At last, the time has come. Welcome to the Housing 2011 liveblog, where Bwog blogs about housing live. We’ll be here all day every day for the entire selection process. We will update the chart at the top of the site as often as possible, post the official Housing whiteboard, and tell you about the triumphs and pitfalls happening in the cage, where your livelihood is made or broken.
Feel free to comment on this post! We’ll try to answer as many questions as possible, but we may not be able to tell what what your specific lottery number means at a certain moment. General debate, advice, and chatter about the housing process is highly encouraged. Plus, you can always stop by in person! We’ll be cheerfully chomping on Junior Mints, grooving with Housing staff, and neglecting our studies with abandon. Bwoggers will be more than willing to chat about the current situation and/or our hopes for the Bacchanal lineup. Best o’ luck, all!
Look below for the latest numbers on what’s left! Bwog Count represents our unofficial tally of how many of a certain suite are left, and the Whiteboard Record will always reflect what’s currently being shown on the Housing whiteboard as the official count.
New this year: Suites in italic are partially occupied by RAs and riders.
112 Comments
@matchu.me columbia’s digital wingman
@happy barnard rising junior are there any more single stickers left? i want one! i got my desired room today!
@Carolyn Tons! Congrats singleton
@cc14 thanks bwog! one more question, if an entire floor is shaded with pink stripes in the floor plan, what does that mean?
@Anonymous Are there 5 or 6 4-person suites in Claremont because the Live report says a group picked at the end of suite selection today?
@Anonymous watt 1 bdr or woodbridge (high demand)?? advice pleaseee!!!
@Anonymous watt because of its location!
@Anonymous watt! save woodbridge for gender neutral housing people!
@Anonymous Is the last 5 person suite in Claremont not available?
@Anonymous my number was in the low 70’s and I got a townhouse. yay!
@confused senior Does anyone know how senior regroup works? Any way of calculating the odds of getting something that way?
@Anonymous spec says there are 3 6-person ec highrises left – is it 2 or 3??
@Anonymous yes i wanna know too pleez!
@David There are 2 left, one on the 10th floor and one on the 8th.
@Sorry- We don’t mean to screw anyone over! It really came down tot hat or dropping into general selection, as Woodbridge was a non-option. We’ll bake you cookies.
@cc14 at suite selection do they let you see floor plans before choosing? or do you have to do all of that beforehand?
@David Yes they do! Of course, it’ll obviously help to know the general layout of the floors and to have a gameplan before arriving, but you get to actually see floorplans when you’re there. If you’re nervous, swing by John Jay Lounge before your selection time just to see how it works.
@Question Any information about senior regroup? When how where it takes places?
@David Senior regroup should take place tomorrow afternoon… we’ll let you know details tomorrow, so check back then!
@Anonymous hey, anyone know what was the last lottery number that picked today? thanks!
@David According to the list of appointment times, it was 1582.
@Anonymous what accounts for the discrepancy between the housing and bwog counts?
@David We just checked all our numbers with Housing (Joyce, Brian, Dave—the best people in the world!) so now there are no more discrepancies.
@yo is it weird that I’m more worried bwog will run out of free stickers by my appointment time than I am that columbia will run out of places for me to live?
@Claire I’ll save you a sticker.
@Help! What EC RA townhouse got taken??
@Yeah, who is screwing over friends of RAs who want to pick in?! Not cool.
@We got H808 (is that right) It’s the RA apartment on/in 8. Don’t worry we Harrison (if it’s you).
@Harrison Not me!
@i love you bwog
@Take that Hogan 6 person!
@Anonymous dont take it! i want it!
@So much analysis and attention – at any other school you’d think it was sports coverage, haha
@How long do you have to make a selection during your time slot?
@David You can take as long as you want!
Just remember in the heat of your passioned discussion… you are gonna be living with these folks next year. Don’t burn too many bridges.
@Hmmm... You guys are super-off-base with the EC 2-person flats. Aren’t they all gone?
@David Agh, you’re right. We also had some chart difficulties earlier. But either way, they’re gone! We fixed the chart now.
@Anonymous Why is suite selection done in person rather than online?
@Alex because you can’t be emailed free candy.
