The cutoff history—It’s coming!
The powers that be over at Housing assure us that the 2010-11 cutoff history is on the way, hopefully within the next day or two. Once that’s up, we’ll go through it step-by-step (or, rather, dorm-by-dorm) to look at which numbers might be misleading. But a few points and general reminders here based on questions we’ve gotten this year as well as those from years past, after the jump.
1) Never forget that NOTHING is set in stone. Cutoff history numbers change, sometimes without warning and based on arbitrarily shifting preferences. And these changes are different every year—looking at historical trends also is dicey. Basically, just know that everything comes with this caveat. We’ll try to be as clear as we can regarding when we’re sure about things and when we’re guessing.
2) Repeated question from rising sophomores: Can my group sneak into a four/five/six/seven/eight-person suite? No.
3) Really? Are you sure? Yes.
4) But the cutoff history says…No. You won’t get an eight-person suite in Ruggles—those will go to all-junior 20-point groups. You won’t get a seven-person suite in Claremont—those will go to groups with a mix of sophomores and juniors (find juniors to take the singles while you swallow the doubles. Fours, fives, and sixes in EC/Hogan/Ruggles/Claremont will go to seniors. Now, the promised caveat: Last year was the first year with a line of six-person suites in Ruggles, so a couple of lucky groups of sophomores snuck in. This year, we’d expect juniors will have wised up and will take them all. There’s also always the chance of the single six-person suite in Harmony dropping, or a random undesirable suite in Claremont. But if you go into Suite Selection as a 10-point group expecting to get anything other than corridor doubles, disappointment is a near-certainty.
5) That said, sophomore groups can use sophomore pair-up, so if you go in as a big group with this as your likely plan, you aren’t risking anything (and you can ensure you’ll get to pick at the same time as your friends).
6) Words of warning for juniors on Ruggles—the eight-person suites continue to rise in demand. Your chances of getting one as a 20-point group are probably 2/3 at this point—two years ago it was a near-guarantee. If you can lure a senior with an offer of one of the singles, do it to boost your point value.
7) Seniors should think hard about how willing they are to take an EC Exclusion Suite to guarantee space in EC. (You could rotate the double throughout the year, so no one lives there for more than a semester?) It’s likely that there will be more two, four, and six-person groups as seniors that might have been in ECX groups spread out. So we’d expect Hogan, Watt, Woodbridge, the rest of EC, and the Ruggles four-person suites to get more difficult. (More on this to come once this year’s cutoff numbers are released, and we can compare those to our own observations from last year.)
8) There’s always the RA/Rider rule to wreak havoc. The rule is the same as last year. The rooms may be different. Consider this at your peril.
9) There will, again, be additional space held out for disability housing, which will further knock down the suite counts in some dorms. Last year, the specifics weren’t announced until the morning Suite Selection started—we’ll do our utmost to get that information sooner this time around.
10) General Selection—we’ve had numerous questions regarding this half of the process, and cutoffs for single rooms. These are often the most volatile because there are so many different dorms with such a wide variety of rooms in each—it’s often down to personal preference. But we promise to go more in depth here, too.
As always, keep asking questions in the comments, and feel free to email us at spectrum@columbiaspectator.com. (We may write about your question in a future post if you ask via email.)
is there a list anywhere of how many 5-person or 6-person suites there are in each dorm?
http://housingservices.columbia.edu/content/cutoff-history
These numbers are off, but if you look at the second and third columns it will give you a general idea… just note that there are a bunch of 6′s in Ruggles that the cutoff chart doesn’t have (I think 8, one on each floor, but check the floor plans to confirm)
I get it, you like the Black Eyed Peas just please stop putting them on repeat; I just woke up to “Boom Boom Pow.”
I am a sophomore transfer student. Do I get a priority number of 10 or 20? I noticed on the housing website that it says, “please note that priority is based on the year you entered Columbia.”
thanks!
20! No Shaft for you.
thank youuu
So I really, really don’t want to live in Wien. I’m terrified of living there, actually. As a rising junior who will probably eventually enter general selection, what are my chances that I will have to live there, or else risk a blind double??
Also, one of my main concerns is the kitchen–I don’t live on the meal plan, and tend to cook my own food around three times a week. Where would be the easiest access to the kitchen?
Hard to say—preferences vary every year. There’s definitely a chance you’ll have to take Wien if you absolutely want a single. Broadway keeps rising in popularity, so juniors are getting relegated more and more out of there. Schapiro, McBain, and Harmony may have some left. But, to the further concern about the quality of Wien (and the kitchen), this from a friend of the Shaft, and Wien defender!
“Wien is definitely not as bad as people think it is. East side of the building has an incredible view of the city, Amsterdam’s a nice change of pace food-wise, and being close to EC is nice as a junior, too. Last year and this year, they made some major renovations that made it 10000x less of a hellhole than anyone who’s visited. (Two years ago, the bathrooms were neon yellow and just horrifying. Now they kind of have a Macy’s vibe to them with all the tan marble, though they’re still pretty disgusting since all hall bathrooms are.)
Anyway, to the building-specific concern: the kitchen situation does really suck. The high floors are definitely nicer lighting/space wise, but the kitchen’s on the second floor, and it’s often reeking of sausage and tuna and all the weird shit you’d expect to be made for dinner by hundreds of people in singles. It’s not clean and it’s not nice. I suppose you could live to the third or fourth floor or something and it’d be easier than travelling down from a higher floor to cook, but I’d say it’s worth the elevator trip to be on a higher floor. Also, another option that’s popular for Wien-ies: invest in a hot plate alongside that fridge. There’s a microwave on each floor, too, and that helps. You’ll be able to cook more than you think.
Ps. The sink is awesome and totally worth it.”
I have little personal experience with Wien—never lived there nor spent much time there. But I’d tend to agree with the above—people who end up living in Wien often end up thinking it’s fine.
Try for River. A few juniors managed to sneak in last year somehow. It’s a nice dorm with 2 kitchens on each floor and seems to be a bit overlooked a lot of the time.
starts TOMORROW – and we still don’t have last year’s cutoff numbers? Really, housing?!? You’ve had an entire YEAR to do this…start putting them up in May or something, sheesh. Not like it takes a great deal of calculating…
It should be up any day now—we’re waiting, too. Don’t rely exclusively on it, though—there are often strange discrepancies. We’ll compare our liveblogs from last year to the numbers that come out to try to give the clearest picture we can.
up now. Come on, Ben Cotton!
Right you are! Wasn’t showing up on my browser for some reason–we’re all over it.
Ben,
Is there ANYWHERE for a group of THREE sophomores to live????? What are the chances of getting into a half-filled Nussbaum suite as a group of 3? Impossible? I have no idea but having serious issues trying to figure it out.
Nope, sorry. Nussbaum suites don’t work like that–they’re big suites with several rooms, but you pick into them like doubles.
Is there anywhere to post if you’re looking for people, like 2 to go into an 8 person suite?
Is it true that having a Barnard person messes up your general selection status if you don’t get a suite?
Don’t see how it would. The Barnard person can’t do General Selection—she has to go back into Barnard housing. The rest of you have the same number you’d have otherwise (which isn’t affected by the Barnard person, since she wouldn’t have counted for your priority number in the first place).
What are the chances of two rising junior getting into Woodbridge/Watt? I’ve heard everything from “It’s practically guaranteed” to ” Those dorms are seniors only.”
See the new post we just put up:
http://spectrum.columbiaspectator.com/the-shaft/the-lottery-dorm-by-dorm-by-dorm-by-dorm-until-you-cant-take-any-more