Home > About OSCA > Membership
Every year 90 spaces are reserved for new students. The freshman lottery is conducted by mail over the summer. New students receive a card in the mail asking them if they want to be in the freshman lottery, and asking them what their preferences are for living and dining in OSCA. If they return it, we assign them random numbers and work the lottery out in the OSCA office. We notify new students to let them know if they got into OSCA.
Because there are never enough spaces in OSCA to let in everyone who wants to join, there are wait lists managed by the Membership Secretary. To get on the wait list, applicants fill out a wait list form online. If a spot opens in the first choice co-op they are placed in the co-op and removed from the wait list. If a spot opens in a second-choice co-op, then the person is placed in that co-op and remains on the wait list until an opening appears in their first choice co-op, and so on.
A few people can “jump” the wait list, or move to the top of it. People who are waiting to become members of TWC or who need to eat in Kosher Halal for religious reasons are always moved to the top of the wait list. In appreciation of all the work they do, all of the All-OSCA positions jump the dining wait list. The jobs that require 12+ hours of work per week and sit on the “GMT” usually jump the housing wait list, which includes dining. To learn how you too can be an all OSCA staff and jump the wait lists, check out the staff section.
The annual spring lottery determines by a random number lottery who gets a space in OSCA for the subsequent year. Potential co-opers must fill out the online lottery form before the due date in the Spring. Applicants will be notified of their assignments and turn in a deposit to guarantee their spot.
There are special application processes to join our special interest co-ops, Kosher Halal and Third World co-op. Kosher Halal serves students with special religious or dietary restrictions, and students who need to eat there for those reasons are given preference based on an application. Third World co-op (TWC) exists to promote coalition building through dialogue among people of different racial, cultural, ethnic, and socio-economic backgrounds who have been traditionally disenfranchised. People who wish to become a member of TWC fill out a TWC application, which is reviewed by current TWC members and either accepted or rejected.
Page last modified: 18 JUNE 2012 17:00
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