LIVEBLOG DAY 3: Juniors rejoice

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The juniors are coming, the juniors are coming! Follow our live maps on the Board above and check after the jump for the full scoop in our liveblog.

5:11 p.m. And just for your reference, they're Cow Tales, not Cow Tails. My bad.

5:03 p.m. That is actually it for today, after we had some major confusion with housing over how many Watt Doubles were left (46). Check back later for the summary of all that went down today.

4:52 p.m. Aha! Here they are. They're "hesitant" about the double they just picked into in 546 Brownstone. That means there's only one room left in 546.

4:43 p.m. Where the hell is this group? Did they lie to us? Is Housing betraying us? "Is this last group a unicorn?" -Rebeka Cohan

4:38 p.m. The boards are going away and the candy remnants are being swept off the floor, but WAIT—there's still a group picking.

4:36 p.m. What exactly is a Cow Tail? Who in Housing decided to buy such an obscure candy? I'm eating one right now, and I still have zero idea what it is.

4:32 p.m. Comments from a Barnardian, Sports Editor Rebeka Cohan: "I'm losing my Columbia housing virginity! Why is no one picking into Wien? Why isn't John Jay an option?"

4:29 p.m. Props to whoever decided to put on Spoon's, "I Turn my Camera On." More important, Woodbridge is GONE.

4:27 p.m. The very satisfied pair who just left picked another Brownstone Double, and apparently one of them, "didn't even know the brownstones existed until five minutes ago."

4:20 p.m. So far only two more groups have gone, taking with them a Brownstone Double and Watt 6G.

3:58 p.m. All right I have a midterm for which I have studied not at all because I am a terrible procrastinator devoted to bringing you this liveblog. Sam Henderson will be taking over the liveblog until the end of the day.

3:55 p.m. Things have slowed down significantly here. We're updating the boards but there's not much to report otherwise. Woodbridge 2G just got picked.

3:47 p.m. The most recent group got a room in Watt and they are happy. And we are happy for them!

3:42 p.m. Did the Shadowy Mask just come through? I can't say for sure but whoever he was, he was pretty hostile. Maybe just upset about his outcome.

3:35 p.m. Just noticed one of the housing people vigorously squeezing a stress ball while staring into space. The stress is starting to weigh on them...

3:32 p.m. Those of you who are asking questions, just so you know: we are reading them and we will be answering them as quickly as we can!

3:29 p.m. Notorious B.I.G. is being blasted. This is an amazing day.

3:26 p.m. And here comes the girlfriend. She got a room in Woodbridge. She didn't know her boyfriend was here! We ruined the surprise!

3:23 p.m. Some guy showed up 45 minutes before his appointment because his girlfriend is picking now. Awww!

3:20 p.m. To the person who asked what number we're at: 20/802 was the last number to have come through, though a bunch of people seem to have missed their appointments.

3:17 p.m. I have just received an email offering to let me in on a $42 million business deal. This is definitely totally legitimate and I'm about to be RICH. See you later, suckers!

3:14 p.m. ...and now the defeated suitemates pass by. They say they're ok with having been beaten to the better room, but the looks on their faces tell a different story.

3:11 p.m. The two-person group that came through was very happy to have beaten their current suitemates out for their top room choice next year. Subterfuge! Drama! Intrigue! The Shaft has all this and more.

3:08 p.m. All the Symposium rooms are picked, so now we're showing Broadway in its place on the whiteboard above.

3:02 p.m. The group that has just come through seems diconcertingly excited about having claimed "the Murder Suite" in Ruggles.

2:56 p.m. This is Stephen taking over the liveblogging from Maggie. Both the music and this heater behind us are still pumping. Seriously, this thing is unsafe.

2:52 p.m. "Ruggles Bunny MAGIC" just picked into Ruggles six-person. "We knew we'd get it if we had Ruggles in the name." Still think it's because they had MAGIC there, but that's just me.

2:48 p.m. Two-person just picked into Watt. They're happy, to say the least: "We're very excited to live in our castle in the sky!" They're also kind of dancing, which is adorable.

2:45 p.m. Sitting here with Daily Editor Jenny Xu, who "doesn't really care" about the lottery. She just wants a bathroom nearby. Priorities, people. Priorities.

2:43 p.m. Distinct change in atmosphere with tunes going. Noticed more than one person walking to the beat. Get it, girl!

