Rooms at the University City Sheraton will not house students this fall, unlike last year, when several students were forced to take up residence in the Chestnut Street hotel.
According to the Department of Housing and Conference Services, as of May 1, only five students are on a waiting list for housing, compared to '6 last year.
"Once we have all of our final numbers in we should be able to accommodate everybody," Department of Housing and Conference Services Marketing Manager Lynn Rotoli said. "I think it is fair to say it is going to be very tight -- no open beds in September."
The Department of Housing and Conference Services, in conjunction with the Office of College Houses and Academic Services, has tried to ensure that all interested students receive housing.
"We proactively looked for rooms we could change because of such an increase in the demand for housing," said Sue Smith, associate director of communications for the Office of College Houses and Academic Services.
And Director of College Houses and Academic Services David Brownlee noted that his office has taken note of the increase in the number of incoming freshmen.
"We have been working very closely with admissions," Brownlee said. "We know what they are aiming for and we are working to accommodate their needs."
More than 2,400 students have already agreed to come to Penn as members of the Class of 2005 -- a figure that is close to the University's target of 2,3'5. During the past two years, the University received many more acceptances than expected, which resulted in a housing crunch.
May 4 marked the deadline for freshmen to request housing.
Rotoli said that the turnout was larger than in years past.
"Never before had I seen so many people come into the office to personally turn in their housing applications," Rotoli said. "A lot of freshmen were here for Penn Previews weekends and were very anxious to get housing."
With a tight housing market, students are scrambling for rooms.
"The word is out that housing is a precious thing here," Brownlee said. "But all that counts is being on time with your application."
The number of upperclassmen remaining on campus will increase next year by almost 200, in spite of last year's problems providing adequate space to those who requested housing.
And in comparison to last year's figure of 1,909, 2,051 students have decided to stay within the same dormitory next year.
Rotoli said the increase could be attributed to several factors.
"It could be for a million reasons. There is a more community-built living sense on campus and more activity -- more people seem to be getting involved," Rotoli said. "Last year more people wanted to get on campus than they actually did."
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