The number nobody wants

As Aneka Reid walked out of class last week, she listened to friends chat excitedly about their low housing priority numbers that almost certainly ensured them a room on the campus next year.

Reid hadn't been so lucky. Her number was 1,517 - out of 1,517.

Dead last.

"I thought it was a misprint," said Reid, a sophomore chemistry major. "I saw it and thought, 'Well, maybe I'm tired.' Then I showed my other friend and read it out loud. I was more shocked than anything. I knew my number was not going to be great, but I did not expect the last number."

As the university scrambles for more beds to handle the shortage of on-campus housing, Resident Life has been forced to take the drastic step of selecting the unlucky sophomores who will be denied a room next year through a lottery system.

The department randomly assigned priority numbers to about 3,000 sophomores last week. The lower the number, the better shot the student has of getting on-campus housing. That means that Reid's chances of living in dorms next year are almost impossible.

"I was like, 'huh'?" Reid said. "I was like, well, my chance of getting housing is shot. I thought I would have a number at least in the 100s. I knew it would not have been great. I hoped it would be in the middle where I would have a choice, but it didn't go that way. I just think I am unlucky."

The thought to check the site had not crossed her mind all day, but when her rejoicing friends reminded her that her housing future hung in the balance, she reached for her friend's iPhone, which brought her the bad news.

Reid's roommate, Melissa Jorquera, a sophomore in the pre-nursing program, was with Reid when she found out. Her first reaction was to laugh at the irony of the situation, but her peals of laughter soon dissolved into worry.

Woeful priority numbers last year landed the roommates on North Campus, and both hoped for a change of fortune this year. Jorquera's chances were looking up with a number in the 300s, but since she is going to nursing school in Baltimore next year, her low number does not even help her.

"I definitely did not expect it," Jorquera said. "Neither of us got great numbers last year, and we were banking on getting a better one this year. We had no luck again. That's another thing. I got a great number, and I don't even need it. I wish I could trade with Aneka."

Even though Reid will still be eligible to live in the South Campus Commons or University Courtyards next year, Reid's mother, Beverly Reid, said the situation was nothing short of "a nightmare."

"I still can't believe it," Beverly Reid said. "I had to listen to it a couple times. I think I believe it now, but it's the worst thing ever for us."

With few other options, Reid and her mother worry about her living situation next year.

Commuting is not an option, with a 2 hour drive from her mom's house in Frederick County.

If all else fails, she has relatives that live close to the campus on Rhode Island Avenue.

Living with her family near the campus is not ideal either, though, especially with a younger cousin in the house, the elder Reid said.

"She won't be able to study well and will have to do all chores," she said. "She won't have her private space and won't be able to study without being bothered, so that's really a desperate situation, but we want her to go to Maryland."

Beverly Reid is especially worried about her daughter's safety if she were to live off the campus.

"I felt safe for her being on-campus," Reid said. "That's one of the most important things. Parents feel more comfortable with their kids on-campus. That's number one. I guess this is just another hurdle we will have to get over."

Though she had heard about the current housing crisis on the news in previous years, she never thought her daughter would be affected.

"We were thinking maybe it would be senior year, not junior year," Beverly Reid said. "We were hoping for one more year in a dorm. It happened faster than we thought. It's a bad situation really. I never thought this would happen, not in my wildest dreams."

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