Crowding

http://tech.mit.edu/V70/PDF/N34.pdf

Oct 3 1950

There are at present fifty-two vacant rooms in the undergraduate dormitories, twelve in the Everett Moore Baker House, and forty in Riverside. Because of the vacancies all students in Building 22 are being asked to move to permanent dormitories. The unusual number of vacancies is accounted for by the large number of men taken in by the fraternities this term and by the opening of the Riverside dormitories.

There are approximately 100 men living in Building 22 at present. All freshmen must be out by October 9, preferably to the freshmen rooms of the undergraduate dormitories. All other occupants must move as soon as adequate accommodations are available, Those in Building 22 will be moved to the 2nd floor of the building and service will be curtailed.

The exact date for the closing of Building 22 has not been announced but at least ten days' notice will be given before doing so.

http://tech.mit.edu/archives/VOL_079/TECH_V079_S0166_P001.pdf

Sept 22 1959

In addition to the problems of adjusting to college life, many Freshmen find themselves without permanent room assignments as the first week of Tech begins. Overcrowding has been a prevalent problem at MIT but this year appears to be the worst in many years, according to A1 Krigman, Senior House President.

Baker House has converted five of it, lounges into temporary Frosh quarters. Twenty Freshmen are making the lounge their homes until crowded conditions slack off. The lounge quarters are four-man units, with no plumbing facilities or telephone, standard equipment for all other Baker House rooms. The library to be built in one of the lounges has been temporarily postponed.

Cots for thirty-six Freshmen have been set up in various rooms in East Campus. Walker Memorial gym is housing an undetermined number of upperclassmen who do not have room assignments as of yet.

At the present 304 Freshmen have pledged fraternities. Institute administration expects a few more students to pledge fraternities throughout the term, alleviating conditions somewhat.

Upperclassmen who failed to register yesterday will have their rooms assigned to Freshmen. A number of upperclassmen are expected to move into apartments in the first two weeks as there is no rebate beyond that period.

The Institute announced that freshmen will get priority on all vacant rooms. Numerous remedies have been suggested for the overcrowded conditions, according to Krigman. One of these is a new 100-man dormitory. Another is that the number of students to be admitted be decreased. At present approximately twice as many students as register are admitted by the Institute. Statistics have usually borne this out. However, this year, the percentage of those who accepted the admission rose, thereby instigating the overcrowding of Institute facilities.

http://tech.mit.edu/V97/PDF/N31.pdf

Sept 4 1977

Since opening in 1951, Baker has always been oversubscribed except during a brief period after Burton was renovated and MacGregor was built. Browning speculated that the fact that

Baker was not oversubscribed at these times was due to a feeling of overconfidence among Baker residents. Last year, Baker received 40 percent more first choices than the number of spaces.

http://tech.mit.edu/V110/N32/house.32n.html

A few dormitories usually operate with “permanent crowds” – rooms which MIT classifies as crowded but dormitory residents consider comfortable and fill each year. Baker House, for example, usually crowds about 15 rooms as freshman quadruples. However this year they crowded 10 more people, resulting in 10 quintuple rooms, said Gerald R. Cain '91, Baker House rooming coordinator.

Baker House, although it placed third in the number of freshmen that ranked it as their first choice, did not attract as many as last year. Fifty-six men and 46 women ranked Baker first, compared with 70 men and 50 women last year. This year, 48 of the men and 46 of the women were assigned to live in Baker.

http://tech.mit.edu/V113/N41/housing.41n.html

September 14, 1993

Crowding Continues, But Space Available

By Eric Richard

Associate News Editor

Although the number of freshmen accepting independent living group bids exceeded projected levels, the dormitory system was forced to a higher crowding level than expected. And while there are many MacGregor House lounges and some crowded Baker House quadruples housing five freshmen, several dormitories report spaces which still need to be filled.

The number of crowded rooms include 15 MacGregor lounges which were converted into freshmen double rooms, according to Linda D'Anna, an administrative assistant in the housing office. Also, six of the 10 crowdable quadruple rooms in Baker House have been crowded, and now house five students each, according to Lisa Cohen '94, Baker room assignments chair.

http://tech.mit.edu/V114/N37/lottery.37n.html

September 1, 1994

By Sarah Y. Keightley

Editor in Chief

Results from the second round of the housing lottery were sent out yesterday evening via electronic mail to those students who did not receive assignments in Tuesday's first round. All students have now been assigned housing, and a third round will not have to be held as it did last year, according to Andrew M. Eisenmann '75, assistant dean for residence and campus activities.

After the first lottery, about 760 students were placed, and another 44 were pushed to the next lottery. Of these 44, 11 accepted bids from independent living groups.

The 33 remaining students were assigned to dormitories, Eisenmann said. Not all students received their top choice, but the distribution was similar to the first round of the lottery, he said.

