Application Process

The Draw

Entering the Draw

The deadline for undergraduate students using Axess to enter the Undergraduate Housing Draw is Sunday, May 4, 2008 by 6:00 p.m. All applicants can change residence choices, group retention, and final choices through 6:00 p.m. May 11. It is of the utmost importance to submit an application before the deadline (and be willing to live anywhere) to obtain a first round random application number for Autumn, Winter or Spring Quarter. Students who apply after the May 4 deadline receive a sequential number which is higher than any first round number. Students keep their guarantee of housing if they apply by the Waiting List deadline.

Applying for a housing assignment includes acceptance of the terms and conditions of the Residence Agreement. (See Eligibility and the About the Residence Agreement).

Withdrawing Applications. You may withdraw your application without financial penalty before 5:00 p.m. on Monday, May 12, 2008 by notifying Housing Assignments in writing. If you withdraw your application, you will not be considered for Undergraduate Housing for Autumn Quarter again until all other students have been offered an assignment. You will not be guaranteed housing for Autumn Quarter.

Even if you withdraw your application by this date, by applying you have designated 2008-09 as a guaranteed year (if you have a guarantee year remaining) and will lose it if you do not apply for a later quarter. If you have used a preferred year on your application, this is also considered used.

Use this worksheet to assist you as you read through this information.
 

Application Numbers

Draw numbers will be available in the Housing Front Desks after 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday, May 7, 2008 and on Axess on Thursday, May 8, 2008. In order to get a first round draw number, you must apply by 6:00 p.m. Sunday, May 4, 2008. Axess will assign you a random Draw number based on your guarantee status, preferred year selection, and group membership. Once this number is issued, it cannot be changed. If you do not have a random application number from the Draw, application numbers for subsequent rounds will be based on the date the application was received and will not be available in advance of making residence choices. 

Random Application Numbers. Random application numbers consist of three pools of numbers: 

• 0001 to 2000 (the guaranteed/preferred pool);
• 2001 to 3000 (the guaranteed/not preferred pool); and,
• 3001 to 3500 (the unguaranteed pool). 

Freshmen who matriculate at Stanford receive two preferred years, which they may designate during two of their three upperclass guaranteed years. Transfer students who enter with sophomore class standing also receive two preferred years, which they may designate during their following two guaranteed years. Junior transfer students receive one preferred year, which they may designate during their following guaranteed year at Stanford. 

You may designate a year as preferred only if the year is also guaranteed. If you cancel an application or a housing assignment during a preferred year, or if you do not move into your assigned residence, you forfeit the preferred year. Students who pledge Greek houses forfeit any remaining preferred years in the Draw system; however, they may be released from their obligation to live in their fraternity/sorority house based on the conditions of their organization's Housing Preference Policy (HPP). Refer to the "guaranteed/preferred year" display in your housing application in Axess if you are uncertain about the number of guaranteed or preferred years you have remaining.
 

Drawing in a Group

The deadline to form or join a group and receive a random number is 6:00 p.m. on Sunday, May 4, 2008. Each group member must individually apply in Axess and join the group between April 21 and May 4, 2008. After Draw numbers are released, students may change residence choices, group retention and final choice until the final deadline of 6:00 p.m. on May 11, 2008. No changes to groups can be made, including (with the exception of groups drawing for the Suites) replacing group members if a member withdraws. (See Frequently Asked Questions section).

By applying with a group, you will in all likelihood be forfeiting your ability to get into a more desirable choice. The group feature is designed for groups who value staying together more than they value drawing separately into more popular dorms.

Late Applications

Students whose applications are received after the May 4, 2008 deadline and are applying for Autumn Quarter will automatically be considered for assignment in the Autumn Waiting List round. Individuals and Groups who file applications after the May 4 deadline for a Waiting List round for Autumn, Winter, or Spring will receive a sequential number based on the date that the last member filed his/her application. Please note: the group retention feature is not available for waiting list assignment rounds.
 

How Assignments are Made

The Draw involves two steps that take place between the time you submit your housing application and the time that the results are announced. 

