Fall Lottery Process
The room selection process happens in two phases. Please read the information below carefully and be mindful of the dates and procedures that apply for the type of assignment you would like to pick for the coming academic year.
Important Dates
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| Monday, April 15, 2024 | List of Eligible Students Posted |
| Monday, April 22, 2024 | Deadline to Request to be Added to the Lottery |
| Tuesday, April 23, 2024 | Lottery Numbers Posted |
| Tuesday, April 30, 2024 | Round 1 House Assignments Due to Housing Office |
| Monday, May 6, 2024 | Updated Lottery Numbers Posted |
| Monday, May 13, 2024 | Unaffiliated Suite Lottery Application Due |
| Wednesday, May 15, 2024 | Unaffiliated Suite Lottery Appointments |
| Friday, May 17, 2024 | Unaffiliated Double Lottery Application Due |
| Monday, May 20 - Tuesday, May 21, 2024 | Remaining Unaffiliated Lottery Appointments |
Eligibility
All currently enrolled Caltech frosh, sophomores, and juniors will be automatically entered into the 2024-2025 Fall lottery process if eligible to enroll for the 2024-2025 Fall term without UASH or Dean's approval. Eligible students will NOT be required to apply to be assigned a random lottery number. A list of eligible students will be available on Monday, April 15, 2024.
If you are not on the list of eligible students and need to live on campus in the fall, you may request to be added to the lottery by emailing us by 12 noon on Monday, April 22, 2024. Eligibility to participate will be confirmed by the undergraduate deans.
If you have made local housing arrangements for the 2024-2025 academic year, you may opt out of future housing lottery communications, and we will not generate a lottery number for you. Please complete the Opt Out of Fall Housing Lottery form to remove yourself from the housing lottery process. Please note that submitting this form is binding, and if you change your mind after lottery numbers are generated, you will be added to the bottom of the waitlist.
Lottery numbers will be posted on Tuesday, April 23, 2024.
The room selection process happens in two phases. The Housing Office will run one set of lottery numbers to be used in both phases.
ROUND 1 – Individual House Lotteries
The 8 Houses (Avery, Blacker, Dabney, Fleming, Lloyd, Page, Ricketts, Venerable) will conduct their own house lottery processes. For guidelines regarding any specific lottery process, please consult the Excomm in that house. During the house lotteries, each house may reserve 3 double rooms in Marks or Braun. These rooms will be selected during the final round, but will be guaranteed picks in Marks or Braun.
Rooms will be held out of the house lotteries to accommodate incoming students for the fall. The breakdown of rooms for incoming students will be decided by the start of April.
House Picks Officers must submit their room assignment list to the Housing Office by 12 noon on Tuesday, April 30th.
Students who select a housing assignment during individual House lotteries will be removed from the lottery list on the Housing website on Monday, May 6th, 2024, and they will not be eligible to participate in Round 2.
ROUND 2 – Unaffiliated Housing Lottery
During the Unaffiliated Housing Lottery, students will be able to apply to live in Bechtel and/or Marks and Braun. Students with CASS accommodations who have not yet secured housing that meets their needs will also select housing during this round.
Students interested in living in Bechtel may participate in the Unaffiliated Housing Lottery by filling out the Unaffiliated Suite Lottery Application. The deadline to complete the form is Monday, May 13th, 2024 at 12 noon.
Once all applications are received, the Housing Office will schedule lottery appointments for suite groups. Appointments will occur on Wednesday, May 15th, 2024.
In order to maximize the number of unaffiliated students selecting housing assignments in Bechtel, as our primary unaffiliated housing option, the first 10 suites will be selected by groups that will be prioritized by the number of unaffiliated students in the group. Groups with a higher number of unaffiliated students per group size will have priority. For example, a group of 8 with 6 unaffiliated students will go before a group of 8 with 2 unaffiliated students. If there are multiple groups with the same number of unaffiliated students, they will be prioritized by the best lottery number in the group. Students must be unaffiliated by the end of Winter Term 2024 to be eligible for unaffiliated priority suites.
