The lottery process is not going online.
For the 2013-2014 housing lottery, Michael Robbins and the Office of Residence Life will be using the Internet for part of the process, but the digital variation will not drastically change the McDaniel’s lottery.
“Literally the only thing that’s different is you don’t have to wait in line for a piece of paper,” said Robbins, Director of Residence Life. “There will be no more paper bags.”
Instead the ‘number choosing’ part of the process will take place over Spring Break.
Robbins will separate students who paid their housing deposit on time into three groups. These groups will be for the different classes: 2014, 2015 and 2016. The students in each group with be alphabetized and then, using a random number generator, each person will be assigned a number. 1-500 will be for 2014, 501-1000 for 2015, and 1001-1500 for 2016.
“Of course you still can’t trade numbers because we’re the ones who know who has which number,” Robbins said.
The closer the number you have is to 1, the better your odds. If you are applying for housing as a double or living with a group, the lowest number can be used. There will be unused numbers for each list that will be saved in case someone’s class year isn’t finalized at the time of this process.
Once the lists are complete and all students have been assigned a number, the document will be posted to OrgSync. The remainder of the lottery process will continue as in previous years, with all residence buildings having nights for manual room choices.
Robbins said Residence Life had considered using a random number generator a few years ago, but after holding a focus group, students decided that the old process with long lines, slips of paper, and large brown bags was better.
“People liked the good luck rituals that came with drawing a random number out of the bags,” he said. “If I hadn’t been requested to use the ‘better’ way, it could have happened sooner.”
Information on the housing lottery, including all necessary forms, is available on OrgSync but here is a run down of the most important information:
- The lottery process is dependent on paying the deposit on time, graduation date and lottery number.
- A deposit of $200 is due by Friday, March 15 to be eligible for the housing lottery and there can be no outstanding fees or charges on the student’s account. Deposits paid after this date put students on a housing waiting list and prevent them from getting a housing assignment until July.
- In order to select a room during the lottery process, students need to be able to fill it to capacity, which means students do need to have a roommate in mind. Stop by Roommate Match night on April 23rd, at 8 pm in Baker Memorial Chapel to meet a roommate.
- There are two Housing Selection information sessions coming up, one on April 9 and one on April 16, both at 7 pm in Hill Hall 104. These sessions will discuss Single Room Selection and the General Lottery.
- There is also an information session on March 26 at 7 pm in Baker Memorial Chapel to cover the lottery processes for North Village and the Garden Apartments.
For all other information, check out OrgSync. <http://mcdaniel.orgsync.com/org/officeofresidencelife/home>
