By Jessica Weed
A number on a letter delivered to students last week will determine if they will live in an enhanced five-bedroom or an economy one-room triple apartment next year.
Out of the 6,000 students who applied for on-campus housing, 5,300 received their lottery numbers last week, marking the beginning of the process of choosing a place to spend the next semesters of their college careers.
Lottery numbers are computer generated for all eligible rising sophomores and middlers who pay their housing deposits on time, while rising juniors and seniors are randomly chosen to complete the process, according to the housing services Web site, www.housing.neu.edu.
Lottery numbers are based on a point system, with rising seniors receiving the most points and rising sophomores receiving the least.
Marina Iannalfo, associate dean of housing services, said sophomores and middlers are guaranteed housing because the university wants to keep as many young students on campus as possible.
“Since seniors and juniors are closest to graduating, we want them to have priority in selecting the space they want since they have limited time left to enjoy the new buildings if they want to,” Iannalfo said.
Students who are on pending status, lottery numbers 2,316 or higher, are guaranteed housing, Iannalfo said, but won’t be able to choose their own housing. They will be assigned a room before mid-July, she said.
“[Students on pending status] often get rooms in buildings like West Village, and in fact, all buildings. They are assigned based on cancellations, mostly from a student’s change in circumstance like co-ops out of state and study abroad.”
There are over 4,000 beds up for grabs during the lottery in places such as West Village, Coventry and Loftman Hall. While over a thousand more lottery numbers are given out, Iannalfo said, many students make other plans and choose not to live on campus. All students who receive lottery numbers, whether they are “pending” status or not, are guaranteed a spot on campus, Iannalfo said.
Although West Village may appear to be the most popular housing with its abundance of space, central air conditioning and spectacular views of Boston, many students said they are concerned with its hefty price tag and must turn to other places.
Laurel Rowse, a sophomore chemical engineering major, has a lottery number of 767 out of the 2,880 lottery numbers given out to groups of assigned roommates.
“I don’t want to live in West Village because it’s too expensive. I am not going to pay $4,200 for a single either, so I will probably take a look at the leased properties or live in Loftman Hall because they have affordable singles.”
Erin Rasmussen, a sophomore mechanical engineering major, has number 1,227. Rasmussen is looking to live in the new West Village G building, and not in older apartments like the ones on St. Stephen Street.
“When I took a tour last year, the girl who lived there said ‘do not live here if you can help it,'” she said.
Sophomore psychology major David Wright, who was placed in Coventry by Northeastern last year, said he does not want to live in that area again.
“Living on Columbus is a hassle. It’s not that far from the campus, but it’s an inconvenience when you need to get food or see friends that live on the other side of campus.”
This time, Wright was able to score number 1,675, and is looking to live in West Village E because it will be closer to his classes.
For those who are thinking of living off-campus but applied for housing, Northeastern offers leased properties in buildings on Symphony Road, Hemenway Street and Westland Avenue, which offer lower priced singles and doubles than the ones in residence halls.
The room selection process will take place during the evenings of March 8 through 10 and 14 through 17 in Speare Commons. When lottery numbers are called, students will select a room from the available spaces. If there are no more rooms available for an entire group then the group will be forced to split up and chose from the other available housing.
