<p>Hi,</p>
<p>I was wondering what were the best dorms at the U of Miami for freshmen?</p>
<p>I would prefer to have a bathroom in my dorm if possible. Stanford and Hecht only have common floor bathrooms from what I understand. </p>
<p>Do freshmen students stay in any other dorms besides these?? Also, which dorms have substance-free housing available?</p>
<p>Thanks.</p>
<p>I really think that for freshmen, Stanford/Hecht offer the best opportunities to meet kids and get acclimated to college life. They have activities geared toward the freshmen experience and you'll get used to sharing a bathroom pretty quickly. Stanford has the substance-free floors. </p>
<p>There is a housing crunch, so I think it will be unusual for freshmen to be anywhere but in the towers. University Village Apts are opening for Jrs and Srs, but some apt buildings are being closed due to last year's hurricane damage. Good luck, you're going to love UM no matter which dorm you end up in.</p>
<p>so stanford/ hecht are the best for freshmen? What are the bemifits of living in these, i was kinda interested in Eaton or Pearson</p>
<p>hmm... I'm in stanford RT and going to Mahoney 7 next year. </p>
<h2>Stanford/Hecht Life</h2>
<p>-For a freshman, this is where most freshies are at. Well, moreso stanford than hecht.</p>
<ul>
<li><p>For Stanford, covered walkway to Charties (cafeteria) so you don't get wet if it's raining, although the puddles will wet your jeans badly >_<</p></li>
<li><p>For Sportsfest, it's mainly Stanford vs. Hecht. Hecht won this year and they have the most championships now. Stanford won like 5 in a row or something but Hecht has been winning since 2002 I think. (Sportsfest is a weekend long thing. Basically every sport + connect 4 + halo + madden + DDR + billiards + a bunch of other things).</p></li>
<li><p>Now... If you're a music student... the school of music is right there but if you're like most other people, your classes will be over in Cox, Knight, Memorial, Merrick (some business classes), and Whitten. I make the walk in 10-12 min depending on the amount of people but most people take 15-20 min to get there.</p></li>
<li><p>To add to the previous one, there are only 2 elavators per tower (2 for Rosborough, 2 for Walsh) so 4 in stanford/4 in hecht. Anyways, 30 min before each section (class) it's usually 'rush-hour' on the elevators. So it's taken me as long as 10 min (friends holding the doors for other friends on the 12th floor). Most of the time it's faster to take the stairs, even from the 8th floor.</p></li>
<li><p>Umm I the elevators tend to not move every once in a while. I know they've been serviced at least 5-6 times this year. The last time they were serviced was because like they kept 'dropping' down. Like, if it had to stop on 8, it'd pass it by like 6in-1ft and then drop that same distance really fast before the door opened. Other times, if you're on the first floor and press let's say 8, it won't move. </p></li>
</ul>
<p>[Note: if that happens to you, just press door open and then close them again but 'push' them together hard, it'll work].</p>
<ul>
<li><p>The IM fields are nice to layout/sunbathe/do hw/do nothing/look at the funny kids taking the tour. Hecht has something similar (the maze) but not as nice. </p></li>
<li><p>The hurricane shutters come in handy to block out all sunlight so you can sleep until your heart desires.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>Our bathroom turned retarded recently, lol. The sinks now pour more cold water than the showers and we recently learned that if all six showers are in use, one of them, the one at the end, controls all the other ones. [I had fun with that, lol]...</p>
<p>The reason it's advantageous is simply because most freshman live here and many people do simply walk around at the beginning of the year and knock on doors. [Although, it's kinda weird because you'll talk for like 5-10 min and then never talk to that person again and then when you walk past them you always wonder if you should say 'hi' but neither of you does].</p>
<p>For me, class is still the best way to meet people. Oh and facebook. Oh and playing some sport.</p>
<h2>Mahoney/Pearson</h2>
<p>Can't really say much since I've only been over there once or twice. But I can say...</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Much closer to all classes except maybe Knight since it's all the way over to one side anyways. 5-10 min walk.</p></li>
<li><p>Their Charties isn't broken off into 3 sections like the Stanford one. It's more open so it makes it look bigger. Hmm... Oh the people are nicer there although the ones at Stanford, while they still aren't friendly, they aren't grouchy either (I think this survey they had recently made it that way).</p></li>
<li><p>Biggest room difference is obviously Suites as opponsed to umm doubles/singles. </p></li>
</ul>
<h2>Reason Why A freshman wouldn't want to go to Mahoney/Pearson</h2>
<ul>
<li><p>If your roommate isn't a freshman, that means one of two things. Either he's some dorky/weirdo guy that no one wanted to room with or he's friends with the other 2 guys in which case you should be fine.</p></li>
<li><p>If your roommate is a freshman, you two won't be meeting as many people there as you would over @ stanford/hecht. Not to mention, you'd be walking over to stanford/hecht if you wanted to hang out with someone, most of the time at least.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>So mag00, for an incoming Freshman, you recommend Stanford?</p>
<p>yeah I would. Simply because that's where I'm at now. You can go to Mahoney/Pearson as a sophomore once you've found the other 3 people you want to room with. I prefer stanford > hecht simply because of the fact that Charties is right there as well as the IM fields. Hecht's lobby & elevators are nicer but the rooms are still equally prison-like.</p>
<p>I looked at room layouts, it looks like rooms at Mahoney/Pearson are much bigger than Stanford/Hecht........</p>
<p>I take it upperclassmen get first choice in housing? I can't see why all of the Freshman would want to request Stanford/Hecht when Mahoney/Pearson rooms look so much better.</p>
<p>Best housing thread: <a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=141994%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=141994</a></p>
<p>My son applied to Hecht for his freshman dorm as his first choice. Do you think he should change to Stanford? He wants to be in the more mellow dorm with the friendlier people.</p>
<p>Lily-My S is also laid back, down to earth and not into the club scene. He has loved Hecht. I think your S will do fine in any of the towers, remember there are 2 towers in each residential college. Hecht has Pentland and McDonald and Stanford has Walsh and Rosborough. If he wants the music practice rooms or the substance free floors he should choose Stanford otherwise, most freshmen will do fine in any of the towers.</p>
<p>my-3-sons - thanks for your response!</p>
<p>hi im an incoming freshmen next year and im in mohoney should i request to be changed to stanford/hecht?</p>
<p>The freshmen that are put into Mahoney/Pearson/Eaton either </p>
<p>a) didn't fit into Stanford or Hecht or,
b) have a special situation (international students, those that are involved in special programs like STRIVE, etc)</p>
<p>I guess you can request to switch, but it probably won't be granted. The only reason that it's good for the freshmen to be in the towers is because they're more social than Mahoney, Pearson, and Eaton. Living in Mahoney isn't anything to be worried about though -- the first one or two floors in Mahoney and Pearson are reserved for freshmen so you'll still meet people. And of course you can always meet all of the upperclassmen that are living in those dorms, too. Once you've made a good group of friends you'll be glad to be in Mahoney because it's nicer than Stanford and Hecht.</p>
<p>definitely, if you're a freshman and want to make friends, live in Stanford or Hecht - it's not spacious or luxurious and has common bathrooms, etc., but that's how you meet people!
(then you can go to University Village as a junior)</p>