But she had a second chance. She describes the process, “The first round is pure lottery, whereas the second round takes into account special consideration, such as whether you are fit for the house.”
Before the freshman lottery was randomized in the mid-1990s, students who wanted to transfer Houses had to “directly petition the Master of the House into which they hope to move,” according to a Crimson article from 1984.Today, neither the resident dean nor the House masters have any say in interhouse transfer decisions.
“We don’t make the decision based on whether we like you or not, but whether we have the space availability for transfer,” Palfrey says.
Nonetheless, Stern says she approached the Leverett resident dean to tell her that she was eating in Leverett at least once a day, sneaking into community dinner, and staying over in a friend’s room in Leverett on some weekends.
Stern’s determination paid off. Near the end of her sophomore summer, Stern received an email from the Office of Student Life saying she would be living in Leverett the following year.
“Now that I am in a House that I like, it just made my Harvard experience so much better,” Stern says.
Wortzel also heard the good news over the summer that his application to Lowell had been accepted.
“Having a roommate for me was the best thing, because being in a single can be lonely,” Wortzel says. “There is nothing I don’t like about Lowell.”
SHATTERED BLOCKS
The College restricts transfers in part because free transfer among Houses might disrupt the communal atmosphere of a House.
“We try very hard, as House Masters, to develop community, and it becomes much more difficult if the tides flow too strongly in and out,” Palfrey says. “You don’t want people to be hopping Houses.”
Students also feel that the tug of personal ties constrains their decisions to move to new Houses.
Before she decided to transfer, Zax questioned whether the convenience and safety were worth being separated from her blockmates.
Living in a single in Adams, she says she would much rather live with her original blockmates.
“I do miss coming home and having conversations with my roommates,” Zax says. “Now I come home and sit in the room by myself.”
Unger also says it was difficult leaving her blockmates.
“It puts you in a weird situation at Harvard, because you are outside of the Harvard social fabric, the...blocking group,” she says.
Nevertheless, Unger says, “I am definitely happier now that I have transferred. I am very happy here.”
—Staff writer Jane Seo can be reached at janeseo@college.harvard.edu.