Housing!
I officially know where I am living next year! My best friend, Glori, and I will be living in Scales House in Branscomb Quad. We actually have our own half bath that connects our room to another double, which will be occupied by our other friends.
This all happened so fast! Where did freshman year go? And why didn’t I lose sleep over the housing process? I thought that housing was going to be grueling and complicated. Guess what. It wasn’t.
The housing process here at Vanderbilt is pretty unique. All freshman, sophomores and juniors are required to live on campus. Though most seniors do live on campus, a select few get their petitions to live off campus approved. Vanderbilt prides itself on the fact that over 93% of undergraduates live on campus. The mission of the Housing and Residential Education department is for 100% of undergraduates to live on campus in the near future.
Basically, a few months ago, the entire housing process was an enigma to me. I decided to make an appointment with Jason Jakubowski, the director of housing. He gladly saw me and explained the entire process to me.
I was told that ballots for sophomores singles and doubles opened the last week. These ballots, (either a singles ballot or a doubles ballot), hold up to four people and each ballot is able to rank its preferences of location. Sophomores can live in 1 of 4 areas: Branscomb Quad, Kissam Quad, Alumni Lawn, or Carmichael Towers. Ballots are submitted online and the lottery results (where your ballot has been placed) are released about a week later.
After Mr. Jakubowski made all of this clear to me, I explained the process to all of my friends. We were able to submit our ballots promptly without problems. One week later, I found out that I was placed in Scales, which is in Branscomb!
The final part of housing is the selection event. Each building is assigned a time, and each ballot is assigned a selection position. The floor plans of the buildings are laid out and everybody chooses their rooms. It was great! I am so happy that everything worked out for me and all my friends! I can’t wait to live in Scales next year.