@curious What is this 2-person suite in Hogan that you speak of? Is that only for ra’s and their riders?
@It is a four person suite where an RA/CA and their rider take up two of the rooms and the other two are available to pick into
@Anonymous Do you mean Ruggles 3dbl 8 person?
@eylo do you know how many ec 6-single suites (townhouse and highrise) are being removed for RA’s and special interest? i believe it’s 6 but not sure.
@Alex Our numbers reflect our estimate of how many are being removed. The exception to that is Nussbaum, because the single/double mix got screwed up this year.
@Anonymous thanks for the response – do you know how many you started with, then?
@cliff thanks for the shout-out, bwog. great coverage :)
@Harrison Any idea which EC 2-person plus RA and rider townhouse just went? I’m the rider for H202 and we have friends that plan on living with us.
@Harrison Oopsies, nevermind. Although, dodged that one…for now.
@Questioner Bwoq, according to the housing calculator, 768 is a 4-person group. How could they have gotten a 2-person flat? Sooooo confusing.
@David Guestioner, we ask people for lotto numbers after they’ve chosen a suite, and like Claire said, sometimes people just forget! They’re never off by more than a few numbers though, so you still get a general sense of who’s getting what rooms.
@Anonymous is there anything juniors can do if there are no suites of their number left when they get there or do they just end up in general? could they pick into doubles in suite selection?
@Anonymous This is one rule housing HAS to change. If there are no suites of your number left you have to drop down to general!
@Anonymous is this real? are you kidding me? why can’t some people drop into general and some stay
@THANKS! I <3 Bwog
No big deal.
@Mystery numbers? Why are some of the lottery numbers being mentioned not on the list of appointment times?
@Claire Some people might be misremembering the numbers they report to us. Once you get EC nothing else matters I guess.
@Anonymous what time of day does suite selection end?
@1849 How did #345 get a suite on the 20th fl (i assume 2002, for 6-ppl) AND H804 (also 6-ppl)?? Clarification please, Bwog.
@Carolyn Must have been a typo, so sorry. But both of those suites are definitely gone.
@Also confused A group of seniors took a 7-person suite? I thought no such group existed according to the calculator
@David Nope—there are 10 Claremont 7-person suites, but one is unavailable for selection due to Special Interest Housing.
@In the know the group that took the 7 person already had a point value of 20, so it’s not like they are taking anyone else’s spot
@Confused Are the numbers amount taken or amount left?
@David They’re the amount left. Suites that are all taken will be grayed out.
@BWOG! What does “dropping down into general selection” mean? Can a 4-person group split into two doubles? Or do they all have to get singles? Sooooooooo confused.
@Alex If you are “dropping down into general selection,” then you are all getting singles, or picking into blind doubles.
But you don’t have to do that! If you are a senior, then you can do senior re-group, and if you are a sophomore then you can do sophomore pair-up. Options abound!
@Anonymous but if you’re a Junior, you’re fucked! hooray Housing
@Anonymous i honestly can’t believe this. what a fucking scam. regardless of how nice the people at housing at these fucking powwows doesn’t change the fact that they run an inept department
@hmmmmmmm.............. anybody have a guess for a cutoff for a watt studio single?
@David The 1-BRs? Currently 2-person groups seem to be tending towards Woodbridge instead of Watt 1-BRs. We’re around lotto number 500 now and only a few of the Woodbridge high-demands have been taken. There are a lot of 2-person groups coming up though, so if I were to venture a (completely wild) guess, they’ll probably be gone around 1200 or 1400.
@Anonymous are we talking studio singles here or one bedroom doubles?
@David Whoops, I thought you meant 1-BR’s (one bedroom doubles) since today is Suite Selection.
The studio singles will go fast. Hope your lotto number is better than 200, friend!
@28? the housing website says there are 28 studio singles in watt… definitely only see 2 per floor on the floorplans, and i’m guessing a bunch of those are reserved for something or other. can anyone clarify?
@David Hey there, just talked to a Housing rep who said that we should refer to the boards in here for more accurate counts. According to the boards, there are only 6 studio singles in Watt available this year because 5 are reserved for RAs and other Housing services.
