Beyond the luck of the
Draw: Strategy counts in fevered quest for coveted dorms
BY JAMES ROBINSON
Sounding like war-scarred veterans, a group of
sophomores this week laid out their battle plan to meet a
fast-approaching deadline. To an outsider, their lingo
might seem odd: priorities, preferences, theme houses,
focus houses, special priorities and, of course, the
dreaded draw number.
"We're going to get a priority somewhere,"
vowed Hubert Pan, as his draw group mates nodded in
approval outside Yost House in Governor's Corner -- where
he and six other guys ended up this year. "We hardly
knew about priorities last year."
Seven
freshmen from Casa Zapata finalized preparations to form
a draw group to compete for sophomore housing. In this
photograph taken last spring, they are, from left to
right, Arnulfo Medina, Gabriel Pardo, Daniel Reyes,
Antonio Mora, Derek Jackson, Osvaldo Medina and Hubert
Pan. (Photo: L.A.
Cicero)
Most faculty and staff know little or nothing about
the draw, the annual spring ritual that preoccupies
undergraduates at least as much as academics at this time
of the year. Students have until this Sunday to form draw
groups -- groups of students with whom they'd like to
live -- a process that can be as demeaning as choosing
teams on a grade school playground. For many, it's safe
to say that "coolness" is at least as high a
priority as cleanliness when it comes to choosing their
future roommates and suitemates.
On May 3, students will await, with trepidation, the
posting of their computer-generated draw numbers; unlike
test results, in this case the lower the number the
better. Then they'll use their best qualitative and
quantitative skills in an attempt to figure out how best
to use that draw number to their advantage, even
splitting up their group into subgroups if necessary.
Some feelings are likely to get hurt along the way.
Stanford's Housing Assignment Services has devised a
system that does its best, under the conditions, to make
the draw system as fair as possible. One reason the
system is so complex is that it takes into consideration
both where and with whom students prefer to live. And
while little can be done about a truly lousy draw number,
Stanford boasts a wealth of housing options -- from
cherished Row houses like the ever-popular Bob to theme
residences like Casa Italiana to larger dorms that run
the gamut in age, amenities and geographic desirability.
"There is absolutely an element of chance that
enters into the draw," said Todd Benson, the manager
of Housing Assignment Services. "As much as we'd
like to create a process that is completely equitable,
some residences will inevitably be more desirable than
others."
Swept into this process last year were a bunch of
freshman guys from Casa Zapata, who were interviewed
several times over the last 12 months.
One year
ago: coming together
"We just kind of came together on our own,"
Daniel Reyes of San Antonio said, not wanting to take
credit for organizing the draw group that eventually put
seven Casa Zapata freshmen together in Governor's Corner.
Sitting in the Stern cafeteria one day last May, Reyes
was munching on cereal for lunch while most of the others
were scarfing down burritos as if they weren't sure where
their next meal was coming from.
"We all played a lot of volleyball and soccer
together," Reyes continued.
"And wrestling, occasionally, in the hall,"
interjected Derek Jackson of Coeur d'Alene, Idaho.
"We're all on the same floor, except
Antonio," Reyes added, referring to Antonio Mora of
Virginia. Rounding out the group are Gabriel Pardo and
Arnulfo Medina of Los Angeles, Osvaldo Jimenez of Alameda
and Pan of Singapore.
It soon became apparent that the prime reason for the
group's bonding is the simple fact that, besides being
nice guys, they were all freshmen living together on the
same floor of the same dorm. They went through the shock
of entering college together and lived to tell about it
-- or at least most of it. Their camaraderie was forged,
in part, by playing soccer and going to dances together.
But their unfinished sentences, giggles and guffaws
seemed to correspond to some off-the-record antics and
incidents that also unified them -- something vague about
a stolen golf cart, for example. And water raids on other
dorms.
"We raided all the other ethnic theme dorms with
water guns," Jackson boasted. "With big, big
supersoakers -- like water cannons," Reyes said,
elaborating.
On this and other occasions, they interrupted each
other and, especially, made fun of one another -- in a
good-spirited way that betrays the affection they share.
"Any dorm activity, we do together," said
Jackson. "We all got along well together from the
beginning."
Most members of the group assumed they would all go in
as some sort of draw group in order to maximize their
chances of living together sophomore year. But there were
some changes that happened to the makeup and even the
size of the group, and it's easy to imagine the scenarios
that can occur when 18-year-olds are strategizing about
making it into the "in" group.
"Sometimes one person wants their friend in a
group but no one else in that group wants them in their
group," Jackson said.
"At some points there were like 10 or 11 people
who wanted to be in our group," Pardo added.
