After two years as an all-senior College House, Ladd House will accept applications from all class years for the 2020-21 academic year, the Office of Residential Life (ResLife) announced this week.

The change comes after ResLife struggled to fill the house with seniors for the 2019-2020 academic year, according to Associate Dean of Student Affairs and Director of Residential & Student Life Mike Ranen.

Ranen attributed the lack of student interest in Ladd to the construction of the new Park Row Apartments, and said that ResLife anticipated that the opening of the new Harpswell Apartments next year would further reduce demand for Ladd among seniors.

“With the increase in beautiful, new upperclass housing I don’t think having a house with all singles is as much of a draw for seniors as we hoped,” Ranen said.

Ranen also said that ResLife is hoping to allow more sophomores to live in College Houses.

“It’s clear that we’re turning away sophomores from college houses, even with Boody-Johnson as a sophomore house … I think that’s [also] what fueled the decision,” Ranen said.

Ladd House has been a senior-only College House since the 2018-19 academic year, when ResLife created a separate application to Ladd for seniors in conjunction with the College’s announcement of a cap on the number of students allowed to live off campus.

In 2018-19, with Park Row still under construction, Ladd House filled up, said Ranen. But this year, with many seniors opting to apply for Park Row Apartments through the lottery system, Ladd failed to attract enough applicants to fill the house.

ResLife later made the house available to juniors and seniors through the housing lottery to fill the leftover beds.

Angel Ramirez ’20, who lived in Ladd as a sophomore in 2017-18, before it became a senior-only house, said that he liked living in the house as a sophomore and enjoyed the many events that the house has traditionally held, including Epicuria and the annual Bowdoin Art Society art show.

Ramirez is now a member of the Inter-House Council, a student advisory group made up of former house residents and officers who assist in the application process.

“It was super cool being there as a sophomore … There are a lot of events that happen every year that are pretty dope,” said Ramirez. “I had a guaranteed single which was nice, [and] a great kitchen and living space.”

First-year students who are planning to apply to live in a College House next year will now have the option of selecting Ladd. While rising juniors and seniors may apply to the College House system as well, the houses have traditionally been filled by sophomore students.

Sydney Cox ’23 said she is considering applying to a College House and would be interested in living in Ladd.

“I like the idea of living in a College House … right now I have a great environment on my floor, everyone is pretty well connected … so I kind of want that environment again,” Cox said. “I would personally love to [live in Ladd]. It has a really big and open space.”

The deadline to apply to live in a College House is February 9.

Angel Ramirez ’20 is a photographer for the Orient.