Hi Everyone,

We get a lot of questions this time of year about how lottery numbers are generated.  Here’s the basic process:

1. Data clean-up - fix mismatched roommate pairs, blocks, etc.
2. Assign a 6-digit random number to each “unit” in the lottery.  (An individual person trying for a single is a “unit,” a pair trying for a double is a “unit,” a block is a “unit,” etc.)
3. Look at each type of lottery (singles, triples, doubles/apartments) and sort the units based on seniority and then the 6-digit random number.
4. Start counting down the list of people - so, within the singles lottery, the person with the highest seniority and the lowest 6-digit number gets lottery number 1, etc.
5. For the online-processes, take small batches of people of each gender (so, for singles, take the first 10 men and the first 10 women) and assign them to a lottery “group.”

This year things got even more complicated.  For Substance Free and East Meets West we had a few more steps.  First, we counted how many of each room type is available, by gender.  We then took the applicants (sorted by seniority and the 6-digit random number) and stared counting people to spaces.  So, if there were ten male singles in an area, the first ten men were given lottery numbers for the area.  The remaining men were put back into the general lottery (or had a chance at another area, if they had applied for multiple).  In agreement with Campus Council’s recommendations, these areas were kept to ~40% senior/junior and ~60% sophomore.  So it is possible that juniors who wanted an area did not get it while sophomores did.  In the end, students who get a lottery number for one of these areas are guaranteed to be able to pick within them.

Picking online:  Substance Free, East Meets West, singles, triples, rising sophomore doubles.

Picking in-person: Rising senior and junior doubles/apartments.

Students who are selecting online received a lottery “group” number.  Lottery groups have ~10-12 people of each gender in them (so 20-24 people total, but only 12 people that you need to be worried about).  We use 12 as the upper limit due to single gender blocks of 12.  Lottery numbers and group numbers correspond to specific selection times.  We will post the selection schedule early next week.

Groups for Substance Free begin with #101.  Groups for East Meets West begin with #201.  Groups for triples begin with #301 (each triple group only has one roommate set of each gender in each group).  Groups for singles begin with #401.  Groups for rising sophomore doubles begin with #601.

Students who are selecting in-person received an individual number (each person in a pair or in a block has a number). Pairs/blocks will have consecutive lottery numbers.  Male numbers begin with M1-D, female numbers begin with F1-D.  The D just denotes that the number is for the doubles/apartment in-person lottery.

Hi Everyone,

As part of the Central Campus renewal project, we are reviewing opportunities to reconfigure the interiors of apartments.  We hope to create more apartments where each student will be able to have their own bedroom.

In anticipation of this project, 301 Oregon (twelve 2-bedroom suites) will not be available during RoomPicks 2009.  If the proposed renovations are approved, this building will be offline for the summer and fall, and will reopen in Spring 2010.  If the renovations are not approved or are scheduled for later in the project, we will allow students to request reassignment to 301 Oregon as part of the upperclass reassignments process over the summer.

We are excited about the opportunity to update our apartment offerings and appreciate your patience and cooperation as the Central Campus renewal project continues!