You can see a full list of reserved rooms that aren’t available for selection here: http://housingservices.columbia.edu/content/rules-exceptions
@Anonymous traaaaagic news – but thank you! looks like you need to be pushing 30/500 to snag a room you can be proud of this year
@Anonymous in general selection, that is… sorry to take the spotlight off the suites
@Anonymous Where is the Ruggles 5 person listed above? Is it all singles, 1 dbl and 3 singles, 2 dbls and 1 single or what?
@David Nowhere, it seems like. It was listed on the Housing website as being on the first floor, but we confirmed with a Housing staff member (whaddup Brian) that there are no Ruggles 5-person suites this year.
@BWOG! Why do you count 3 4-person suites in Ruggles while Housing counts 6? Please explain!
@Claire Because we’re updating as it happens!
@nathan claire rules
@David Hmm, you might be looking at some old numbers there (hit refresh and the chart will update). Either way, we just updated and now the 4-persons match up (2 left).
Before, it was probably an issue with RA suites (the Bwog Count takes into account that people can’t select into RA suites or that the occupancy of RA suites is lower; the latter is designated with italics).
@I LOVE BWOG. Keep it up guys!
@I hate you all.
@Anonymous Housing needs 100% more Lil’ Wayne, Bwog.
@Carolyn For true. That can be arranged.
@Anonymous Damn.. Hogan isn’t likely to make it through the entire day huh?
@senior So the whiteboard record is the right number or is it the bwog count? I’m confused?
@David The Whiteboard Record will always show what the Housing whiteboard says and will be updated as they update it throughout the day.
The Bwog Count is our personal up-to-the-minute count of how many rooms are left from talking to people and our own calculations.
@rising senior As I am watching this live feed (my appointment is later today), I’m suddenly feeling incredibly old. How am I already a rising senior? =O
@Carolyn We’ll give you stickers and make you feel young again! promise.
@oohlala will you make me feel young again cruvs?
@LBB'12 I almost wish I had a worse number so I wouldn’t have had to wake up this early… almost
@.... people need to stop bitching about the good housing they’re getting. why are people complaining of being disappointed and tired already? what the fuck? i must be REALLY fucked then
@Anonymous Did one group of 5 (presumably all seniors) already take an EC exclusion suite or is that a mistake?
@David Sorry, it looks like that’s a product of Housing’s “work in progress.” There are 56 “ECX” suites, but one is going to Housing Services and isn’t available for selection—that’s why our number is lower.
@senior Can I still come get free candy if I’m graduating and not picking housing?
@Claire Duh! And free Bwog stickers!
@Confused Why are neither of the lottery numbers that have been mentioned on the pdf of lottery numbers?
@Anonymous how are 3 of the Claremont 3-person suites already taken?
@David None as of right now! Keep checking our chart!
@Anonymous your chart says there are only 3 left by Bwog’s count
and i rely on bwog’s count
@David Hmm, this might be the result of Housing’s board being a “work in progress.” If you look at the floorplans there are indeed 6 3-person suites available (as Housing says), but 3 are going to RAs and riders (so the Bwog Count reflects this).
@Anonymous oh! gotcha, thanks
@Anonymous if you don’t show up for suite selection do you just automatically drop down to general?
@David Yep. Don’t alienate any friends out there though!
http://housingservices.columbia.edu/content/suite-selection
“If your group does not want or is unable to select a suite during Suite Selection, you will automatically drop to General Selection and receive a new appointment date and time (but keep your same lottery number).”
If not all group members are present, you’re unable to select!
@Anonymous wait, so then if you do want to select, does every group member that can’t attend need to find a proxy?
@Anonymous That is correct. I think the proxy can be someone else in the group, but they still need to be officially listed as a proxy.
@Anonymous can a person (not in the group) be listed as a proxy for more than one person in the same group?
@David Just asked Housing about this one: As long as you’re a registered Columbia student, you can be a proxy for as many people as necessary.
So theoretically, one person can be a proxy for an entire group.
@Anonymous Yes, I did this last year.
@Anonymous What if you’re a rising sophomore doing pair up? If two of you don’t show up because you want to drop to general, can the others still pair off and pick doubles?