<p>How does the housing lottery work? Has it started already or will it start after the 7th of May? Does it matter whether my application is in today or is it OK as long as it's by the 7th? </p>
<p>And from experience, if you select a roommate as an incoming freshman:
1. Will they always assign you a room with that roommate?
2. Does it improve your chances of getting into your requested double?</p>
<p>It does not matter when you submit it as long as it is before the deadline.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Yes, IF your proposed roommate also requests you.</p></li>
<li><p>No.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Asking for a roommate in fact hurts your chances for getting into a double.</p>
<p>The way the lottery works:</p>
<p>Each person is assigned a number.
The person who gets #1 is then placed in their first choice for housing.
Then they go to the next person (#2) and place them in their first choice for housing, so on and so forth.
If at any point someone's first choice is full, they go to their second choice. If their second choice is full, they go to their third. etc</p>
<p>However if you request a roommate, the higher of your two numbers is used to determine when you are placed in a room. So even if you get #1, if your friend gets #2019, you will be bumped down to his number. So in fact you have a lower chance of getting the room you want if you select a roommate.</p>