Freshmen to Pick Housing Choices Later This Week

Members of the Class of '81 will go through the time-honored ritual of applying to upperclass Houses this week, but one College official last Friday urged freshmen to avoid the equally traditional process of trying to "beat the system."

Thomas A. Dingman, assistant dean of the College, who is in charge of this year's housing lottery, said he believes freshmen should select the Houses they would most like to live in, rather than make strategic choices to outwit their fellow students in the lottery.

Dingman said 70 per cent of the freshmen who applied last year got into their first choice House, while 83 per cent got one of their first three choices. He declined to estimate what this year's figures will be.

This year's lottery procedure will be the same as last year's, which gave students three choices. Administrators said that system tried to maximize the number of students receiving their first choices.

Another factor entering into this year's lottery will be the sex ratios for each House, which the Committee on Houses and Undergraduate Life set for the rising sophomores. Currier, North and South Houses will have a 1.5-to-1, male-female ratio, while Lowell and Mather will have a 2-to-1 ratio and all other Houses will have ratios no higher than 2.5 to 1.

Lisa A. Hammerman '81 said Friday, "The lottery seems fair. Masters do not choose you any more; you just get stuck in a computer.