Best Dorms at UA

<p>I have been admitted to the Honors college and I plan on majoring in engineering. However I also plan to rush at the UA, What is the best dorm on campus?</p>

<p>The best dorms are the Super Suites, which are contained in: Ridgecrest South, East and West, Riverside North, East and West, Lakeside East and West and the Presidential (two buildings).</p>

<p>Some of the above are honors, and some are non-honors. </p>

<p>There is not just one best dorm.</p>

<p>Look at this interactive map and see how far away you are from everything. Proximity to classes and/or sororities might be a consideration for you. <a href=“Page Not Found | The University of Alabama”>Page Not Found | The University of Alabama;
Also, discuss with your parents your budget - the suites cost 57% more than traditional double-shared rooms. <a href=“http://housing.ua.edu/pdfs/2014-2015%20Residence%20Hall%20Rates_Approved.pdf”>http://housing.ua.edu/pdfs/2014-2015%20Residence%20Hall%20Rates_Approved.pdf&lt;/a&gt; </p>

<p>Which dorm would be best for non-honors?</p>

<p>Again, this depends on if you are willing to pay for suite-style or not, as well as proximity to what is important to you. If you give more info about what you are looking for, we can help make recommendations. There is no one-size-fits-all ‘best’ dorm that is the same for everyone! ;)</p>

<p>Chris, I believe that you’re premed, so likely your classes will be in the NE area of the school.</p>

<p>I know that money is not a concern, so I would guess that either the Presidential I or II (the new two dorms) or Riverside East would be best.</p>

<p>What dorm would be best for an honors student who wants the traditional dorm room experience. I’m confused…I hear UA has the best dorms but there’s been people on CC saying some dorms are “old”. My D’s dorm was old, but that didn’t make it a bad dorm at her school. Recommendations would be great!</p>

<p>There are only a few “truly” old dorm buildings at UA. For example, Tutwiler is an older dorm where freshman girls (those that rush) like to live. The majority of the residence housing is new or really new (just opened).
See this link or photos :
<a href=“Halls - Housing and Residential Communities”>http://housing.ua.edu/halls/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Tutwiler is far younger than Somerville! Tutwiler was built in the late 1950s or early 1960s…Tutwiler, Burke, Parham and Paty all built around the same time. Somerville dates back to the 1920s, I believe.</p>

<p>Somerville was built in the late 50s and Tutwiler was built in 1968.</p>

<p>Have they ever been remodeled since they were built?</p>

<p>We continue to do ongoing maintenance projects on all our buildings, which can include projects that aren’t as noticeable, like updates to HVAC and elevator renovations.</p>

<p>Hope this helps,
Janine</p>

<p>Blount Hall is a nice mix of traditional style with more privacy (four students share one bathroom) than the traditional dorms and the added benefit (IMHO) of housing both men and women together. It’s one of the smaller dorms, but in an excellent location near the Ridgecrest complex and Paty Hall, so great for engineers even though it houses the Blount Initiative LLC, which is for Arts & Sciences students. Very social atmosphere, which you won’t always find in the suite-style housing, and the price is somewhere between the suites and the traditional dorms.</p>

<p>The BEST is Ridgecrest South because of the parking. The other Ridgecrests, Presidential, Bryant and Riverside are good as well.</p>

<p>I know some of the older dorms like Tutwiler have recurring problems with their HVAC systems/elevators/etc.</p>

<p>Somerville and Paty have reputations as kind of being dumps, by the way.</p>

<p>^^^^Plenty of students DON’T have cars on campus, so parking issues are irrelevant.</p>

<p>Each residence hall has its pros and cons. Ridgecrest South is no different. It’s a great residence hall, but there are areas where other residence halls may be preferable. Before Presidential I and II were built, Ridgecrest South was highly sought after simply because it was the newest residence hall.</p>

<p>It’s a fact of life that the older something gets, the more likely it is to break. Somerville and Paty are very structurally sound and were built to last. Yes, the fixtures might not be as new and having smaller personal living spaces means that the common areas will likely be busier, but overall they aren’t as bad as some people say. FWIW, many universities in warm climates still have dorms without AC. All UA dorms have modern AC systems.</p>

<p>How is Friedman for CBA majors?</p>

<p>Is Tutwiler filled with mostly sorority girls?</p>

<p>Here is a link to all of the current residence halls, for easy reference: <a href=“Halls - Housing and Residential Communities”>http://housing.ua.edu/halls/&lt;/a&gt; </p>