Step One: Who Gets on Campus? Whether you are considered for assignment depends on your guarantee status and application number, as well as those of other students participating in the Draw. The group of students who are to be considered for assignment is called the "assignable pool," and its size is determined by the number of undergraduate housing spaces available. Draw participants are placed into the assignable pool primarily on the basis of their guarantee status (guaranteed students before unguaranteed students) and secondarily on the basis of their application numbers (low numbers before high numbers). Priorities and choices are not considered at this point to ensure that all students have an equal opportunity to be housed on campus and so that no student is disadvantaged for not having priorities. Once the assignable pool is determined, the process stops. Only those who have been included in the assignable pool are considered for assignment in the second step. 

Step Two: Specific Assignments. If you are in the assignable pool, your assignment depends on your choices, priorities, and application number, as well as those of the other students in the assignable pool. You are assigned to the highest choice that your priorities and application number allow given the number of spaces available and the competing demand of other students. You are ranked in application number order (0001 to 3500). The computer looks at each student record individually. When it comes to you, it looks at your first choice. If there is space available in that house, it makes a temporary assignment for you in that house and moves to the next student. If there is not a space, it looks at your second choice, and so on. If a student with a higher (worse) Draw number than you has a higher priority (see Priorities), that student moves you down to your next choice if there is not space available for both of you. If you cannot be assigned to any of the residences that you have listed as choices on your housing application, then the final choice that you select is honored. Assignments made from the final choice "assign me to any residence for which I am eligible" are made to the houses remaining after requests for specific houses have been granted. 

At the end of the Draw, you are either (1) left unassigned or (2) assigned to a residence you have listed as a choice or to any residence where space is available from the "any residence" choice. 
 

After the Draw

After the Draw, you do not need to accept your assignment in Axess, however if you are not assigned or want to try for assignment to a more preferred residence, you may go into Axess and choose one of the following: 

• join the Waiting List for reassignment, or 
• join the Autumn Quarter Waiting List for assignment if you are unassigned. 

Reassignments. Students joining the Waiting List for reassignment to another residence must do so by the Autumn Waiting list deadline (July 11) You may also change your reassignment choices until July 11 by filing a reassignment request through Housing Assignments.

Acceptance of your housing assignment is assumed. If you no longer need housing, you must cancel your assignment in Axess, or contact Housing Assignments in writing to cancel your assignment (e-mail from your Stanford account is OK). You will be charged between $50 and $400 for canceling your assignment, depending on when you notify us.
 

May 13 to June 13	$50
June 14 to July 11	$100
July 12 to August 1	$200
After August 1	$400

Students who do not show up for their housing assignments by the move in deadline (5:00 p.m. Monday,September 22, 2008) and who do not contact their Housing Front Desk in writing to advise them of late arrival, will have their assignments cancelled and will be charged a $400 no-show fee.

If you cancel a housing assignment, you may reapply for Undergraduate Housing for Autumn Quarter, but will not be considered for assignment again until after all other students have not been offered an assignment. Guaranteed students who refuse an assignment forfeit a guaranteed year. Students who refuse a preferred year assignment also forfeit a preferred year.

Room and Roommate Assignments

Room Assignment Procedures. Specific room and roommate assignments are made after draw results are announced. Each residence determines its own room/roommate assignment policies and procedures. Assignments to specific rooms are made under the direction of the local Residence Student Affairs Specialist office. In some residences, room/roommate procedures are delegated to Resident Assistants or house officers, or they are determined by house residents. In co-ops that have graduate students living in them, undergraduates may have graduate student roommates. 

A number of residences hold meetings or distribute preference forms to begin room/roommate selection for Autumn Quarter after the results of the Draw are announced in late May. (See Schedule of Room Assignment Meetings). In other residences, room/roommate assignments are not made until shortly before school begins. In all cases, no room/roommate assignments are final until after students have moved into their assigned residences. If you have questions about room/roommate assignments, you should contact the local residence office or house to which you are assigned. 

Single Rooms. Many residence staff members who are exempt from the Draw live in singles. Please check the Residence Chart carefully to more accurately ascertain the number of singles that may be available in the room assignment procedures for a given house. 

Accessible Rooms. If you do not have a disability and you are assigned to a room that has been designated as accessible to students with disabilities, you may be required to move at the end of a given quarter to accommodate another student with special needs. Your local residence office has a list of these rooms for your reference. 

Consolidation. Housing Assignments reserves the right to reassign students at the beginning of each quarter in order to consolidate partially vacant rooms to meet the undergraduate guarantee.

