Olo

[dormcon]

Random is one of the hardest dorms to get into, in the sense that everyone in Random selects it as their first choice. This may be misleading, however, as Random is unusually small. You have a fairly good chance of getting into Random, but know that, unlike some dorms, it is *not* guaranteed.

Other dorms for which there similarly definitely no guarantee include: Baker, Macgregor, and McCormick.

Note: this is not to imply that the other dorms are guaranteed to you if you select them first, only that for the past few years, the above dorms (for one reason or another) have filled capacity selecting only the freshmen who listed them first choice.

[/dormcom]

Oftentimes, this leads to extraordinarily interesting cultures.

molliebatmit

^MacGregor's popularity in the lottery was, I am fairly sure, a phenomenon that occurred last year rather than in recent years in general.

The "popular" dorms do vary somewhat from year to year.

joml88

Walking to Random isn't bad at all. It's in a pretty convenient location as well. (Shaw's grocery store, a bunch of Mass Ave restaurants, etc). The only thing is that there aren't any other dorms near it and it kinda feels off campus.

alreadyhome

how hard is it to get into baker? i really want it... it's my top choice by far. if i don't get in w/ lotto, can i transfer after dorm rushing?

pebbles

"only that for the past few years, the above dorms (for one reason or another) have filled capacity selecting only the freshmen who listed them first choice"

I think that was only last year. Usually EC and Baker split the vote for most popular.

molliebatmit

Generally speaking, yes. In practice, it depends on how many people are lotteried into Baker but choose to move somewhere else in the readjustment lottery.

dalmatiansrock

When my daughter was choosing a dorm, she was so anxious. Maybe this will spare some of you as much anxiety as she felt.

From what she heard, and the impression I get here, it seemed as though most people at MIT made most of their close friends in their dorms and that the hallway or entryway was the basic social unit, so she worried that a wrong choice or unfortunate assignment would have many repercussions. She ended up choosing carefully and then moving during the adjustment week.

Her dorm was okay but not the close knit social group she thought it would be. People liked each other but once the upperclassmen came back, the hallway just didn't click. She found that about half the freshman had a similar reaction to their dorms that she had and were quite dissapointed.

However, the lack of group feeling in the dorm turned out to be a blessing in
disguise.My daughter plays a sport, does an intense arts activity and joined a FSILG. She ended up making close friends in these and enjoying the fact that her dorm was peaceful and quiet but not so social, a place to study and relax when she wants somewhere quiet.

I would guess that most of you are resourceful and creative. ALthough it is certainly good to chose housing carefully, seeing your living situation as the main way to make close friends is only one way of looking at housing. No matter what you chose or what your ends up like in reality, you can have a good freshman year.

duncita

Hi,
Where's the best place 2 live if i want 2 be surrounded by geeks?

theJessiah

Hey guys - I just wrote a pretty important post on residence-based advising, if you're thinking about your housing options for next year. Please read it: http://www.mitadmissions.org/topics/...vising_1.shtml

thekidhere

theJessiah is right. everyone should read that post even before signing up to temp somewhere. To quote two of the more important lines right in this topic:

"SHORT VERSION: RESIDENCE-BASED ADVISING WILL NOT ALLOW YOU TO CHANGE DORMS DURING YOUR FRESHMAN YEAR."
"Another thing you should know about RBA is that if you place an RBA dorm anywhere near your top choices (the top four, ish) you will likely be placed in an RBA dorm, regardless of whether you apply for RBA or not."

panasonic

hey, does anyone know when we'll hear back from the dorm lottery?

KnightMair

Results are available on July 25.

panasonic

sweet, thanks. is that when we hear about roommates as well?

KnightMair

We probably won't be hearing about roommates for quite a while. During orientation, there's something called REX (residence exploration) where all non-RBA (Next, Chocolate City, McCormick... did I forget any?) people can pretty much explore dorms. Then, there's the readjustment lottery where students can request to switch dorms, and also in-house rush, where within a single dorm, you try to request your preferred rooms. So in that sense, you won't be finding out about your roommate for quite some time. Heh...

Sklog_W

^You do have temp roommates throughout REX though. But, if I remember correctly, you never are told who they are. I think I found out who mine were through facebook by simply typing in my room number, clicking on it, and seeing who else had listed it. If you're lucky your roommate(s) will have done the same and you'll figure it out, otherwise I'm pretty sure since it is temporary MIT doesn't feel the need to tell you the names of your roommate(s).

Although this could have changed in recent years, I'm not too sure.