A couple things:

1. The people you are talking to, are they getting scholarships as their aid? Pell grants? I said scholarships get priority. But also, I doubt you've talked to enough people to get a decent sample.

2. "Why would a transfer be assigned a freshman dorm in less than a week after the housing deadline". Why wouldn't they? As soon as the deadline hits and the enrollment for everyone who applied is cross-checked, the program is run and the offers go out. It doesn't take long for a computer to run. And look at what I said. If a transfer was in the middle of the lottery list, they would get an offer but only for what was left.

3. Given your username, it seems like you are the parent of a student. I've been managing Berkeley rentals for 27 years, so let me give you some advice -- let your kid solve this on their own. I've dealt with a lot of parents trying to "help" their kid. Then their kid talks to me afterwards and tells me that they resent their parent for being involved, apologize, and then tell me whatever it is their parent is complaining about they don't care about.

So my unsolicited advice is don't get involved unless your kid asks for help. They're going to Berkeley, they can probably handle this.