The Application

To submit your Draw application, log onto Axess and select Student Housing and Dining from the Student drop-down menu. Select Apply For Housing from the left hand menu.

Selecting a Quarter for Housing to Begin

Once inside the application, students will need to select the quarter in which they want their housing to begin. For most students this will be Autumn Quarter, but some students know they will be away Autumn Quarter and will therefore need to pick either Winter or Spring Quarter.

If students are applying for Summer Quarter housing in addition to housing for the next academic year, they need to fill out two housing applications, one for Summer Quarter and one for either Autumn, Winter, or Spring Quarter.

Students will also need to select their housing type. The Draw is only for single undergraduate students. All other students are accommodated in graduate housing.

Guarantee and Tier Level

On the next screen, students will see a confirmation of the options they selected on the previous screen. They will also see information about their guarantee status.

Next, students will have to select a tier level. Each tier level dictates a range of numbers from which the student’s random application number will be assigned.

The lower the application number, the sooner a student is considered for housing. This means the student with application number 1 will be the first person considered for housing.

There are rules regarding when students can use their tiers:

1. Rising sophomores (students who will be sophomores next Autumn Quarter) can only use Tier 2 or Tier 3.
2. All students must use Tier 3 at least once.
3. All students can use Tier 1 only once.

The tier system allows students to choose during which year they have the best chance of receiving their first choice housing. Students will only see the tier levels that are available to them. See the Tier levels section for more information.

Move-out Quarter and Priorities

The next question asks students to specify the quarter in which they intend to move out. This question is for informational purposes only and is not binding. Students who move out before the end of their contract period (the end of Spring Quarter) are required to file a Termination of Occupancy form or TOC in Axess.

The next section is a reminder that you will see information about your priorities when previewing your application. Priorities are generally given out based on class year or student age. For example, sophomores have a housing priority to Toyon Hall. This means sophomores who select Toyon will be assigned to Toyon before juniors or seniors who select Toyon.

Special Program Houses

The next section asks students to indicate whether or not they want to list special program houses on their applications. These houses have specific requirements for residents, and students should familiarize themselves with the requirements before deciding to list these houses on their applications. More information about these houses can be found on the Residential Education website.

Groups

After answering the special program house question, students will have the option of creating or joining a group. To create a group, a student must establish a group name and password as well as indicate how she wants to keep her group together. To join a group, the student must enter the group name and password established by the group leader and answer the question regarding group retention. Some of the biggest mistakes students make during the Draw center around group applications. Students are strongly encouraged to review the groups section of this website to maximize their chances of being housed with their group.

Residence Choices

Students will then need to enter their residence choices. Students are able to list every residence and room type and are strongly encouraged to make a robust list. Students should list all of the residences that interest them and should not assume their application number will be strong enough to get into one of their top choices.

The residence choice menu allows students to filter the residence list in many ways. Students can filter by location, room type, specific residence, housing type, rate, or any combination of those items. Students add residences to their lists by clicking on the ‘Add’ button next to the residence type.

Students’ choices are listed in the “My Choices” window. These choices can be reordered by changing the choice number to the left of the choice or by clicking and dragging the choice to another position on the list. Choices can be removed by clicking “Remove.”

“Any” Choices

When listing residence choices, students have the option of listing “any” choices such as “Any BOB” or “Any Branner.” The Draw computer program looks at a student’s choices one at a time. When it comes to an “any” choice, the program determines whether or not the student has an application number low enough to get into the house. If she does, the computer assigns that student the last available space in the house because the student is willing to accept “any” assignment in the house.

This means a student with application number 1, the best possible number, who lists “Any BOB” and then “BOB Premier” will most likely not be assigned a premier room. She will be assigned the last space in the house because she is willing to accept “any” space. Likewise, if the student with application number 1 was to list “Any Branner” and then “Branner Single” she could end up in a Branner Triple. She will be assigned the last space in the house because she is willing to accept “any” assignment.

Students should never list an “any” choice before a specific choice.

Residence Choice Tips

Students will lose their work if they spend more than thirty minutes on their applications without submitting the application. Students can always submit their applications and then make edits to those applications up until the Draw deadline.

Students are strongly encouraged to list where they want to live and not make assumptions about the strength of their application number. Every year cut-off numbers for residence halls change and it is much better for a student to list a choice and not get it than to not list that choice and later learn that his application number was low enough to get in to the residence.

Final Choice

When assignments are made, the Draw program considers students in application number order. When considering a student’s application, the program looks at that student’s residence choices one at a time. If the computer is unable to assign the student to any of his residences, it considers his final choice.

If a student has guarantee years remaining, the student must choose “I am willing to accept any other assignment” as her final choice or she will lose her guarantee. When students are assigned out of that final choice, they are given whatever residence spaces are left after all other students in the assignable pool are assigned. In short, they are given the last spaces available. To avoid this, students are encouraged to make robust lists of choices.

Preview and Submit

Students should be sure to preview and then submit their applications. Students are encouraged to go back into the system after submitting to ensure their applications were successfully submitted. Students can update their applications up until the Draw deadline.