The partial lottery pleased so many that in 1976 it was expanded into a full lottery based completely on numerical preference. Students ranked their choices, and the lottery went through each group's choices completely before passing to the next number.

"There are no circumstances under which listing things out of order will help you," said Bruce Collier, who had become the assistant dean of the College for housing.

The system was not as well received by students, primarily because it did not maximize first choice. Eleven percent of freshmen received one of their last three choices.

The very next year, the College revised the computer program to maximize first choice, adapting a system that has survived to the present day.

Only a campus-wide referendum in 1985 showing that 75 percent of students prefer knowing their lottery numbers before submitting house choice has led to a change in policy since that time.

Dean of the College L. Fred Jewett '57 released the lottery numbers to students a few days prior to the application deadline in 1986, but authorized its removal again this year.

"Students didn't think then," says Young, summarizing the world of difference between earlier days at Harvard and today. "You did as you were told" then, says the dean. Even when a process "was probably unfair, there was an acceptance of things that wouldn't be accepted today."