‘It’s Honestly Not That Serious’: Peer Advisors Help Freshmen Navigate Blocking Decisions

Next week, the Class of 2028 will begin entering Harvard’s randomized housing lottery, which sorts rising sophomores into 12 upperclassmen Houses. As freshmen shoulder the pressure of forming “blocking groups” and fear the 15-minute walk to dorms in the Radcliffe Quadrangle, the College’s freshman Peer Advising Fellows said they have stepped up to help.

Freshmen annually learn of their housing assignments when upperclassmen boisterously storm into their dorms on Housing Day — a tradition that dates back to 1995. But tension builds in the weeks leading up to the reveal when freshmen must select up to seven other students to “block” with, forming blocking groups that are guaranteed to be assigned the same House.

Several PAFs said their advisees have turned to them with concerns about forming blocking groups, some floating myths about how to game the random lottery.

“They try to find the perfect number of how many people,” PAF Daniel E. Cabrera ’27 said. “Because there’s a rumor that if you have too many people in a blocking group, then you’re going to be put in the Quad.” Houses in the Quad — Cabot, Currier, and Pforzheimer House — are traditionally considered less desirable due to their distance from Harvard’s academic buildings.

PAF Wafiqah M. Zubair ’26 said that one of her advisees “worried that her decision of who she was going to block with is going to ruin her friendship with other friend groups.”

“I was telling her that blocking really does not mean that you will be living with them. It just means they’ll be living in the same house as them,” she added.

The First Year Advising network is available to guide freshmen through the blocking process, but some freshmen said they’re hesitant to use the resource.

“My PAF is very nice, but honestly I wouldn’t think to reach out to them about that. That’s kind of personal drama,” Cristina Y. Mercado ’28 said.

Still, some PAFs emphasize the importance of open communication throughout the process. “If you’re going to have these tough conversations, it’s better to do them sooner than later, so that you’re not leaving somebody in the dark or in the dust, where they have to then scramble to find a new group to block with,” PAF Dev S. Ahuja ’27 said.

“In the end, it doesn’t have to be that big of a deal, unless you make it one,” he added.

The freshmen who do reach out to their advising network are often reassured that blocking is not a consequential decision.

“Regardless of what happens, it’s a positive experience, nonetheless, because you’ll be interacting with so many more people than just the up to eight people that you block with,” PAF Srija Vem ’25 said.

“It doesn’t mean that you’re closing the door on friendships that you don’t block with. It just means that you’ll have a group of people that you’ll see a little more frequently because you’re in a house with them,” she added.

Despite PAFs’ reassurances, freshmen say they have found it difficult to shake off their nerves about the decision.

“There are so many microscopic components that come into blocking groups. The intricacies run so far that one must take many items into consideration,” Max Blackborn ’28 said.

“Do I want to maximize the amount of familiar faces — or do I just want to secure myself just a couple of people who I know I will be always so, so, so happy, and relaxed, and comfortable to see?” he added.

“Although I do have friends here, I was never really part of any particular group, so figuring out who I actually wanted to block with was very stressful,” Mercado said.

But Ames K. McNamara ’28 said that despite the blocking stresses, he is still looking forward to receiving his letter on Housing Day.

“I think for most people, in the end, it works out — but still, it’s just so stressful at a time of year when there’s also a lot of other school stresses to worry about too,” he said.

—Staff writer Dionise Guerra-Carrillo can be reached at dionise.guerracarrillo@thecrimson.com.

—Staff writer Tammy S. Lee can be reached at tammy.lee@thecrimson.com.