84% of Transfer Applicants Accepted At New Houses

A new rule prohibiting students from changing Houses until the end of their sophomore year has boosted the inter-House transfer acceptance rate to 84 percent this semester, housing officials said yesterday.

Beginning with the class of 1987, students must spend two full semesters in a House before they can apply for an inter-House transfer. Last year, before the rule went into effect, about 75 percent of all transfer applicants were sophomores, and only one-quarter of those were granted their transfer request.

Out of this year's 25 January applicants vying for a second semester spot in a new House, 20 including all three seniors--got into their first-choice House. One other applicant moved into his second-choice House.

Seniors Have Top Priority

Thomas A. Dingman '67, assistant dean of the College for the House system, said that senior applicants have top priority, followed by junior applicants from the most crowded Houses. This year, for example, juniors wanting to transfer from overcrowded Mather House were the first in their class to be considered.

Currently, inter-House transfer candidates must directly petition the Master of the House into which they hope to move. Before applications are due, Houses make public how many openings they have.

Dingman refused to supply the breakdown of transfers accepted and rejected by House because he said he does not want these statistics to reflect poorly on any Houses in particular.

All 12 Houses, with the exceptions of Mather and Eliot accepted transfer applications in January. Assistant to the Masters None Aubrey said Mather Lanuars consider January transfers because we're just to stulled.

Lowell and Dunster both had room to accept all January inter-House transfer applicants, while Leverett and Adams had to turn students away, according to masters assistants in those four Houses.

January transfer Loralie H. Goss '86 said she and her roommate left Cabot for I owell to end the "hassle" of having to walk half a mile to rugby practice, dance rehersal and classes. She added that enthusiasm about Bowell's recent renovations and dread of Cabot's impending improvements also encouraged them to leave.

While Goss moved away from the Quad, successful transfer Catherine L. Niehauer '84, '86 went the other way. She said she left Eliot for her second-choice North House because "my rooming situation wasn't the best, and because I wanted to be near most of my old friends who were at the Quad."