Freshmen move using FYRE
Rebranded adjustment lottery sees 60% success rate
source: robin baughmaN, Residential life and dining; infographic: Annia Pan - The Tech
CORRECTION TO THIS ARTICLE: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that 753 freshmen ranked Maseeh first in the summer lottery. The number is actually 303. 753 refers to the number of freshmen who ranked Maseeh in their top four choices.
For the first time in two years, Baker lost its spot as the most popular choice for incoming freshmen in the summer housing lottery. Maseeh, MIT’s newest dorm, overtook Baker this year as the most popular dorm — 303 people, or 26 percent of the freshmen class put down Maseeh as their top choice, while a staggering 66 percent (753 people) ranked the dorm in their top four. Baker had the second highest number of first choice votes, but came in fourth overall in terms of top four rankings, with 667 votes, slightly behind Burton-Conner (711 people) and Simmons (703).
However, those who were placed in Baker after the summer lottery seemed to be pleased with their assignments; only four out of 132 freshmen, or 3 percent chose to enter the adjustment lottery, the lowest percentage among all the dorms eligible for the lottery.
This year marks the debut of the First Year Residence Exchange (FYRE), a rebranded version of the Housing Adjustment Lottery of past years. Unlike the old lottery, students now stay in their original dorms by default, and those who wish to change dorms after Residence Exploration (REX) must enter their new housing preferences into FYRE’s online application. Previously, students needed to confirm whether they wanted to stay or switch.
A total of 159 freshmen entered the adjustment lottery this year, representing 17 percent of those eligible to move, and 14 percent of the Class of 2016. In the end, 96 people, or 60 percent of those who entered the lottery, moved to a different dorm. Though the number of people entering the lottery is similar to the number from 2011, the percentage of people who successfully switched into a new dorm was significantly lower this year. Last year, 80 percent were reassigned whereas this year it was only 60 percent.
Like last year, students originally placed in Maseeh and McCormick were ineligible to enter the adjustment lottery, and those who chose to enter FYRE did not have the option of selecting either of these two dorms.
Once again, New House had the highest percentage of freshmen attempting to leave. 44 percent of those originally placed in New House entered the lottery, though this is down from the 51 percent who wanted to leave last year. However, New House was much more popular this year in the original summer housing lottery. Last year, it was the second most unpopular dorm, while this year, it was the 7th most popular dorm. After New House, MacGregor and Senior House had the next highest percentages of freshmen who entered the lottery, 33 and 21 percent, respectively. Like last year, Senior House had the fewest number of people ranking it as one of their top choices. Bexley and Random followed, but saw a fairly loyal following in FYRE. Only three people from each dorm entered the lottery, representing 10 and 13 percent, respectively.