2:41 p.m. Music just started (thank God—it was creepy quiet in here). Foster the People, always a crowd-pleaser.

2:36 p.m. Oh, and this is Maggie, subbing in for Housing God Eric as he runs to class. Hey y'all.

2:33 p.m. Group of eight just dropped to general because "they can't get people to agree to doubles." Not everyone's happy about the decision—we've heard a lot of "fuck yous" in the past minute. Eek!

2:28 p.m. The last of the medium-demand lines (E, F, I, J) in Woodbridge are taken -- 1I had stuck around for a while, presumably because it's on the first floor. When we asked one group member if he's okay with living on the first floor, he countered, "no elevator, right?" Good point!

2:26 p.m. 20/307 takes Ruggles 301-307. They explain that it was "exactly what we came for." It doesn't look like any eight-person groups have dropped either, so those are still on track to be eliminated from the whiteboard today.

2:22 p.m. An update to those hoping for a six-person suite (either in Ruggles or in Harmony): no six-person groups have dropped to this point.

2:19 p.m. Woodbridge 3I is taken, leaving just eight of those.

2:16 p.m. Hysterical laughter is heard from inside the cage. I guess Dave Roberts is cracking some jokes in there.

2:14 p.m. NO MORE SYMPOSIUM! This year's cutoff was 20/296, the earliest one yet!

2:11 p.m. Next off the board is Woodbridge 5I. "It's on 115th street, it's got a full kitchen, and I'm extremely pleased."

2:09 p.m. With no one-bedrooms left in Watt, people are left with only studio doubles in the building. That doesn't mean, however, that there are no good options left. One group just took the 317 square foot 1O and are ecstatic. "It's the biggest room." It isn't, but it's still really awesome.

2:07 p.m. Random insight after spending a year in Ruggles: it's odd how there's no suite numbers, just room numbers. So when people ask you what suite you live in, it's surprisingly difficult to answer.

2:06 p.m. BREAKING NEWS: The Harmony six-person suite is still available! Housing had marked off the rooms on the Mezzanine, and we thought it meant that they had been taken as part of a group in Senior Regroup. In fact, they just marked off the singles on the Mezzanine. Really, there's still one double left on the Mezzanine and the six-person suite is on the First Floor, not the Mezzanine (and it's still available). We're sorry about the confusion.

2:02 p.m. Watt 6K is gone. They seemed somewhat ambivalent about their choice but we assure them that the K-line is a great option.

1:59 p.m. Ruggles 501-507 is snagged. One of the two lucky people who got a single explains that she was the "odd female out." How convenient.

1:56 p.m. The indecisive group of eight has finally made up their minds: they chose the Ruggles suite on the 4th floor. What was the hangup? Some of them wanted to pick into the suite on the 5th floor, but that was the location of a murder-suicide in 2000. On the other hand, the RA lives on the fourth floor. They went with the RA over the murder room.

1:51 p.m. One random thought about the action this morning: I know that 24/2895 was pretty disappointed to just miss out on an ECX. They actually would have been able to sneak had Housing not held out suite 804 from before Suite Selection started. Housing won't give a specific reason why they hold out a suite, but it's usually for Special Interest Housing or for handicapped students.

1:48 p.m. There's an eight-person group that's been in there for a really long time. Their only options are in Ruggles, so I'm not sure what the holdup is.

1:46 p.m. Dave Roberts, from the Housing staff, stopped by to drop some Housing wisdom on us. "Junior regroup is gonna be a little insane. Groups choosing between a not so good Watt studio double or a single. You can't predict what hundreds of people are gonna choose. Every year something new happens."

1:41 p.m. Overheard in the cage: "you guys are an eight-person group, so you can only pick into an eight-person suite." As Suite Selection rolls along, the pickers tend to be less and less experienced and, therefore, more and more confused.

1:39 p.m. Another Symposium double is down; those are almost gone. Its popularity has increased in each year of its availability in Suite Selection.

1:34 p.m. Things are really quiet here, especially as compared to the hysteria we saw before lunch, as five-person groups came in droves.

1:33 p.m. The first floor Symposium double is taken by a couple of happy juniors. The room was they took was the biggest of the remaining studio doubles, so they pounced on it.

1:30 p.m. A group of two spent a while in the cage, but decided that General Selection was the way to go. They're looking forward to taking a couple of Broadway doubles.

