Class of '65 Gets 56% Into First Choice House

Fifty-six per cent of the Class of '65 were admitted to the House of their first choice over the weekend, Dean Watson has announced.

University Hall delivered all House acceptance notices to freshman dormitories early Saturday morning. A total of eighty per cent of the freshmen will enter their first, second, or third choice House. The remaining one-fifth were arbitrarily assigned.

Leverett was again, as for '64 the most popular House, though Watson said that its lead over the other Houses was considerably less than it has been. "The freshman didn't distribute themselves in the best possible way," he observed, "but the disparity between the first- and last-choice House was not nearly so great as last year's."

Watson felt this indicates that enthusiasm for the newer architecture is leveling off. Leverett Towers and Quincy House, which opened their doors to students within the last five years, have consistently captured the first-choice votes of a disproportionate number of freshmen.

In spring 1961, just fifty-four per cent of the freshmen were accepted by their first-choice House, with eighty-three per cent making one of their first three. This is the first time since 1958 that the percentage reaching their first-choice House has risen.

Freshmen Shun Bunks

The dean also noted that '65 chose with something new in mind. The popularity of each House coincided almost exactly with the number of rooms available with single beds, as opposed to bunk beds. This factor has not been as important to past classes and has gone unnoticed by the administration. The deans will probably deal with this next year by distributing the double berths from the least favored to the more popular House for the fall of 1963, making it known before freshmen apply.

As in the past, the Masters filled seventy per cent of their places and a central committed of Dean Watson, Dean Monro, and president Pusey allocated the rest. Watson said that the various quotas for each House were matched very closely by the Masters' selection.

And freshman enthusiasm for their new quarters o'erleapt even the chilling effect of arbitrary assignment. An unnamed Claverly resident was waked at 11 yesterday morning by the new tenants on an inspection tour, their second in two days.