On March 31, Sacred Heart University students who plan to live on campus next year were constantly refreshing their Outlook emails with the hopes that a low number would appear for housing selection along with their housing selection date.
According to Sacred Heart’s website, on that date, housing selections lottery numbers were posted for rising sophomores. In this process, a low lottery number allows you to choose your dorm earlier in the selection.
Starting on April 7, lottery numbers 1-150 chose their housing, followed by 151-275 selecting on April 9, and finally 275 and above selecting on April 13.
For many students, the housing selection process can be a stressful time depending on their given lottery number and not quite knowing what to expect being a first-year student.
“Since it is my first time working with housing, I did not know what to expect, but with a low lottery number, it made it much easier,” said rising sophomore Maggie Gillespie.
Many students go into the process with the hopes of getting a certain dorm, but their lottery number can derail this.
“My housing selection was not what I expected,” said Gillespie. “Considering I received a high lottery number, I did not think I would be placed in the Upper Quad; however, one of my roommates had a low number, which granted us the ideal dorm we wanted.”
There are certain features that draw some students toward a certain dorm over others.
“I chose the dorm Wiesel since it had much to offer. While the outside structure of the building is beautifully built, the inside of the dorms offers much more than appearance,” said Gillespie. “The idea of having a kitchen, individual shower, and bathroom were compelling features that made me choose Wiesel as well as the space it provided that would make living easier.”
Furthermore, the housing process helps students who need accommodations due to health conditions. These students get an earlier pick than others as long as their accommodation request makes the deadline.
Some students say the deadline is not flexible and can be somewhat strict.
Gillespie said, “I think that if you miss the accommodations deadline and you reach out to them to make a request, you should still be considered for it instead of being told no automatically.”
On the other hand, some rising upperclassmen avoid the whole process of housing selection by choosing to live off campus their junior and senior years.
Rising junior Juliana Beaton said, “I chose to move off campus because I wanted to pick out something that I really liked, and it is much cheaper than living on campus.”
According to students, moving off campus comes with benefits for some upperclassmen as they transition into their junior and senior year.
“I truly enjoyed the two years I lived on campus, but moving off would benefit myself and my housemates, giving us more room and helping us financially,” said rising junior Adriana Bracco.
Some students say that the process becomes more stressful when their first plan does not work out, and they do not have a backup plan ready.
Rising sophomore Emma Seidman said, “I got pushed out of my original housing plans with my friends and had to find someone who needed one more roommate to help them out, so now I am living in Christian Witness Commons with people I do not know.”
Some students say there can be room for improvement with the housing selection process in the future.
“If I were to change the process, I wish that there was a more equal opportunity to get into your top dorm, which does not seem totally reasonable but would definitely be more fair,” said Gillespie.
Additionally, some students say there should be more information given about the buildings and speed of the process as well.
“I wish we had a tad more information about the buildings and which ones might have been taken first,” said Seidman.
