Residence hall lottery deadline approaches

By Melissa Gonzalez

For the Daily

Students living in residence halls are preparing to enter the lottery for rooms for next year.

University Housing is advising students wanting to secure a spot for the fall semester to pick up a registration card at the front desk of their current residence hall by March 7.

Housing then randomly selects cards to determine the order applicants pick their rooms.

LSA freshman Jeff Homuth said he is fairly comfortable with the current system. "I'm just hoping we get the dorm we want. I'm hoping to room with my current roommate in South Quad. I'm pretty confidant," he said.

Unlike the two days available last year to enter the housing lottery, students have more than two weeks this year to enter the drawing. After receiving a personal time slot, students visit the Student Activities Building at a designated time to chose a room and sign a lease.

Residence Hall Association President Jason Taylor said the extended time period will not cause students to rush as much.

But students who miss the drawing are not completely without hope. After the March 7 deadline, students can enter a "last chance" housing sign-up opportunity on March 23 and 24, which includes those students living in off-campus housing who desire to live on-campus.

The random drawing does not allow for seniority among those students living in residence halls. "I thought it was first-come first-serve, but it is a lottery system so I have until March 7," Homuth said. "Seems pretty fair, but it is still confusing."

Taylor said one advantage of the University's housing lottery in comparison to other schools is that those wanting to remain in their room or in the same hall have priority over others.

After registering for the drawing, results will be posted March 10 on the Internet. Females choose rooms on March 14 and males choose rooms March 15.

Although there is a lot of information to know before registering, Taylor said "the best part is that it is all on the Web." All information regarding registration can be found on University Housing's Website at www.housing.umich.edu.

But some students said the process for securing a room can be frustrating at times.

"It was complicated," said LSA sophomore Elaine Wong, who said she is not applying for a room for the fall. "I lived in housing last year and I live in a triple right now, but we had a tough time getting a room. I guess maybe if they had an adviser in the dorm where students could get information it would be better, but we didn't have a clear idea of what and how to choose a room."

"I think the problem is that there is so much information to swallow," Taylor said, adding that RHA is always gathering input from residents on how to improve the reapplication process.