Rising sophomores will be able to reapply for lottery numbers starting at noon on Thursday after a technical glitch left out the lower half of housing lottery numbers last week.
The University also announced a number of housing changes this week after student complaints regarding limited study abroad living options and the inability of rising sophomores to pull in rising juniors.
“We are trying to carve out the best options for students,” Housing Services Director Andrew Sonn said.
A computer glitch last week caused rising sophomores to be able to choose only from numbers 6,135 or higher instead of a random number between 4,500 and 7,699.
While Sonn said numbers of 6,135 were still allotted randomly, he wants to ensure the students felt the process was random. All past ITR numbers are void and rising sophomores will be able to sign on to the GWeb Banner system starting Thursday through Tuesday to receive new numbers.
In response to comments and “a number of unsolicited e-mail suggestions,” Sonn said, the University will allow second-year students to live with one another after a change in determining class standing made many traditional sophomores “juniors” for next year. Rising sophomores will be able to pull in rising juniors into sophomore housing as long as the rising juniors are second year students.
While the Community Living and Learning Center has used accumulated credits as well as credits students are currently taking to determine class standing in past years, GW decided to add a projected 12 credits to each student this year.
Sonn called it the University’s “formula for figuring out class standing” in response to city zoning laws. A Board of Zoning and Adjustment order demands the University house all freshmen and sophomores on campus.
But the new provision made dozens of current freshmen “juniors” for the upcoming year. Freshmen who arrived at GW with at least 18 credit hours from Advanced Placement tests or other sources and took 30 hours this year are considered rising juniors because they will have 60 credit hours.
“I think that it makes sense that students can live with their friends,” Sonn said.
Sonn said rising sophomores requesting exemptions from on-campus housing are down from last year, with the office receiving 20 requests as of Wednesday. Last year, the office received 194 exemption requests. Rising sophomores are able to file exemption forms, available in the housing services office, through Friday.
A final housing policy change will allow students studying abroad to also choose Pennsylvania House as a residence hall option for next year.
Rising juniors and seniors studying abroad for the fall semester can now live in the Pennsylvania House in addition to the Aston, Hall and Virginia Avenue and Mitchell Hall. Students who study abroad for a semester and choose to live in other halls will be required to pay for housing for the full year.
The requirement is part of a GW attempt to fill residence halls outside campus boundaries traditionally meant for underclassmen.
Sonn said students can stay updated about any additional housing changes on the Housing Serves Web site, http://gwired.gwu.edu/cllc/housing.
