"Each House is a self-contained coeducational college community of approximately 350 to 400 students and faculty members," the admissions catalogue told prospective members of the Class of '84.

But that description has since been changed to read"...approximately 350 to 500 students and faculty members," and the modification doesn't seem to have been a typographical error.

Over the past several years a trend toward less leave-taking and less off-campus living has been crowding the upperclass Houses more and more. That, combined with especially large sophomore and junior classes, has resulted in the unusual crowding this year.

Students-especially rising sophomores-found themselves separated from their desired room-mates, doubled up in small bedrooms, stuck in living rooms, and moved, at least temporarily, into cooperative quarters.

"It is a bad year," Martha Coburn, associate dean of the College, said last week, but she added that the 25-student reduction in this year's fresh-man class and the possible reconfiguration of interior space may alleviate some of the overcrowding in the future.

The crowding this year was considerably worse in some Houses than others because the attrition rates-the percentage of students deciding not to live in their assigned Houses-ranged from 3 per cent at Kirkland House to 13 per cent at Adams House.

Joan Flechtner, assistant to the masters at Leverett House, was representative of officials at Houses with low attrition rates. She ran out of space about halfway through sophomore assignments, but, by adding about 20 beds and converting suites from triples to quads "as comfortably as possible," she said she was able to accommodate sophomores without affecting juniors and seniors.

Some officials at Houses with higher attrition rates said they haven't felt quite so pinched for space, although only one reported absolutely no crowding. Steve Freilich, housing tutor at Adams House, said, "In judging what's going on in other. Houses, I think we did pretty well. It's definitely the place to live.