When the housing lottery fails them, some rising juniors and seniors turn their attention to Magis Row.

Though its goals are laudable, Magis Row’s late application deadline leads many students without any real zeal for its values to use Living Learning Communities as a backup housing plan. Starting next year, an early application deadline should be instituted in order to ensure that only the students most dedicated to Magis Row’s mission apply.

The group of 16 townhouses, located mostly on 36th Street, is one of many Living Learning Communities to which students can apply as upperclassmen. Applicants must propose a theme by which they and up to seven suitemates will improve the Georgetown community during the upcoming year. Recent themes have ranged from the Catholic Social Justice Community and Green House to the more unusual peace.love.frisbee.

According to the Office of Residence Life, which oversees the program, the main goals of Magis Row are ensuring the personal growth of its residents and achieving a concrete impact on the community through service. Residents are required to outline a scheme of daily activities and special events throughout the academic year to enhance the experience of students and neighbors alike.

Granted, Magis Row has had a positive effect on Georgetown and the District at large. For example, the Meditation House recently began a composting program in its backyard. About 25 houses contribute their compostable waste and food scraps to the compost pile, which will eventually be transported to the Georgetown Garden on Kehoe Field.

To ensure that all Magis Row houses create such benefits and are inhabited by only the most interested students, the university should implement an earlier deadline. With such a deadline in place, students would not be able to throw their hat into the ring with a half-hearted community service proposal in a last-ditch attempt to land a university townhouse.

The application date change should be the first step in the Office of Residence Life’s efforts to revamp the Magis Row program. Residence Life should also encourage houses to work in earnest to improve town-gown relations. Community service is integral to both neighborhood and individual development, but a successful initiative must back up a solid plan with strong execution.

Magis Row holds incredible potential to improve town-gown relations, personal student growth and the District at large. But currently, students have little incentive to use the townhouse program as more than a last-chance gateway to prime real estate. It’s time Georgetown students — and the surrounding area — really get the more out of Magis.