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"  It&amp;#039;s that time of year again, when friendships end, betrayals occur left to right, and people curse their luck again and again. That&amp;#039;s right\u2014it&amp;#039;s housing lottery season. At many schools, housing is figured out through a lottery where you receive a number and pick a room based on both your number and class standing. Sounds simple, right? Not so much\u2014there are so other many factors, like who you are going to room with, if you want a suite or just a room, which building you want to live in, and of course if the odds are (ever) in your favor. It&amp;#039;s astressful task that everyone has to go through, so here are my tips for making it out alive! Know what you want. My current roommate and I both knew we wanted a kitchen so we could make our food instead of relying on the dining hall, so a suite was an absolute must. From there, we had to find 4 other people that would want to join a 6-person suite with us. Luckily, we found them all on our current floor! Strategize. With our lottery number, we knew the chances of getting our favored building were slim. Still, we made sure to look at other possibilities to determine which building would be best for all our needs. You don&amp;#039;t always just want the nicest looking building: look into what it really has to offer... and don&amp;#039;t forget to check if it has a history of pest problems. Have a backup plan. When it came down to selecting, my group was fortunate enough to swipe the last 6-person suite available on campus. But if we weren&amp;#039;t going to be as lucky, we had plans to split into a 4-person suite and a 2-person suite on the same floor. The selection process moves quickly, so have a plan like this and know small details like who will live in which room, so that you can optimize your chances of getting what you want. Housing is stressful but a necessary evil of college life. Make sure to go in with a plan and an open mind, and remember that it&amp;#039;s not something that you should allow to harm your friendships. We&amp;#039;re all in this together guys, so I wish you the best of luck! "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.seventeen.com/life/school/advice/a20620/survive-the-lottery-housing-selection/>