Galanek said Winthrop's event will offer a food "by nationality."

Kirkland is the only house with a free formal. But only house members can cash in on this formal--and the free alcoholic beverages, said house committee co-chair Mary E.M. Rocha '95.

For those who want to attend as many formals as possible, however, Dudley House is a must to get started on the formal scene. The Dudley formal takes place December 3 in Lehman Hall. In addition, students at Dudley can rub shoulders with grad students.

The houses also vary widely on the amount they will spend on the formals. Kirkland will probably spend a meager $1,000, Rocha said, but most other houses will spend between $3,000 and $7,000. Leverett's dance at the World Trade Center and Winthrop's at the Boston Park Plaza Hotel stand on the expensive side of $6,000 to $7,000.

The Quad-wide formal tops the chart, however, with a $9,000 budget, house committee members said.

The Quad's costs will be "divided evenly between North, Currier and Cabot at $3,000 dollars each," said Cabot House committee member Charmaine T.M. Chiu '95.

The Quad house committees say they expect that by selling only 600 tickets, the costs will be evenly distributed between houses despite their different sizes.

In addition, a restrictive selling policy should ensure that all Quadlings are able to buy tickets. Tickets will only be on sale for seven days. For the first five, an individual can only buy two tickets. For the last two days, people can buy as many as they want.