CHRIS CODUTO/Arizona Daily Wildcat Pre-pharmacy freshmen Chris Churan (left) and Eric Kerkhove sign up for a room with Residence Life employee Joe Ventola in Pima Hall Monday afternoon.

Students looking to return next year to the same room in the residence halls registered last night to keep their spots.

Though Residence Life officials did not tally how many students signed up, associate director Pam Obando said at the beginning of the night she expected about 500 students to apply.

Under a policy enacted last year, only 1,000 students are allowed to return to the dorms for a second year, and no students are allowed to live there for more than four semesters.

About 1,150 people have expressed interest in returning to the dorms next year by filling out a form online, said Pam Obando, associate director of Residence Life. That could mean that as many as 150 people who want to live in the dorms will be left to find other housing, but Obando expects some people will not actually sign up for a space.

"We think we will be accommodating everyone," she said.

Last year, she said, about 1,200 people filled out the online form, but only 960 applied for the 1,000 available spaces. When school opened in August, about 200 spots in the residence halls lay vacant, a situation officials hope not to repeat next year.

Students wishing to return filled out a form online indicating their interest. They were then assigned a lottery number corresponding to a time when they would sign up for a spot.

People who decided to return to the same room were guaranteed that spot again, so nobody left last night's registration disappointed.

"I really like my room," said education freshman Monica Erickson, who was registering to spend another year in La Paz Residence Hall. "It was a good size and the location was good."

The same may not be so Wednesday, when students eyeing a move to a different hall will have to compete for what could be very few spaces in some residence halls.

"Wednesday will be more crowded. That we can count on," said Jim Van Arsdel, director of Residence Life.

Villa del Puente Residence Hall ÷ which will open in the fall as part of the Highland District construction project ÷ and La Paz Residence Hall will likely be the most popular halls, and students looking to live there next year should expect long lines, said Joel Hauff, another Residence Life associate director.

Other halls will likely be less popular, but students trying to get into a specific hall might still have trouble.

Hauff pointed to Pima Residence Hall, where 21 spaces were available to returning students, but he expected that about half would be taken Monday night, leaving about 10 remaining for students looking to relocate to Pima.

On Wednesday, students planning to return to the residence halls, but not the same room, will have their chance to apply.