Later there were eight -- the maximum number to a
group. Laughing, Reyes insisted that "Osvaldo wanted
to kick me out."
Jackson at one point thought he might stop out for a
year to go on a religious mission. And he also considered
drawing with a group whose members were all of the same
faith.
"As far as separating into your ethnic groups or
whatever, as you become an upperclassman I think that's
true," he said. "Like the group I said I was
going to draw with, they were all upperclassmen, white
people of the same religion. So a lot of what me not
drawing into that group had to do with was I didn't want
to limit myself like that and become isolated."
Then one other Zapata resident who had planned on
being in the group decided to form one with his roommate
instead. The final number was seven.
Not all is
left to chance
For their sophomore through senior years, students
have two "preferred" years and one
"unpreferred" year. If they choose to use one
of their preferred years, they will draw a number between
1 and 1,999. If they choose to use an unpreferred year,
their draw number is somewhere between 2,000 and 3,000.
All members of a draw group have to have identical
status, because only one number will be drawn per group.
The system is replete with intricacies, complexities
and subtleties. Group members individually can list eight
choices of where they want to live -- sometimes agreeing
to all stay together until the bitter end, no matter how
"bad" the housing assignment, or in other cases
staying together halfway through the process. In still
other cases, they can agree to separate into subgroups
somewhere down the line. So the group has to calculate
the importance of bricks and mortar against being
together. Benson gave as an example the case of Storey, a
Row house, which to get into last year required a draw
number of 727 for a single individual -- who, of course,
could wind up with a stranger for a roommate -- but a
number as good (and unlikely) as 309 or lower from groups
of four to eight students.
But things get even more complicated when one tries to
gain admittance to a "theme" residence, such as
Casa Italiana, or a "focus" residence, such as
Naranja (which encourages "entrepreneurial
ideals") or a "cross-cultural theme"
residence such as Ujamaa. In differing ways depending on
which type of residence it is, some applicants benefit
from "priority levels" that make their draw
number less relevant. For example, a student with a
priority level 1 with a draw number of 700 would get into
Casa Italiana before someone without a priority number
who received a better draw number, such as 500.
As a result, even though the draw system sounds like a
lottery, far from everything is left to chance in housing
assignments because they are designed to support
residential programs.
"Without some sort of special provisions in the
assignment process, a residence designed to support a
special program could easily end up being filled with
students who had no real interest in the program, but who
wanted to live in the residence for other reasons -- such
as its desirable location on the campus, superior
physical condition or large number of single rooms,"
Housing Assignment's website notes.
For example, to get priority for the Enchanted
Broccoli Forest house, which is a co-op, prospective
residents must take a tour of the house and sign the
house agreement, which details conditions for living
there, such as working a kitchen shift. Speaking French
will help you get priority for La Maison Française.
For theme residences, priorities apply to all spaces
in the house. But in "focus" residences,
priorities apply to only some of the spaces, typically
one-third of them.
And in cross-cultural theme residences, students who
are members of specific ethnic groups are given
preference for some -- typically one-half -- of the
available spots.
Vice Provost for Student Affairs Jim Montoya told a
recent Faculty Senate meeting that after a committee
studied the draw system it decided against making any
changes. "The current system we have seems to be as
acceptable to our student body as any system we could
come up with," he said, explaining that the draw
system is so complex because of the wide variety of
campus housing -- both physically and in terms of the
objectives different types of residences have. "Any
recommendations that we make regarding the draw we will
not move forth with unless there is strong student
support. It's simply too close to our students'
hearts."
He added that the first time he went through the draw
as a Stanford undergrad, the maximum -- or worst number
-- was 5,000. "I drew for the group, and drew the
number 4,995."
Crunching
the draw number
Much of the draw process is carried out via computer.
Over the web, groups give themselves names, receive
passwords and submit their preferences (and priorities,
if applicable) and wait for the fateful draw day. In last
year's case, it was Friday, May 21.
"We naively thought we were going to draw 5 or
something," Reyes said about a week after their
number was dealt last spring.
"I remember hoping that we'd at least get
something decent, like 800," Jimenez said, recalling
the fateful day. "Not 1,581." The group's draw
number could have been worse -- anything from 1,582 to
1,999 -- so the guys tried to look at the bright side.
Drawing 1,581, the group had to do a reality check.
They used a guide to results from the previous year's
draw as an indication of how they might fare, but of
course dormitories can go in and out of favor from one
year to another. Safe to say, however, was that a Row
house was out of the question.
