Anna Drake Current sophomores hoping to live in apartments their junior year may find the outlook grim after considering the number of apartments available to juniors. According to David Bestwick Satterlee, associate dean for residence education, there are 700 apartments on campus, which will most likely not be available for a junior class also totaling around 700. That's a very discouraging number to hear. Traditionally, some students assume that they will have the option of living in an apartment during their junior year, an assumption that will prove to be false due to increasing class sizes. Messiah's housing is decided by point and lottery systems.
Students receive points based on the number of credits taken.
Seniors with 90 or more credits receive four points, juniors receive three, and the points decrease according to class status. Students within the same point range receive randomly generated lottery numbers, lower numbers being more desirable. Students who want to live together then add together their points and sign up for housing based on the highest total group points and the lowest lottery numbers. Although Messiah College is under no obligation to provide apartments for junior and senior students, many junior students feel that the option should still be made available to them. In addition, the possibility exists that some seniors will not be able to live in apartments next year.