The Waiting List

Joining the Waiting List. If you are not offered an assignment in the Draw, you may join the Waiting List to be considered for Autumn Quarter housing. If you were assigned in the Draw but not to your first housing choice, you may join the Waiting List for reassignment to another residence through Axess. You may change your reassignment choices until July 11. If you apply for assignment beginning Winter or Spring Quarter, or if you apply for housing for Autumn Quarter after the deadline to enter the Draw, you are placed on the Waiting List.

NOTE: If you are joining the Winter or Spring Quarter Waiting List, and if you apply by May 4, you will receive a random application number, which will give you a better position number. In order to be guaranteed housing by Friday of the first week of classes, you must apply by the Waiting List deadline for that quarter and be willing to live in any residence for which you qualify. Applications that come in between May 5 and the Waiting List deadline will receive sequential numbers based on the submission date.

You should also join the Waiting List if you wish to transfer from one category of housing to another due to a change in marital- or family status. You should complete a Waiting List application in Axess. Absentee applicants who do not have access to the Web should complete and return a paper Waiting List application to Housing Assignments. 

Check the Calendar for application deadlines. Note that you join the Waiting List for a specific quarter only. If you remain unassigned after the Waiting List round, you should participate in the walk-ins assignment round for that quarter. If you are still unassigned at the end of the walk-ins period, you must rejoin the Waiting List for the next quarter by the published deadline if you still wish to be considered for assignment.   

Withdrawing Applications. If you no longer wish to be assigned or reassigned on the Waiting List, you may withdraw your application without financial penalty by the application deadlines noted on the Calendar through Axess . If you withdraw your application, you may not be considered for Undergraduate Housing for that same academic term until all other students have received an assignment.  

Application Numbers. If you entered the Draw and did not refuse an assignment, you retain your application number from the Draw for the Waiting List. If you do not enter the Draw for Autumn housing, but join the Waiting List by the May 4 deadline for assignment beginning Winter or Spring Quarter, you receive a randomly assigned number from the same pool of numbers as Draw participants. All other students joining the Waiting List receive a sequential application number above 3500 according to the date they join. This includes students who did not enter the Draw for Autumn housing and students who applied after May 4 for housing beginning Winter or Spring Quarter. If you join the Waiting List for a given quarter and are not assigned for that quarter, you retain your application number if you join the Waiting List for a subsequent quarter. Students who received a random Draw number will be able to see their number in Axess. Sequential numbers are assigned at the end of the application period after all applications have been processed; therefore, they are not available until assignments are announced. If you refuse a housing assignment and then join a Waiting List, you lose your application number and are placed at the bottom of the Waiting List with a worse number, which is according to the date you join.  

Groups. If you join the Waiting List for assignment beginning Winter- or Spring Quarter as a group, you must join your group and request a Draw number in Axess by the May 4 deadline in order to receive a random number from the same pool of numbers as Draw participants. However, if you are joining the Waiting List as a group after May 4, your group will receive a sequential application number based on the date that the last group member joins. Groups need to either have all first round random numbers or they need to all have sequential numbers. Groups for Waiting list rounds cannot be made up of individuals with both first round numbers and sequential numbers. Groups who have sequential numbers apply as individuals but are given one number (the number of the last person who applies for housing). Joining as a group does not guarantee assignment to the same residence; therefore, group retention does not work on the waiting lists. For more information review the groups web page.

Groups of students who join the Waiting List assume the risk of being split between two or more residences. There are very few spaces available in individual houses on the Waiting List, and it is unlikely that all group members will be assigned to the same residence. Group members who were not assigned in the Draw and who are subsequently split on the Autumn Quarter Waiting List may petition to have their group reunited by the August 1 deadline, but it is very unlikely that they will be reunited. Group members who were assigned in the Draw and who join the Autumn Quarter Waiting List for reassignment may not petition to reunite their group if it is split on the Waiting List. Group members who are split on the Winter- or Spring Quarter Waiting List may also not petition to be reunited. 

Assignment Rounds. Waiting List assignment rounds are held prior to each quarter. The dates of the 2008-09 Waiting List are as follows.
 

