Emilee Langenkamp, Sarah Yedlick and Megan Stucko, freshmen roommates living in a three-person room in Marycrest Complex, said they met the news of their living situation with surprise and frustration when they were notified of it in July.

 "Our room is the same size as all the doubles," Yedlick said. "We have extra strain on all of us ... because we're in a small space with three girls. Girls aren't always easy to work with, either."

 Langenkamp, Yedlick and Stucko are living in one of the 50 three-person Marycrest rooms, which accompanied by one six-person room in the building, along with two four-person rooms in Founders Hall, and over 60 sophomores living in Irving Commons Student Apartments, is a housing situation designed in response to a large incoming freshman class, said Connie Robertson, associate director of Residence Life assignments.

 These situations are classified as "overflow housing," which is used with classes of at least 1,900 students, Robertson said. She said a general class size is between 1,750 and 1,850, while the current freshman class has a total of 2,066 students, according to Molly Wilson, director of enrollment strategies.

 The Irving Commons website categorizes its apartments as "off-campus" housing, but Robertson said the complex, which is "privately managed," includes the same basic characteristics as on-campus facilities with 24-hour maintenance, cable television, Internet and telephone access, resident assistants and public safety.

 Of the 2,066 freshman, only 65 are commuting, according to Wilson. This brings the most residents ever to UD student housing, and the largest class size in decades, according to a press release on UD's website.

 Wilson said this year's freshmen were selected from a pool of 11,567 applications. Of these applicants, 47 percent were from out-of-state, which is the largest number the university has seen, according to a UD press release. Wilson said, however, that the university's acceptance rate did not change.

 "A large number of applicants allows us to shape the class and make sure we are bringing in the students that are going to be a good fit for the University of Dayton and vice versa," she said.

 According to a Dayton Daily News article, the university plans to use the old Frank Z Chevrolet property on Brown Street to construct additional student apartments. Wilson said this did not have an effect on admissions this year, but is "a great opportunity for UD to continue to grow."

 Robertson said triple-occupancy rooms were once "the norm," until the construction of Marianist Hall, which houses freshmen and sophomores, was completed.

 Langenkamp and Yedlick said life as overflow housing residents can be manageable because of both differences and similarities in students' schedules. They said schedule incongruities make it convenient for one person to nap while another is in class, for instance, and having some of the same classes allows them to study together.

 According to Robertson, residents in triple rooms are given first priority for finding new housing should they want to move rooms after the "two-week housing freeze," which disallows room switches until Sept. 6. This exists to account for residents who never moved in and students who decide to leave UD.

 Robertson said Marycrest, which is UD's "largest overflow housing" facility, was home to 290 sophomore residents last year compared to just 60 this year. Robertson said this is because while last year's sophomore class size required overflow housing, the incoming freshman class, at 1,706 students according to Wilson, did not.

 While class size changes are relatively cyclical, UD's enrollment is on the rise, which is evident in the fact that this four-year period has two larger classes, while historically one-in-four is standard, Robertson said.

 "The University of Dayton is definitely growing in its national reputation," Wilson said. "The U.S. News & World Report ranking UD as one of the top 100 schools in the nation is a testament to all the great work that our students, faculty, administration and staff do. We are an institution that is ever mindful of our mission, values, and vision, and prospective students and families resonate with who we are and what we do."