My buddy says there is a myth that if you put Saugeen as your number 1 choice they'll put you somewhere else, but if you put it as a later choice they'll put you in Saugeen just because they don't want people who want to be in Saugeen in Saugeen. But if you wanna go there i'd just put it as first.

As long as that myth is just a myth, if you rank Saugeen first you are practically guaranteed it. And if you and your friend request each other as roommates and rank the residences identically, this should increase your chances of getting your first choice.

1/3 of western first years end up in saugeen so I'd say a 99% chance you'd get it. While there is that "myth," the university doesn't gain anything from putting students in residences they don't want. I think these myths are created by students who were displeased with their residence assignments and wanted to put blame on something. I'd do the same thing if I was in that situation. Western puts roommate preference first in terms of residences, so if you and your friend request each other, it will happen no matter what and seeing as the system is lottery based, you have twice the chance of getting your first choice for residence.