As the academic year comes to an end, housing has become a major topic of discussion among students. Stack applications occurred in February, and Prefects for underclassmen dorms were announced on April 17. In-dorm room lotteries began during dorm meetings this past Monday.
The housing lottery is an annual process in which Lowers moving into non-stack upperclassmen dorms are assigned a random number between one and 10,000, with lower numbers receiving higher priority. Students then rank their preferred dorms and are placed accordingly, according to Aya Murata, Assistant Dean of Students and Residential Life.
Not all students receive their top-choice dorm. Andrew Rodrigues ’27 and his roommate were placed into their second-choice dorm, Stimson House. Rodrigues discussed how navigating the process with a roommate helped ease their uncertainty, and the general fairness of the system.
“I have a roommate, [Javier Gomez-Amuedo ’27]. We picked the dorms that had three-room doubles. So that was [Stuart House] or Stimson. We wanted to come to Pine Knoll, so we put those two dorms [first and second]. Then, we got around 4000 in the lottery. So we didn’t know if we were on the border for Stuart, because we put Stuart first originally, and then we ended up getting Stimson, which was great because all our friends ended up in Stimson,” said Rodrigues.
Rodrigues continued, “[The lottery]’s pretty fair. Especially with roommates, it’s the lowest number [of the pair] that [counts]. Having a roommate or applying with a roommate is really important, because with the housing lottery, you don’t really know if you’re going to be in a dorm with your friends.”
Upper Prefects are assigned housing through a separate process with priority placement, according to David Porto ’26. A former Rockwell House Prefect and current Bishop House Proctor, Porto said that community was a central consideration for his dorm selections.
“The difference is mostly based on the community. People don’t exactly complain about the infrastructure of dorms, but more so about the people that are in them and how they’re kept. All dorms inherently have good infrastructure and are built nicely, but a major factor in my decision was, ‘Who am I going to live with?’ It’s one of the main reasons why I chose Bishop besides its location.”
Dolly Nguyen ’27 has lived in Bancroft House for one year and intends to serve as Proctor there for the 2026-2027 school year. Echoing Porto’s sentiment, Nguyen emphasized how dorm location and environment impact student life.
“Let’s say you live in a dorm in Flagstaff. You somewhat are really connected with school life because you’re on campus but at the same time you might not be, because other events such as Quad Night during the Fall might be somewhat far from your dorm and therefore you wouldn’t have that sort of motivation to go. That could really impact the rest of your career here because you might miss out on opportunities to make new friends,” said Nguyen.
While some students have moved between several Clusters, others remain in the same one throughout their time at Andover. Murathime Daisley ’26, a Proctor in Stevens House, said that her connection to the Pine Knoll Cluster influenced her to stay.
“I love staying here just because of the environment that there is in the Knoll. [For dorm preferences] that’s also a pull for people. Comfortability, and the relationships that you already build in the area that you live in,” said Daisley.
Daisley continued, “I really enjoyed being a prefect in [Nathan] Hale [House]… and my friends and I have lived in the Knoll all four of our years. So I definitely wanted to stay in the Knoll, and because I liked Prefecting so much, I thought it would be cool to Proctor,” said Daisley.
Starting next year, Maxie Wu ’28 will serve as Prefect in Pease House with her roommate, Claire Bancroft ’28. Wu reflected on her experience in Paul Revere House and how it inspired her to take on a leadership role.
“[Claire and I] had super supportive Prefects… and that’s really inspired us to step into that role as upperclassmen next year. We’re also really excited to switch from Paul [Revere House] to a smaller community like Pease. We’re excited also because it’s a bit less centered on campus. We have more space. We’re excited to connect with our tight-knit group,” said Wu.