1:29 p.m. Looking ahead, the groups for the next fifty minutes or so are predominantly groups of two, so expect the Woodbridge count to drop quickly.

1:25 p.m. Eric here, back at the helm to bring you all of the choices by the lucky juniors.

1:23 p.m. And we're back! Lunch is over and the first selection has been made. A guy, selecting on behalf of himself and his roommate who is abroad, takes Woodbridge 3D. He said he was pretty stoked when he saw his number and we don't blame him. Congrats!

12:36 p.m.Ok, folks. That's a wrap for now. We'll see you back in an hour for the first real surge of all Junior 20-point groups.

12:33 p.m. One. More. Group. until everyone can eat. No pressure, guys.

12:31 p.m. Lottery number 2105 says about their plans, "we're gonna make the common area a guest room! And make the suite pretty!"

12:28 p.m.Aaaannnd the last Watt 1-bedroom also just went!

12:28 p.m. Just to update, all of the 2-double Ruggles are gone now, and only the 3-double suites remain.

12:25 p.m. More Ruggles fly off the board. One happy group commented, "We want to get an inflatable hottub in our storage room. It's gonna be epic!" Good luck with that Mariano and Luke!

12:22 p.m.Another happy 8-person group with a Ruggles. "We finally got what we wanted. Last year our Claremont didn't work out. Yeah, we're pretty fucking happy."

12:21 p.m. The last groups before lunch are waiting for their turn in the cage, eagerly crowding around the boards outside. Inside the cage there's a ton of people lined up to do their checkout!

12:19 p.m. One groups walks in complaining that they "don't get the cookies." I'm not sure what that's in reference to, but they seemed pretty upset.

12:16 p.m. Asked about their plans for the first Ruggles 8 to go, some of the group replied, "We're gonna open up the fireplace, make some cool fires." Glad to know they've got a full calendar already.

12:14 p.m. A group of 8 just walked out with one of the 2-double Ruggles suites, very happy about their choice.

12:13 p.m. Just noticed that there's no music playing. So disappointing! Hey, if anyone over there is reading, want to put something on?

12:10 p.m. A big group just walked into the cage...looks like not everyone will be dropping right now after all.

12:08 p.m.Hey guys—Grace here, like Eric said. There's not much time left before the lunch break here, and in the words of Daily Editor Darron, "There's not a lot going on besides copious amounts of day drinking and crying by all the disappointed five-person groups."

12:05 p.m. I'm going to hand off the liveblog to Grace. Thanks for following along this morning, I'm glad I could bring you all the ECX craziness. (One last note: not to toot my own horn, but if you look back at our preview of Suite Selection, I nailed the ECX cutoff. Just saying.)

12:03 p.m. That group in Claremont is disappointed. They were on time for the selection and one of the groups before them wasn't, but because Housing was running late, the late group was able to snag the last EC suite. "Expecting the worst, but now we'll live in Claremont."

12:00 p.m. That means that 24/2895 just missed out and has taken their consolation prize: a Claremont 5-person suite. NO MORE FIVE-PERSON SUITES! Get excited for Junior Regroup, since there are 30 groups of five juniors who will be out of luck.

12:00 p.m. The last group in is, obviously, ecstatic. "It feels like we just hit a buzzer-beater!"

11:59 a.m. NO MORE EAST CAMPUS SUITES!! THAT'S IT!

11:56 a.m. EC 1814 to 24/2675.

11:55 a.m. The third to last ECX was taken by 24/1844.

11:54 a.m. It turns out DJRREAM stands for the seven members of their group. Even though there are only five of them. Okay then...

11:51 a.m. Lots of confusion, as a group came late because their group member had forgotten to set a proxy! They worked everything out though and were able to take their ECX. With 1810 gone to 24/1958, it looks like there's only two left.

11:49 a.m. Don't forget, the first group to miss out can take the five-person suite on the first floor of Claremont.

11:48 a.m. We THINK all the 24-point groups are going to sneak into EC. But there's a group which never showed and, if they come now, could take one.

11:46 a.m. Housing is running about 15 minutes behind schedule.

11:45 a.m. John Jay lounge is getting pretty loud, with lots of five-person groups filing in. People are getting pretty nervous, as word keeps coming out of the cage of more and more suites being taken.

11:41 a.m. ONLY EC18 IS LEFT. The members of SUITE DJRREAM are not happy.

