lottery is potentially counterproductive, as even putting a popular dorm as your first choice doesn't guarantee that you won't get in (obviously, some people do get in). I also think that encouraging lottery gaming will only result in like twenty people posting their "I want to get into Burton-Conner, so I'm going to rank EC first... what are my chances?" lines of thought, which is just going to be completely futile.</p>
<p>It's just a lottery for where your temp room will be. It's not that big a deal.</p>
<p>Besides, if you ALL try to mess with the system you're going to completely change the popularity of the dorms and screw each other over anyway.</p>
<p>Just rank them in the order you actually LIKE them.</p>
<p>Novel idea, huh? =P</p>
<p>i had a question concerning what kind of role a medical note plays in selecting a dorm. i have several severe allergies, including airborne nut allergies and breathing problems due to certain air fresheners, perfumes, paints, and even detergents, and im vegetarian. my doctor suggested that a single with a kitchen nearby would be necessary so i can cook my own food and make sure i keep allergens out of my room, and she wrote a note to that effect. does that essentially guarantee me that kind of room? or am i still sort of thrust into the lottery with everyone else?</p>
<p>If you have a doctor's note, I would assume that would be the most important factor in your assignment.</p>
<p>I mean, it's not like single rooms with kitchens nearby are rare -- if there were five rooms in all the dorms total, you might have a problem, but there are like five hundred.</p>
<p>haha too true...thanks!</p>
<p>Yeah, I decided not to do any fancy "stacking" of the housing lottery - I'm sure I'll be happy with whatever they give me.</p>