Quarter	Deadline for  Applications	Assignments Announced
Autumn Quarter Waiting List	July 11, 2008	July 27, 2008
Winter Quarter Waiting List	October 24, 2008	November 16, 2008
Spring Quarter Waiting List	February 6, 2009	March 1, 2009

Application deadlines are included in the Calendar. 

Assignment Procedures. Waiting List assignments follow procedures similar to the Draw. An assignable pool is determined by the number of housing spaces available, taking into account both vacancies and (during the July Waiting List round only) spaces that may open up because of reassignments. Students who have already been assigned housing and are seeking reassignment to another residence are automatically placed in the assignable pool. Unassigned students are placed in the assignable pool first on the basis of their guarantee status (guaranteed students before unguaranteed students) and then on the basis of their application number as space allows. You are assigned to the highest choice that your priority (if applicable) and application number allow, given the number of spaces available and the competing demand of other students.

Special Priorities. If you entered the Draw, any special priorities that you obtained remain valid on the Waiting List throughout the 2008-09 academic year. If you do not need housing for Autumn Quarter, but wish to obtain priorities for the Winter or Spring Quarter Waiting List at a house that offers special priorities, you should visit the house and ask an authorized Draw representative to enter your priority into the priority system. You may collect a maximum of eight special priorities. All priorities must be requested by Friday, April 25, 2008.  

Returning from Stanford programs. Students who attend an official Stanford off-campus program in the Autumn and/or Winter Quarters and who return to campus in the Winter or Spring will be considered to be moving from one category of Stanford housing to another. As such, they will be given preference for housing in the Winter and Spring Waiting Lists. In order to receive this priority, they will need to apply for housing by the Waiting List deadline and indicate that they are willing to live anywhere. If they meet these requirements, they will be given assignment priority and will be considered in the assignable pool (see "The Draw" for a definition of assignable pool) before students who have guaranteed housing status but who are not attending an official Stanford program. Students in the latter group retain their guarantee of housing and will still be assigned in the Winter or Spring Waiting List or Walk-in rounds. (Note that Overseas priority will not be considered at Walk-ins. Students who have been attending an official Stanford program will be included on the Walk-in position list in Draw number order with guaranteed status students).

Assignments are assumed to be accepted. By submitting an application for housing, you are accepting whatever housing is assigned to you. Results of the Waiting List are available in Axess. (see Calendar for announcement dates) If you later choose to cancel that assignment, you will be charged $50 to $400 depending on the date that you cancel. It is your responsibility to check Axess to see if you have been assigned.

Cancelling Assignments. If you cancel a Waiting List assignment, you are charged a cancellation fee depending on the date that you cancel, and your name is removed from further consideration for assignment. If you were previously assigned and cancel an assignment or fail to move into your assigned residence, you are charged a fee determined by the date that you refuse your assignment as indicated below.
 

Assignment Round	Dates	Fee
After the Autumn Quarter Waiting List Round	Until August 1, 2008	$200
	After August 1, 2008	$400
After the Winter Quarter Waiting List Round	Until November 28, 2008	$50
	Until December 27, 2008	$100
	After December 27, 2008	$200
After the Spring Quarter Waiting List Round	Until March 6, 2009	$50
	Until March 14, 2009	$100
	After March 21, 2009	$200

If you join the Autumn Quarter Waiting List for reassignment to another residence and you are reassigned, you must accept your reassignment as your old assignment is assigned simultaneously to another student on the Waiting List. If you refuse a reassignment for Autumn Quarter, you are charged a $200 to $400 administrative fee as described above, your old assignment and your reassignment are cancelled, and your name is removed from the Waiting List. 

If you join the Waiting List for Winter or Spring Quarter due to a change in your marital or family status and you are reassigned, you must accept your reassignment. If an apartment is assigned to you and you do not accept it, you are charged a $100 administrative fee, your name is removed from the Waiting List, and you are held liable for room rent for the remainder of the academic year. 

If you cancel a housing assignment, you also lose your application number. In addition, you may not be considered for Undergraduate Housing for that same quarter until everyone who applied has been offered an assignment. If you apply again for a later quarter, you are placed at the bottom of the Waiting List. Guaranteed students who refuse an assignment forfeit a guaranteed year. Students who refuse a preferred year assignment also forfeit a preferred year.

Walk-Ins

Next Page

Return to Applying for Undergraduate Housing

Return to Upperclass Housing