When members of the class of '98 arrived in Cambridge last September, their housing was all taken care of. Now, after seemingly endless house tours, blocking-group breakups and battles over everything from dining halls to proximity to the Mac, it's all been taken care of again.

Well, sort of.

First-year students submitted their four top residential choices yesterday for this year's housing lottery. On Wednesday, April 5, Yardlings will receive their randomly generated lottery numbers and be assigned to whichever of their choices the computer spits out when their number comes up. Even if it's in the Qaud.

But many students say they will greet exile up Garden Street with delight. While the River houses remain popular, spacious rooms and guaranteed singles are luring some. rising sophomores to Cabot, Currier, and--nextyear--Pforzheimer.

Steve M. Gipstein '98 said his blocking grouphopes to be assigned to a house on the Quad "Causeit rocks! It's got the best rooms." Gipstein saiddistance from the Yard and the River, a majorreason for Quadhatred, was "not a factor" in hisgroup's decision.

Matthew J. DeGreeff, a proctor in Grays Hall,said he has observed this year and last year thatmany first years hope to live in the Quad or inMather House because they want single bedrooms.

"It's interesting because more and morestudents would rather have a single over aparticular house," DeGreeff said. "You could saythat's a social trend more than anything--kids arecoming out of single-parent families, alwayshaving had their own bedroom."

Peter H. Ahn '98, who said his group includedCurrier House on their list, expressedappreciation of the Quad's spacious design. "It'squieter and the rooms are larger," Ahn said.

Despite the apparent increase in Quadpopularity, many first years still pin their hopeson assignment to one of the River Houses.

Anthony W. Greenberg '98 said his blockinggroup hopes to get into Winthrop House. "It'scool," Greenberg said, "Nice dining room, friendlypeople, and section 12!" Section 12 is a group ofseats reserved for Winthrop residents at Harvardhockey games, Greenberg said.

Many students also said their extracurricularactivities necessitated living on the River.

Tom T. Giardi '98, who said he and his roominggroup are all athletes, pointed out the differencebetween walking to practice from the Yard andwalking from the Quad. "That's an extra 15minutes, so every day that's a half hour walk toget to practice," said Giardi. "It's like you'rewasting an hour of your day."

Greenberg echoed Giardi's concerns, sayingthat living on the Quad is a "big no-no" for hisgroup "because everybody plays a sport that meetsat the MAC."

Many first years said that the biggest strainof applying for housing was not concern aboutwhich house they would be assigned to, but thedifficulty of choosing blocking groups andreconciling their group members' house preferencesto come up with a final list of four choices.

Jae Hyuk Choi '98 said the housing applicationprocess was problematic for him and his friends."It did cause some tension," Choi said. "We hada group of 14, and basically we split up. No onewants to split up, so you figure that it gotpretty hairy for a bit."

Timothy S. Eller '98 told a similar horrorstory about his group's experience.