More spaces were created when about 20 freshmen who had received assignments decided to accept bids from independent living groups, six upperclassmen went through rush and pledged fraternities, and other upperclassmen decided to move off-campus, Eisenmann said.

Fewer overcrowded this year

The level of crowding is currently at about 140 people beyond capacity, which is lower than the predicted 150, Eisenmann said. This means that the quads in Baker House will not be converted into quints, and the lounges in MacGregor House will not be converted into doubles as in the past, he said.

http://tech.mit.edu/V115/N37/houslottres.37n.html

Housing Lottery Results

Totals and number of students assigned by choices.

http://tech.mit.edu/V116/N38/dorm.38n.html August 30, 1996

Baker House, usually one of the more popular choices, was the most undersubscribed dorm this year. Only 51 freshmen ranked Baker first, compared with 118 spots open.

http://tech.mit.edu/V119/N40/40dormlotto.40n.html

September 10, 1999

By Kristen Landino

ASSOCIATE NEWS EDITOR

Despite an increase in fraternity and independent living group pledges this year, the decrease in on-campus rooms caused by Baker House renovations and Tang Hall displacements has forced more crowding than in recent years.

Around 170 rooms have been crowded this year, a significant increase from the previous year, according to Phillip M. Bernard, program director of residential life. Twenty spaces were lost in Baker due to the renovations and 53 students previously living in Tang were placed back into the housing system, causing a more severe housing shortage than in previous years.

http://tech.mit.edu/V120/N31/31numbers.31n.html

Freshmen Attracted By Baker

PREFERENCE FORMS GIVE BAKER EDGE

By Naveen Sunkavally

EDITOR IN CHIEF

More than one-quarter of incoming freshmen picked Baker House as their first-choice dormitory for temporary housing, according to statistics obtained from preference cards turned in over the summer.

Of the 1025 freshmen in the Class of 2004, 802 freshmen returned their housing preference forms, and 316 of those 802 chose Baker as their first choice. MacGregor House, the next most requested dorm, received 187 first-rank choices

….

The preferences of last year's freshman class for permanent housing were significantly more evenly distributed than the temporary housing preferences of this year's class. The Class of 2003 ranked MacGregor House as the preferred dorm with 125 first-choice requests and Baker House as second with 120 requests.

http://tech.mit.edu/V120/N39/39lottery.39n.html

August 31, 2000

Most Freshmen Get First Housing Choice

By Mike Hall

ASSOCIATE NEWS EDITOR

East Campus led all dorms again this year with 115 new residents, beating Burton-Conner House by one freshmen. Next House was close behind with 104 freshmen, followed by Baker House at 92. As in 1999, Bexley Hall received the fewest number of new residents this year – 15 freshmen.

Baker was the most popularly-chosen dorm, with 179 freshmen ranking it first. MacGregor House was in second with 133 first rankings, and Burton-Conner placed third with 90. Senior House and Random Hall were the least-requested dorms, with 24 and 17 first-ranks respectively.

http://tech.mit.edu/V121/N40/40rush.40n.html

September 7, 2001

Baker House Manager John F. Nolan determined that eight of its crowded freshmen quads could become crowded freshmen quints. Due to the number of males and females in Baker, “a larger percentage of girls were crowded,” said Baker rooming chair Eric Hsieh '02.

http://tech.mit.edu/V121/N68/68clay.68n.html

January 16, 2002

Benedict said that the turning point in the crowding crisis happened in the fall. “What brought [the crisis] home this semester is that we ended up taking all the lounges in MacGregor” and making them doubles, Benedict said. MIT also made some quads in Baker House into quints, and crowded some New House rooms. “That clearly is not the living arrangement that that students can live in or thrive in,” Benedict said.

http://tech.mit.edu/V127/N31/housing.html

Freshmen Placed in Top Four Housing Choices

By Angeline Wang

EDITOR IN CHIEF

August 27, 2007

A smaller percentage of incoming freshmen received their top choices in this year's Summer Housing Lottery compared with the last two years. The Housing Lottery placed the students of the Class of 2011 in their top four dormitory choices; the last two years, the freshman class was placed in their top three choices.

Baker House was the most requested dormitory, with 349 students selecting it as their first choice dormitory. Burton-Conner with 174 students, MacGregor House with 139 students, Simmons Hall with 132 students, and East Campus with 79 students followed for first-choice requests.

http://tech.mit.edu/V128/PDF/N32.pdf

August 26, 2008

This year, Baker House was the most requested dormitory, with 300 students selecting it as their first choice dormitory. Following Baker are Simmons with 195 students indicating it as their first-choice, Burton-Conner with 144 students, MacGregor House with 97 students, and East Campus with 83 students

What percentage of each dorm's new residents ranked it as their first choice in the summer lottery?

How many freshmen designated each residence as their first choice?