How is housing done at stanford for freshman year? And for the years after?
Also, if I put down I want to be in an all frosh dorm, how likely am I to get it? I’ve heard that the four class dorms aren’t as social, and I really want a social all freshman environment. Would being put in four class mean I’m missing out on the freshman experience and that I’m not meeting as many people?
You don’t get to choose your roommate(s) freshman year or preference specific dorms (i.e. Wilbur vs Stern). This process is pretty different from other years. You’ll likely get all frosh although there will be some people who don’t get it despite ranking it number one. Your experience wont be the same as someone in an all frosh dorm but you’ll still experience similar things. I’ve heard before that Roble, one of the four-class options, technically has more freshmen in it than most all-frosh dorms. They’re just diluted by all the upperclassmen so you interact with fewer on a day-to-day basis.
After freshman year you go through this process called “the draw.” It’s basically a lottery system. You have three tier options (tier 1, 2, and 3). You can’t use the same tier twice but do get to choose what tier to use when. Most people choose tier 3 (the worst tier) when they go abroad so it only affects 2 quarters of on-campus housing. Most people also save tier 1 (the best tier) for senior year.
Each tier comes with a number range (tier 1 is 1-999, tier 2 is 1000-1999 etc.) You pick your tier and get randomly assigned a draw number within that tier range. Lower numbers are better. You can draw alone or in a group and can choose your roommate unlike in freshman year. You then get to rank as many places as you want. These include specific dorms and specific room types (i.e. 1. Roble Single 2. Kimball Single 3. Roble Two Room Double etc.). It’s in your best interest to rank quite a few places because if you don’t get a top choice they keep going down the list. Basically, the person with draw number 1 can choose pretty much any dorm and room, draw 2 goes next, etc. There’s a computer algorithm to go through it all.
You can skip the bulk of the draw by “pre-assigning” to a themed dorm. In this case you apply to live somewhere, usually by writing a few short essays and demonstrating your interest in the theme. Pre-assigning is a great way to get nice housing by using a worse tier and avoiding most of the draw. For example, if you were to “draw into” some dorms they take tier 2, but if you were to pre-assign it would take tier 3 (for the exact same dorm and room type- if not a better room type). You’ll hear all about how the draw and pre-assigning work at the start of spring quarter freshman year.