2016 Housing Lottery
It’s time to think about housing for next year, Hamily!
Some important dates deadlines:
· If you’re interested in substance-free housing or the co-op, sign up for that lottery online by noon on Monday, April 4th
o Woollcott co-op lottery will take place at 5:30 pm on Wednesday, April 6th in the Annex
o Sub-free lottery will follow at 7:00 pm
· If you want to live in a suite, sign up for the blocking lottery in the Office of Residential Life from Friday, April 8th – Thursday, April 14th at noon
o Blocking lottery will take place at 6:00 pm in the Annex on Monday, April 18th
· Numbers for the general housing lottery will be available on My Hamilton at 4:30 pm on Friday, April 8th
· General housing lottery will take place in the Annex on Sunday, April 24th
o Class of 2017 will begin around 9:00 am
o Class of 2018 will begin around 2:30 pm
o Class of 2019 will begin around 6:60 pm
· Sign up to designate a proxy (if you cannot participate in a lottery yourself) at least three business days before the lottery
*Remember that to participate in any housing lottery, you must be registered for Fall 2016 classes and cleared by the financial office.
There are lots of things to think about when choosing housing for the 2016-2017 academic year. If you want to be involved in a small community meal plan, consider the Woollcott Co-op. If you want to live in an environment free of drugs and alcohol, check out Anderson, Root, Kirkland, or Rogers for sub-free housing. If you find yourself a group of friends you want to live with, there are suites and multi-person apartments in Babbitt, Milbank, and Morris House. There are other Specialty Housing options that are offered as part of the General Lottery – round-the-clock or partial quiet hours in Skenandoa, Dunham, and South, and some apartments in Anderson, Bundy, Skenandoa, Griffin Road, and Farmhouse.
On the day of the General Housing Lottery, the lottery itself will take place in the Annex, with the Barn used as a waiting area. You’ll go around the time of your class year and wait for your number to be called. If you are planning to room with a friend, whichever one of you has the higher lottery number can “pull” the other so you can go at the same time. Floor plans will be laid out in the annex, and taken rooms will be updated every so often in the Barn as well as online. You must have your Hill Card at the Housing Lottery.
Note that except for the first two floors of Kirkland, which are single-gender, all other housing areas are gender neutral, and rooms can also house more than one gender.
More information about the above can be found in the 2016-2017 Hamilton College Housing Lottery Booklet, which was emailed to students by Ashley Place. Visit http://www.hamilton.edu/residentiallife/residence-hall-map for floor plans, picture, and information on different housing areas.
Not sure who to room with? There are many important factors that contribute to a good roommate or roommates. Housing changes during the year may not be available immediately or at all, so think carefully about your choice!
Here are some things to keep in mind:
· Hamilton College strongly discourages people who are in a relationship from rooming together, for good reason. Even though it might seem exciting and convenient to room with someone you’re dating, a relationship between college students might not be ready for total cohabitation yet. And, while your relationship may be very strong and built to last, do you want to risk breaking up and being stuck living with an ex?
· Think about who you’ll be comfortable living with. You might love your best friend, but if your habits are very different, it might be better to try to room near each other than together. Do you have similar sleep schedules? Can you live with each other’s general level of messiness vs. cleanliness? Do you both enjoy about the same amount of alone time vs. bonding time?
· It’s probably better to have an uncomfortable conversation about why you don’t want to live with someone to preserve your friendship than to keep quiet and end up hating each other.
· Are you comfortable living with someone of another gender? In the same suite? In the same room?
· What type of set up do you want? It might be fun to live in a suite with a bunch of friends, but maybe you’d sleep better and get more work done in a double. On the other hand, the privacy of a single might be nice, unless you’re the type to get lonely easily.
· What classes are you planning on taking? If three of your classes are in KJ, you might want to try to avoid Bundy or Sken.
Again, there are lots of things to consider with the Housing Lottery approaching, and while I hope you all get one of your top choices, remember that whatever happens, it will all work out!