While most sophomores dread drawing last for upperclass housing in fear of being left with an undesirable room, few realize they might not get upperclass housing at all.
A bad draw time left Joe Looke '04, Josh Kaplan '04 and Thomas Hale '04 roomless until just one week before returning to campus. The housing department offered Looke and Kaplan's draw group a quad in the Forbes annex — known for its dark hallways and isolation — and presented Hale's group with the choice of splitting up and filling vacancies in other groups' suites or living in graduate student housing.
"They gave us three to four days to accept or decline - as if we had an option," said Kaplan.
The housing department does not guarantee upperclass housing, said Lisa Depaul, assistant director of undergraduate housing. Students waitlisted for rooms depend on classmates canceling their housing contracts to study abroad or take a leave of absence.
"We do everything in our power to provide housing for upperclassmen," Depaul said, "but we don't necessarily guarantee housing for juniors and seniors."
Though there were several quads in Brown Hall still available during their room draw appointment, Housing prevented the boys from taking suites intended for girls due to the proximity of a woman's bathroom in the hall.
In late August, Housing accommodated Looke and his roommates by transforming a former assistant master's room in Forbes into a cramped four-man suite, which includes a kitchen but no closets.
"We made the best of a bad situation," said Kaplan, pointing out their space-efficient lofted couch and self-constructed hanging rods and shelving, affixed with duck-tape.
"The main problem is missing out on the relationships with the people who live around you," said Looke, noting that he and his roommates live ten minutes from their peers in the junior slums and twenty minutes from the eating clubs.
After an unsuccessful attempt to obtain a parking permit at Forbes, the boys now own bikes.
Hale and his four roommates have even greater cause to own bikes. They live in the Hibben Apartments, a graduate, staff and faculty housing facility near Lake Carnegie.
"It's a hike," said Hale. "We're kind of isolated. You lose the dorm life feel."
Despite the distance, Hale said he is not complaining about his two-story, three bedroom-two bath suite, which includes a living room, dining room, kitchen and balcony. "Still, I think it's pretty ridiculous [the housing department] didn't have housing for us to begin with."
As of yesterday, Hale's room had not been equipped with Dormnet or a telephone line.
Back in a residential college, Looke describes himself and his roommates as "pseudo-members of the Forbes community." They were not offered a dining option at the college and have not been invited to participate in Forbes events such as intramurals, trips and study breaks.
"This community operates outside of us," said Kaplan.
Depaul said while she has never heard of juniors involuntarily living in a residential college, it is not uncommon for juniors to live in Hibben.
"It is absolutely absurd that we pay this much to go to school here and as juniors we have to put up with this housing situation," said Looke.
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