Office of Residential Life administrators said yesterday that Fall term cluster assignments will be mailed to students May 31, more than two weeks later than the office originally planned.
The late mailing means students will have only eight days during reading period and final examinations to pick a room and roommates.
Final hall and room assignments will not be mailed until Summer term, said Lynn Rosenblum, who masterminds the housing process.
A brochure mailed to students when they filled out the first part of the housing application stated, "By May 15, we will notify all on-time applicants."
But Rosenblum said ORL was only "shooting for the May 15 deadline. We had hoped to get housing assigned for Fall term before the end of Spring term," she said.
"We probably should have said 'hopefully' in that brochure," Rosenblum added.
Student response to the delay was varied. "I'm kind of disappointed, but I appreciate the fact that they are overburdened," George Kim '94 said.
Other students were less understanding. Some said that they were penalized if their applications were late, but ORL has no incentive to release housing assignments on time.
"I think it's a complete double standard on the part of ORL," Scott Hammond '96 said.
ORL had to first receive information from the Admissions Office about incoming, transfer and exchange students, Rosenblum said.
The housing office then selected Undergraduate Advisors and Area Coordinators and assigned students to co-ed, fraternity and sorority and affinity houses before moving on to the rest of the applications.
"We're trying to get things done as sensibly and quickly as possible," Rosenblum said.
