<p>So it’s about that time of year to be thinking about housing options for next year. I think I’m going to submit as an 8 man. Can somebody further explain how the whole housing process and lottery system works? I’m on Newton right now so as long as I don’t get placed on College Road, I’ll be happy. What are the best dorms to live in as a sophomore?</p>
<p>Let me start with this:
1/3 of freshman will find sophomore housing easy and fun
1/3 of freshman won’t really care
and
1/3 of freshman will find housing to be the worst experience of their lives.</p>
<p>I fall into the latter category.</p>
<p>Basically, everyone will try to find 7 other people to live with and that’s the best idea. If you don’t start with 8, the chances of you getting good housing are slim to none at best. You have one group leader that is in charge of everything. They put everyone’s eagle id #s into the reslife program and then the computer randomly generates a pick-time for each group. The first day is 8man pick day. I knew a lot of people who didn’t get a pick time including myself. If you want to live in Vandy or 90 you will need to get a pick-time that is within the first 2 hours of the day so from 4-6. The rest all end up in Walsh. One thing freshman don’t realize (myself included last year) is that there are a good amount of sophomores (going to be juniors next year) that also submit this day and end up in Vandy or 90. If you have an upperclassman in your room you are much more likely to get a room here.</p>
<p>So, if you don’t get a time for 8man day most people split into 2 blocked rooms of 4 for 4man day. The 4mans in Walsh kind of suck, since they are basically like 2 bedrooms with an oversized closet but you get your own bathroom which is nice. So then your leader will submit your information again, and reslife with email you with a pick-time if you get one. Last year the system crashed on this day and it was a mess but hopefully they will be a little more organized this year.</p>
<p>Then, if you don’t get a 4man, you can either kick 2 people out of your group to go for a 6man or find 1 random person to go for a 9man. This is the day that ruins friendships. My group went for a 9man but there are only like 5 or 6 of them? And then there are maybe 8 6mans so the chances of getting a pick-time on this day are slim. However at this time there are maybe only like 50% of sophomores left so you have about the same odds on this day as on the day for 8mans.</p>
<p>Finally, about 40% of freshman are stuck choosing housing on the last day. If you get a pick-time within the first hour or 2 you can live in 66 which is really nice, on lower, but tradition hall style. The rest will end up on College Road or in Greycliff. College Road really isn’t that terrible, about 25% of the sophomore class lives there. It’s not a step down from freshman housing at all, if anything it’s a little bit of a step up. It’s just not quite as big of a step as lower campus is.</p>
<p>On the ResLife calendar it says that there are 8 mans in 110 St. Thomas More, 90 St. Thomas More, Vanderslice, and Walsh. Are sophomores allowed to live in all of these? How would you rank them from best to worst?</p>
<p>I lived in Edmonds in my sophomore year. I applied for a substance/alcohol free floor or whatever with 3 other guys and we made it.</p>
<p>D lived in Vanderslice with a group of 8 in her sophmore year. They loved it…convenient to everything on lower and they had the top floor end…great views! They were supposed to be on College Road and cleared the wait list for lower during the summer!</p>
<p>What exactly is blocking? Does that mean two separate groups of roommates will be placed next to each other for housing next year?</p>
<p>Yes. Blocking, in practical terms, is when you don’t qualify for an 8-man, and to suffice in the next round you creat a blocked group of two 4-mans.</p>
<p>Can you block two 8 mans?</p>
<p>Yes you can.</p>
<p>I lived in Walsh my sophomore year (before they put in ‘security’), and I loved it. I got an 8 man, and the process was very simple. It gets stressful if you don’t get an 8 man, then a 4 man, then a 6 man, etc.</p>
<p>But college road is NOT the end of the world. You’ll survive. 90 and Vandy are the best, but every dorm has it’s upsides and downsides. </p>
<p>Basically all of what ready2go4 said, except I think it’s about 50% are happy, 25% neutral, 25% livid. But people also drastically overreact about the process, and even finding an 8/4/6 man is stressful since it involves splitting your group of friends into even numbers.</p>