I’m just wondering what the best dorm is for kids that don’t party, but is not a single sex dorm, for freshman year. Is it good for kid that’s a little socially awkward? Do you think that type of kid would fit in at UM?
No offense but if the kid is socially awkward to the point that they cant be around anyone that parties then it does not matter if he is in a single sex dorm as they will be to awkward to approach anyone.
And Im pretty sure only woman can have single sex dorms (not sure what sex the kid is)
Baits is known for its anti social nature.
Nobody is going to force the kid to party if he doesn’t want to, that stuff just doesn’t happen these days.
most colleges are very social environments, but if they make an effort they will find their people.
North Campus
Be careful to group all of North Campus into the “non-partying” box. The biggest undergraduate dorm on North Campus (and the University), Bursley, is pretty social.
Bursley is V social baits is not
Housing assignments are random at Michigan - you can’t choose your dorm.
Michigan is most definitely a large school and that can be overwhelming to those that are socially awkward. On the other hand, Michigan offers so many clubs and organizations that a student can always “find their people.” And no one is going to be shunned because they are not the life of the party. There is going to be a wide mix of people living in every dorm, simply because dorm assignment is random. There are also living/learning communities that students can apply to that would increase the likelihood that they are living with people with similar interests.
To further support blprof: there are on the order of 1,200 clubs at Michigan, surely 1 or more will suit? There are also numerous places to study, so other than grabbing some sleep, your dorm may impose close to zero constraint on your ability to thrive. If I may quote F. Scott: "…I like large parties. They’re so intimate. At small parties there isn’t any privacy.” The fact that Michigan is large affords a degree of anonymity, but you can choose to break out and join a few of those clubs or engage in research. Hell, you might even go to a class or two and then, who knows, crack a book or two.
Thanks everyone. Those are great points and I feel more comfortable.
The one dorm that a non-Partier wouldn’t want is Markley but if they get it all they have to do is go on the Facebook group for their class and ask if someone wants it. People will be clamoring for the trade. I saw that happen several times in my kids year.
I found at Michigan that if you don’t want to partake in all the decadence, as I shall term it, then people understand. At the end of the day, it is a school for studious kinds of people. Every dorm I know of has study areas which are used even during the weekends. Also the libraries are a good escape. There are plenty of refined people in A2. I used to attend classical music concerts at various venues. At the Residential College in East Quad you’ll get more low key hippie kinds of get togethers - at least that’s the way it once was. One could get a partying kind of roommate and that can be a big pain in the neck. But how much time do you want to spend in your little dorm room anyway.
I believe on the housing application you can choose “Substance Free”. That may help cut down on the amount of partying on a particular hallway or floor.
http://www.housing.umich.edu/undergrad/subfree
My daughter is exactly like this…an extreme non-partier. Super straight-laced nerd culture kid who would a lot rather go to the used bookstore in town, than a football game.
Freshman year, she was placed in Markley. LOL. To say it was a horrible fit cannot be overemphasized. Her roommates were nice enough girls who would have been a great fit for a like-minded party girl…but for my daughter, they turned out to be the room mates from hell.
By the end of first semester, she’d had it. She looked for other housing arrangements through friends, and found out that a friend of a friend needed a roommate in her two person university apartment on North Campus. My daughter jumped through the hoops and made the arrangements to escape Markley.
Her new roommate was SO much more in line with my daughter’s thinking and habits. They became good friends, and my daughter discovered that while she can live with other people, she really needs to be able to close her door sometimes. She needs the privacy afforded by at least her own bedroom. With her own room, and her new roommate…she was so much happier at UMich.
My daughter says…yes, North Campus is “social death”, but you can sleep and get your work done. Nerds are abundant. She found her spiritual nerd-home. LOL. Also, being a country girl, she loved having trees outside her windows and woods nearby…squirrels, geese, deer on her front lawn made her smile.
Sophomore year, she got a single university apartment on North and LOVED it. She threw little movie parties, game nights, had friends sleep over on the couch and an inflatable mattress. Her cousins visited and stayed with her. Her highschool boyfriend (from MSU) visited and stayed with her. Was a really nice arrangement.
This year, she’s living on North in another university double apartment with a good friend who has the same major.
No matter how socially awkward you are…or how edgy…you will find your people at UMich. There’s a little bit of everything, and everyone can find their people:)
Your first dorm assignment…even if it turns out to be awful…isn’t set in stone and it isn’t the end of the world. You will have to tough it out for the semester…but you can change it up if you need to the next semester.
It has been a while, but I was in Markley for a short time. And my roommates were hard partiers (I think one was dealing). South Quad also has a pretty heavy party atmosphere. I know you said no single sex, but Newberry was one of the calmer & nicer places I ever lived in, also a great location. Ironically, though, the place I lived with the fewest partiers ever was the Lenny Bruce Co-op (not a choice for frosh, though, I assume). I’m sure it varies by co-op, but at the time it had a lot of straight laced (good looking) engineering guys in it. Lenny Bruce was recently renamed, but co-op housing in general was a good choice for me and my friends.
It should also be noted that many co-ops throw parties - and pretty large ones sometimes.
Yes, I think it depends on the year and the co-op. A group of my friends decided to move into one together, and they invited like-minded friends. I think it gave us a critical mass of non-partiers for a couple of years.
You’re not going to find a “best-dorm-for-people-who-don’t-like-to-party” because it doesn’t exist. There are people in every dorm who party, and there are people in every dorm who party, a LOT. The nice thing I noticed (at least living in Mojo, I can’t say for other dorms) is that IF people partied in the dorms, you’d never know. A ‘party’ in a dorm isn’t a rager, 'cause lets face it, no one wants to have a rager in a dorm room. It’d be a lot of people drinking and eating pizza, or pre-gaming. The real parties are the house and frat parties, and you’d never know they existed if you didn’t leave your room on a Friday night. Your best bet is to cross your fingers and hope for a roommate who is respectful about how you feel about partying and keeps it out of your room. There are so many people on campus that you’re sure to find a group with similar interests. It might take a while to find them, but the myth that “everyone parties in college” just isn’t true.