11:40 a.m. A group of girls has put signs on their shirts, reading SUITE DJRREAM. Whatever that means.

11:38 a.m. Another 8th floor ECX is gone. People are choosing 8's hardwood floors over 16's view.

11:37 a.m. Three left on 8, five left on 18. Down to the wire.

11:35 a.m. EC 818 is gone. The group is excited about their hardwood floors.

11:33 a.m. EC 1010 is taken, the last on the 10th floor, we think. Since the two no-shows this morning, every five-person group has claimed their rightful ECX.

11:29 a.m. FYI, that was the last suite taken on the 20th floor.

11:27 a.m. Suite of the year, EC 2012 is gone next. They didn't know until this morning that they would get their suite. Of course, had they read Spectrum, they would have known... just saying.

11:24 a.m. A junior-senior pair walked in a half-hour late and picked a Watt one-bedroom. They're lucky that their tardiness didn't end up costing them. A warning to all upcoming groups: in the past, there have been groups which missed out on the last suite in a building because they came in late.

11:21 a.m. An eighth-floor exclusion suite goes to 24/1193. They look quite pleased with what they got.

11:19 a.m. 11 ECX's remaining, we think. Things don't look good for the 22-pointers.

11:17 a.m. Some of the runners took EC 814. We'll see what their teammates choose.

11:15 a.m. EC 2008 is filled by some devotees of The Shaft. We're always glad to meet some fans.

11:13 a.m. A 20th floor EC suite is taken. After speaking to one of the group members for about ten seconds, they plead, "Can we just go sign our thing?" Hmm, why are they upset? Doesn't everyone love Housing as much as we do?

11:09 a.m. We've got some insider information: a couple of groups of runners are trying to coordinate their rooms. Juicy stuff!

11:05 a.m. A group of guys from the wrestling team picks EC 1018. They had some wrestling buddies on the 14th floor and wanted to be nearby.

11:03 a.m. They ended up choosing EC 1012. One group member asserts that it's not about where you live, but rather about who you're living with. Awwww. Another group member is excited about Ike Davis's prospects for this season but down on Andrew Kisch. I think he misunderstood my question.

10:58 a.m. A group of five was overheard hashing out their decision. They were deciding between the eighth and tenth floor and were trying to figure out where the rest of their friends were living. One of the points they were considering is that since there's an exit from the tenth floor suites down to the eighth floor, you can effectively live right next door to suites on both Floors Eight and Ten.

10:56 a.m. First Broadway double is taken!! Wow! That's got to be the earliest group ever to pick into a Broadway double. They explained that air conditioning was their main concern. And, to be fair, the view from their thirteenth floor room will be pretty awesome. It's always interesting to see a group think outside the box.

10:52 a.m. Just two more Watt one-bedrooms left!

10:51 a.m. One more Woodbridge and two more Watt one-bedrooms are taken.

10:49 a.m. We're almost near the end of the 25-point groups after which we'll return the ECX drama.

10:44 a.m. A Woodbridge fourth floor apartment is taken. They chose it over Watt because of "it's prettier" and has nicer kitchens. Fair arguments.

10:41 a.m. We struggle to hear 25/928 tell us of their fate over the sirens of the fire alarm. It turns out they picked into Woodbridge 2E.

10:40 a.m. AAAH! THE FIRE ALARM IS GOING OFF HERE! It's really loud, but no one seems to be leaving. AAH!

10:37 a.m. A group snags Woodbridge 1D and look really relieved to have gotten it. Why are they so relieved? One of them is actually a second-semester freshman, back after a couple of years off and she was given a the point value of a rising junior. Congrats!

10:31 a.m. Watt 5O is taken by a junior-senior pair. Why did they choose it over Woodbridge? "Better area. Closer to where we want to be."

10:29 a.m. A Symposium third-floor room has been taken, leaving just three of those. We're doubtful that the building will last until last year's cutoff of 20/682.

10:27 a.m. A quick shoutout to the Housing officials who have all been super nice and helpful this week. We know that things can get crazy during Suite Selection, but they're always looking out for us. Thanks!

10:25 a.m. A pair takes Woodbridge 1J. We're double-checking now how many are left in the building but it's around 15 or so.

10:23 a.m. At this point, we're pretty confident that 26/1657, a group of five, isn't going to show. If we're right and they really are dropping to General Selection, all of the 24 point groups should be able to get an EC Exclusion group.

