House Reputations Influence Choices Of Freshmen Gearing Up for Lottery

After a week of teas and tours, bashes and branches the freshman class next week enters the home stretch of the House lottery process, a ritual which has meant hysteria for some, but only mild anxiety for others.

Monday, members of the Class of 1988 will receive an eight page in formation sheet detailing the ins and outs of the choice-based system known as The Lottery. By 4 p.m. Friday, a representative of each rooming group will have ascended the steps of University Hall to remit a list of the group's three most desired Houses.

And while Masters have spent more than a week promoting their Houses and it some cases, informally recruiting a diverse sophomore class. Yardings said they have spent their time checking out locations and reputations of the 12 residential Houses.

High Anxiety

Freshmen contacted this week expressed varying degrees of anxiety over the lottery, which takes a computer less than 20 seconds to run.

"I've been very anxious because it's an important decision--it's been just hysteria trying to find out how to play the system," said John A. Homer '88.

But even though several freshmen contacted said they themselves were not letting the lottery get the best of them they said the spring decision seemed to be> getting to many of their classmates.

"It's phenomenal," said Stacy A. Leigh '88, of mealtime conversation about the Houses. "All you hear is names of the Houses being tossed around the room like fire."

"During dinner people have been figuring our strategies to beat the system said Jill F. Maza '88. "And upperclassmen eating in the Union get the third degree," she added.

An Undergraduate Council, poll conducted in early February showed 58 percent of freshmen were anxious about the lottery. Only one in four said they were not.

The Hard Sell

Nearly all the freshmen contacted said they had attended at least one of the 40-odd House functions--which included champagne brunches, ice cream bashes, and ice skating trips--aimed at showcasing the best of the Houses. And all said they had eaten meals in at least one, and usually many, of the Houses.

But despite Masters's efforts to downplay House stereotypes, most freshmen said images will play a big role in their choice.

"I firmly believe that stereotypes are the most important thing when picking a House, not the living conditions," said John B. Manning Jr. '88.

"Stereotype is a naughty word to admit, but there are stereotypes and people go by them," Leigh added, saying she herself used these reputations as a prime factor for choosing, and eliminating, Houses.

One freshman said she may go to one House in large part because it has no reputation. "When we were thinking of Quincy, everybody said that it's a good House because it has no stereotype," said Nicolette D. Mayer '88.

The council poll substantiated the freshman attitude that the Houses do not represent what administrators have called the "ideal microcosm" of the College population.

While more than half of students polled by the council said they thought achieving diversity in the Houses was important (and less than one in three said it was not), only slightly more than one in five said the current choice-based lottery achieved this ideal:

Jaime A. Capella '88 said a lot of freshmen are afread go to a House with a particular stereotype because they might acquire the reputation. He said he ad his roommates eliminated at least two Houses because of their stereotypes.

Push For Diversity

Although Masters have no control over who ultimately ends up in their Houses, Masters often encourage freshmen from a wide array of backgrounds and interests to put their House at the top of the list.

Mather Master David Herlihy and Lowell Master William H. Bossert told The Crimson in February that they have tried to create an atmosphere that is attractive to minorities, mainly by letting them know that minority groups have been happy in their Houses in the past.

Kirkland Master Donald H. Pfister said he and former Masters have combatted the underrepresentation of women in that House by "encouraging" them to put Kirkland first on the list.

Masters at Adams, Quincy, Winthrop and North said they do not recruit, even on an informal basis. "I feel awkward going out and saying 'You're a politically desirable minority--come to Winthrop House,'" said Winthrop Master James A. Davis.

All the anxiety--or most of it--will end in less than three weeks, when freshmen wake up to a computer printout on their doorstep. If the lottery goes as in years past, nearly 70 percent will be wearing smiles to break fast as they ponder life for the next years in their first-choice House