The group zeroed in on Governor's Corner. Their first
choice was EAST (East Asian Studies Theme) House; their
second choice was American Studies, or AmStud (which
since has been renamed Murray); and their third choice,
Yost. Their strategy was that they would allow their
group to get split up for those first three choices --
reasoning that as long as they were all in Governor's
Corner, they'd at least be close to one another. They had
three lower choices as well, all larger dorms where they
presumably would have been kept together.
In the end, the group had to split up; two got into
American Studies and the five others into Yost.
Jackson tried to look at the bright side. "It's a
lot better than some of the Row houses. Some are dirty
and smelly. And I know a group that got 1,901."
But Reyes said that drawing 1,581 was a waste of a
"preferred" year. "We're kind of stuck in
a limbo of numbers where there's nothing good you can
get. Nothing draws around our number that's decent. It's
like all the good stuff is under 1,000, and with 1,100 to
2,000 you can get the same thing as unpreferreds
get."
Getting their housing assignments, however, was by no
means the end of the process. Five days later came the
"in-house draw," where actual room assignments
are made in a decidedly low-tech way -- in the evening,
at the residence, with names picked out of a hat. Well,
sort of, after priorities for in-house draws -- such as
seniority within the house -- are taken into account.
"The in-house draw went pretty well. Usually
sophomores get screwed," Jackson said. "It was
kind of nerve-wracking, looking at all those
upperclassmen. You felt like you were getting the
leftovers, but I think we all did pretty well. We got
decent rooms."
Mora, who wound up rooming with Jackson at American
Studies, boasted that the two "got a big corner
room." Jimenez wasn't interested. "I don't want
to talk about our room," he said.
Reyes said the group never really considered applying
for priority status in a theme or focus house, which
could have given them an edge. "It's kind of like we
knew about it but didn't make the effort. Maybe we could
have gotten a Row house."
Adjusting to
sophomore year
Last December, as the end of Fall Quarter neared, the
guys engaged in some good-natured ribbing about their
sometimes lack of togetherness. "I guess if I lived
here things would be better," said Jackson, who,
with Mora, lives in AmStud adjacent to Yost. It was
lunchtime at Yost, but Jackson and Mora don't always make
it over for meals. "Antonio's always eating at other
places," Jackson said.
"This is the outer rim of the galaxy," Mora
said of Governor's Corner's western location.
Other things can affect the time the group spends
together as sophomores. "Hubert has a girlfriend,
and he's not here to talk about it," Reyes chortled.
Academics get more focused and more serious. "We
have more work and we're busier in every way, shape or
form from last year," he said.
"The dorms are just not the same," Jackson
interjected, compared to the rambunctiousness of an
all-freshman hallway. "Yeah, they're more quiet
around here. People leave their doors closed," said
Mora. "Although there are some cool people
here," said Jackson.
At the same time, they were beginning to get to know
students in other ways. Reyes and Medina were
volunteering in the Barrio Assistance Program, tutoring
kids in East Palo Alto, and Mora was working at El Centro
Chicano and making new friends there.
For a minute, Pardo imagined a housing program without
draw groups. "What if there was no draw system? You
wouldn't have the draw group dynamic, but you'd be forced
to meet new people," he mused.
But they were still doing stuff together, such as the
surprise party they threw for Reyes -- and 60 of his
closest friends -- in Jimenez's room. And the time they
took Jackson to Miyake in Palo Alto and subjected him to
the embarrassing birthday rituals there -- although shots
of Sprite were substituted for sake.
By Spring Quarter, the group was back to doing more
together, including playing intramural sports.
"We're making more of an effort, whereas last year
we could easily just go eat together," said Reyes.
While they won't all be together for their junior
year, their friendships have stayed strong. Jackson is
stopping out for a year, and the others will be split
into two groups, with Reyes, Pan and another friend
hoping to get into Manzanita. Through the priority
system, they hope to improve their odds at getting their
first choice; for example, they'll vie to get into
Manzanita's Castaño Hall -- the Public Policy focus
house -- by writing a 200-word essay explaining why they
want to live there and a 100-word essay describing at
least one public policy interest. If they live there,
they have to commit to attending at least three focus
programs per quarter, helping organize at least one focus
program during the year, attending a 1-unit Public Policy
seminar and participating in house activities and
meetings.
Jimenez, Mora, Medina and some others, meanwhile, are
hoping to get into Mirrielees House because they prefer
its apartment-type setup.
But whatever happens next year, the guys know they'll
still see a lot of each other, because what ties them
closest is their freshman-year, freshman dorm experience.
In fact, they still make occasional guest appearances at
Casa Zapata -- like the time Winter Quarter they crashed
a house meeting and mounted a massive assault with
machine-gun-type supersoakers.
"We got a few people pretty good," Reyes
said. SR
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