10:20 a.m. EC 2014 is snatched up by 26/2957. A brief thought: had they not been a mixed-point group, that lottery number would have been pretty bad. As a 26-point group, it was no big deal.

10:18 a.m. EC 1816 and Woodbridge 4I are gone. "We're going to Woodbridge, it's not exactly living the dream." They seem relatively content though.

10:16 a.m. We hear a fire alarm in the background -- that would be pretty crazy if we have to evacuate and the whole schedule gets set back. No one is leaving though, so we're guessing that we can stay here.

10:15 a.m. EC 812 and Woodbridge 1B are gone. The EC groups comments that "the Jews are taking over EC."

10:12 a.m. Here is the aforementioned group with the glasses, suits, and hats:

10:10 a.m. EC 1806 is gone as well.

10:08 a.m. 26/2202 grabs a tenth floor suite. "We're praying, because we picked into a suite that we were explicitly told not to by our boys' team. We think their gonna pee in the walls or something."

10:06 a.m. For those of you just tuning in now, the first group of the day, which we expected to pick into an EC Exclusion suite, never showed.

10:05 a.m. EC 2010 is gone. They're excited to live on the top floor. They also point out that 2010 is like 1020.

10:00 a.m. "We're sexy and we love it. We love Hashem." Thus says one of the spies, now a member of Suite 808. Strange words from a strange man.

9:58 a.m. The spies look like they've picked their room and are about to leave the cage.

9:57 a.m. EC 1216 is snagged. One of the girls says, "Guess I'm living in a double" and then proceeds to try to pick a fight with my co-blogger Darron -- apparently they have some history. Drama!

9:55 a.m. 26/110 takes ECX 1008. As expected, 26.667/2922 never showed -- we knew the Barnard cap was hit yesterday so that they would be forced to drop. Bad news for them, but good news for all ECX-hopefuls.

9:52 a.m. And they're playing "The Final Countdown" as they walk into the cage. Isn't that what a spy would do if they were trying to fit in? Oh, no, it isn't... hmm...

9:51 a.m. That group with suits and glasses look extremely suspicious. Are they spies? There is definitely something peculiar about them. They are clearly fluent in English, but are mixing in some strange foreign words in most sentences. One of them keeps trying to pinch his suitemates' cheeks. Very odd indeed -- we'll be keeping an eye on them.

9:49 a.m. People often wonder why a mixed-point group would ever drop -- why make a five-person suite and not take the ECX when it's avaiable? Well, first of all, people don't always act logically. But more seriously, if a group got a really good lottery number, they may decide that they should drop down to General Selection and grab the best singles available at their point number. For example, the group's seniors may decide that they'd prefer a Watt studio single over an ECX single, and therefore decide to drop down.

9:46 a.m. WOAH! One group came prepared, all wearing suits and glasses.

9:45 a.m. So far, no sign of 28/310, which was supposed to be the first group of the day. This is good news for the unlucky 24-pointers and lucky 22-pointers who are hoping to get one of the final exclusion suites.

9:44 a.m. The next group out took ECX 1214.

9:42 a.m. The first group chooses ECX 1006 and are pretty happy about it. The groups who chose yesterday had probably had dreams at first of getting a suite with all-single. These groups knew when they formed their groups that they'd be getting an ECX so they have no reason to be upset.

9:39 a.m. A Housing official is overheard making fun of Claremont. We're glad to know that they're on the same page as the rest of the school. (Just kidding, Claremont-ers! But not really...)

9:35 a.m. As always, we'll be keeping an eye on the comments, so let us know if you have any questions/comments.

9:32 a.m. Aaand the first group is headed into the cage.

9:31 a.m. There's already some drama here this morning, as a group of three who was picked yesterday is speaking to Housing and seems kind of upset. Not sure what the deal is, but we'll try to find out.

9:28 a.m. The mixed-point groups (i.e. the ones with point values greater than 20 but less than 30) will also take the first of the Ruggles eight-person suites, along with the best of the remaining doubles -- namely, Symposium, Watt one-bedrooms, and Woodbridge.

9:27 a.m. Check out our preview post for more on what we can expect to see today. First up: the 27 remaining ECX's, which should be gone by noon. The cutoff could be as early as 24/2675, but we'll be following closely to see if any five-person groups drop out.

9:24 a.m. Eric here, alongside Darron and Stephen, to bring you all of the action from John Jay lounge.