Update, as of April 25, 2024:
To correct the current situation with unaffiliated students and the priority round of the Bechtel lottery, Housing will be adjusting the priority system that will be used to determine the first 10 suites selected in Bechtel. Below are the definitions of the groups participating within the lottery:
Historically Unaffiliated – as of winter term 2024 = 2 points
Newly Unaffiliated – as of spring term 2024 = 1 point
Students who were historically unaffiliated prior to this term will receive 2 priority points for their group. Students who newly unaffiliated this term (requested to be unaffiliated during winter term) will receive 1 priority point for their group. Thus, a group of 8 students who have been historically unaffiliated would have 16 priority points and would go before a group of 8 newly unaffiliated students with 8 priority points. If two groups have the same number of priority points, the order will be determined by the best lottery number.
After the unaffiliated priority suites, the remaining suites for returning students in Bechtel will be filled by suite groups based on the best lottery number in the group of 4, 6, 8, or 12 people. Full groups will have priority over partial groups. If partial groups select a suite, the remaining spaces in their suite will be offered to the singles wait list after the completion of the lottery.
The breakdown of available suites during the Unaffiliated Suite Lottery will be:
- 4 four person suites
- 3 six person suites
- 13 eight person suites
- 1 twelve person suite
Students who do not get into a suite in Bechtel or students who would like to select a double in Marks or Braun will fill out the Unaffiliated Double Lottery Application. There are four 4-person suites (two double rooms with a shared bathroom) in Marks and Braun that can be selected during this round. The deadline to complete this form is Friday, May 17th, 2024 at 12 noon. Students will be able to list a roommate or request to be added to a list of students looking for a roommate. Appointments will occur on Monday, May 20th and Tuesday, May 21st, 2024. Appointments will be scheduled in lottery number order and will include students who picked Marks and Braun doubles during the house lottery round.
Students with CASS accommodations for a single room who are unable to secure a single through the house lottery or unaffiliated suite lottery should submit the Unaffiliated Double Lottery Application and will select a standalone single in Bechtel or a single in Marks or Braun during this round.
Students with "MB" will choose their reserved Marks/Braun room during the Unaffiliated Double Lottery.
What Happens If ...
If you are not able to attend the room picking process you may designate a proxy to pick an assignment for you. Proxies must have written authorization from the student for whom they are selecting.
You may also designate the Housing Office as your proxy. We will select a space for you based on your preferences available at the time of your pick.
Proxy forms are available online.
At the end of the full room picking process, students that have not selected an assignment will be automatically added to the waiting list (in the order of their lottery numbers). As vacancies occur, spaces will be offered to individuals on the waiting list.
If an affiliated student does not pick into their house in the first round, they may participate in the Unaffiliated Lottery, but Unaffiliated students will be given priority. Unaffiliated students may pull in students with an affiliation during the Bechtel Suite Unaffiliated Lottery. Unaffiliated status is determined by the results of the winter term Housing Affiliation survey sent by the Office of Student Experience.
Groups that fill a suite with unaffiliated students will have first priority to pick among groups of the same size. Then the group with the next highest number of unaffiliated students will pick among groups of that size. If there are multiple groups with the same number of unaffiliated students (e.g. 4 unaffiliated students and 4 affiliated students going into an 8 person suite), the groups will pick in order based on the best lottery number out of the unaffiliated students in that group.
If a vacancy occurs in a suite that was picked as a group, the group may be given a reasonable amount of time to pull in a new suitemate, but the Housing Office will reserve the right to assign that vacancy to any student after that period.
Students with emotional support animals (ESAs) or service animals that are registered with and approved by the CASS office, will be eligible to select housing in limited locations. Each residence on campus has a section of the building designated as animal friendly.
- Bechtel Residence:
- 256, 356: 4 person suites
- 114, 272, 372 : 6 person suites
- 121 & 122: 8 person suites
- 164, 265-275, 365-375: standalone singles
- Marks House: All Rooms
- Avery House: Rooms 101 - 114
- Blacker House: Rooms 102 - 112
- Dabney House: Rooms 103 - 106, 203 - 206
- Fleming House: Rooms 127 - 134
- Lloyd House: Rooms 112 - 119
- Page House: Rooms 226 - 232
- Ricketts House: Rooms 114, 245 - 268
- Venerable House: Rooms 239 - 244
The CASS Office will communicate accessibility needs for students directly to the Housing Office, and the Housing Office will work with the student to assign them to housing that meets their needs.
Undergraduate students can opt out of Caltech housing prior to participating in the lottery.