<p>So I recently got accepted into IU and I want to fill out the housing form so I don't get shafted later. I'm a good student (4.00 GPA, 30 ACT) but I do like to have fun, I just also want to study. I'm an intended Business major. What is the right neighborhood and dorm for me? Also, can I pick the exact dorm if I apply to live on an academic floor?</p>
<p>If you apply to live on an academic floor, yes you can pick which dorm you want. </p>
<p>Most people will say go for Northwest but from a personal experience (and I know people will behead me for saying this), I find the NW neighborhood highly overrated. It’s also full of the highest concentration of **<strong><em>es and *</em></strong>***s at IU. I live in NW and I try to stay away from my dorm as much as possible. I’ve come across the most rudest, pretentious people who came to college for the purpose of partying and doing nothing else, pure and simple. There’s a lot of bullying, shallow mindedness, and fake, judgmental people. It’s not a very healthy environment, nor is it conducive to studying. And when I say this I do not speak on behalf of EVERYONE who lives in NW, nor do I speak in regards to everyone. Sure there are great people who live there too, but I’m sorry to say they’re harder to come by. </p>
<p>Central and Southeast always get reputations as “less fun” or “less social” dorms, but honestly, people in these dorms know how to have fun too and they do it without compromising academics. I highly highly recommend that any freshman who is considering going to IU seriously contemplates whether or not they want to live in an environment where learning comes second to partying. Because honestly, all people in NW care about is going out. There’s very little emphasis placed on academics and it’s ridiculous because a lot of these people forget that they came to college to study, not to party.</p>
<p>And before you guys all write me off as a loser, just know that I have an active social life and I’ve had my fair share of crazy nights at IU. I just don’t devote 4-5 days a week to going out.</p>
<p>Don’t worry Leila as a former RA in the NW neighborhood I see much validity in your statement, though the experience differs greatly between floors and buildings. At the end of the day axchil I would say that if you live in NW go for a Foster Academic Floor, if not go Central Neighborhood Teter Honors or Academics floors. You won’t be terribly far away from the Business School and you’ll have the mix between social and academic.</p>
<p>“I highly highly recommend that any freshman who is considering going to IU seriously contemplates whether or not they want to live in an environment where learning comes second to partying. Because honestly, all people in NW care about is going out. There’s very little emphasis placed on academics and it’s ridiculous because a lot of these people forget that they came to college to study, not to party.”</p>
<p>This statement is ridiculous. Also there is a study hard, play hard mentality to some students in the NW. Your description of NW seem pretty exaggerated and I’d hate to see someone pass up on living there because of such statements. I think I know maybe less than handful that went out 4-5 nights, none of which on a weekly basis (Frat rush week and welcome week exceptions). Actually as a freshman I’d imagine it would be an issue finding a party to go out to that many nights. If you tell me people stayed in the dorms and had small parties that often I’d agree. Sorry you have not enjoyed your experience.</p>
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<p>TO OP: </p>
<p>Honestly it really does come down to what you are looking for with your college experience.</p>
<p>I’d recommend NW if you’re OOS and smart. You roll the dice a little bit by selecting it but from my experience its much better knowing people who are going to party and be really social rather than living with people who consistently study. Some of the worst nights are when you want to go out but can’t find a party because nobody can find anything, granted it is not a common occurrence. I agree with mrlinkcc in that its highly dependent on your floor on the noise level and partying. The way I see it is at the end of the day you can always go to the Wells Library to study if its too noisy or one of the center buildings in the NW neighborhoods. There are also quiet hours that are enforced by the RAs so noise should not be an issue as RAs are required to enforce this policy. </p>
<p>I’d also consider the honors floors and central also but I can’t speak to these residences specifically.</p>
<p>I think that its more important to get a roommate who is not crazy but balanced or reserved. That risk in itself can be mitigated by finding a roommate on Facebook before you arrive and this is regardless of your neighborhood.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>^ I’m sorry that you feel as though my statements are ridiculous. But I have lived in NW FIRST HAND and experienced it. There’s a lot of people who live here who would agree with me. My description is not exaggerated; I would not come here to give prospective students an exaggerated and misleading POV. This is just what I’ve garnered from several months of living here. Given that I live on a floor full of people who have had midterms on Friday mornings but chose to go out and drink that Thursday night, I think I am entitled to make such statements. </p>
<p>And who actually “stays in” and has parties? Everyone knows that the party system at IU revolves around the Greek system, house and apartment parties, etc… there are VERY FEW cases where people just stay in the dorms and drink all night long. </p>
<p>The bottom line is that freshmen know about the “party” reputation of this neighborhood and that’s pretty much the reason why they choose it. Other than its proximity to the business school and athletics facilities, it’s got nothing else going for it. It’s far away from everything else and the rooms aren’t anything special… you can find equally good, if not better, rooms in Teter, Eigenmann, Forest, etc.</p>
<p>I’m not trying to argue or start anything, but I truly believe that freshmen should VERY CAREFULLY consider where they want to live. I’m sure there are floors in NW that are absolutely great, but there’s always the chance that you can get stuck with a crappy floor.</p>
<p>How about the Academic Communities in the Northwest Neighborhood as listed in the following link? It does not look too bad.</p>
<p>[IU:RPS</a> - Academic Communities](<a href=“http://rps.indiana.edu/academiccommunities.cfml]IU:RPS”>http://rps.indiana.edu/academiccommunities.cfml)</p>
<p>A) If it is not too crazy, my son may want to choose NW over Central.</p>
<p>Preference:
Northwest Neighborhood</p>
<p>Rank:
- Kelley Living Learning Center
- Double - (No Roommate Request)
- Academic - Northwest Neighborhood
- I can not afford Premium Rate Housing</p>
<p>B) If it is, then I would like for him to select </p>
<p>Preference:
Central Neighborhood</p>
<p>Rank:
- Kelley Living Learning Center
- Double - (No Roommate Request)
- Academic - Central Neighborhood
- I can not afford Premium Rate Housing</p>
<p>What are your thoughts on these arrangements?</p>
<p>@ace550 I would go with plan A but bump the academic above just the double so it looks like this:</p>
<p>Rank:
- Kelley Living Learning Center
- Academic - Northwest Neighborhood
- Double - (No Roommate Request)
- I can not afford Premium Rate Housing</p>
<p>It really won’t be to bad for your son as long as he tries to stay in the Kelley LLC or the Academic Community. Even if he gets the regular double somewhere he has a pretty good chance of being on an alright floor. Something RPS won’t tell you is how easily it truly is to move from room to room or floor to floor in the beginning of the year. It is not a terrible risk to try it out. To be perfectly honest if NW doesn’t work out for him it is much easier to transfer out of NW then it is to transfer in. The numbers for the 2008-2009 school year were 5700 requests for NW and only 3500-3600 spots. Sorry that I can’t give you official numbers but those are the numbers the Residence Manager for McNutt gave me back in 2008. Long story short, shoot for NW and if his room or floor or even dorm don’t work out, it won’t be the end of the world if he decides to move.</p>
<p>P.S. Don’t let anyone scare you and tell you that it is difficult to move, it is not. As an RA in 2008 I personally did 7 room/floor/dorm switches by the 4th week of the first semester. Hope this helps!</p>
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<p>Absolute BS. My roommate was a jackass from the very start, and he eventually got really drunk and tried to start **** with me and ended up giving me a black eye and after ** three ** requests they ** still ** wouldn’t switch me. Not until I got my parents involved, that is.</p>
<p>LoonLake,</p>
<p>Sorry to learn about what you have been through. I do think that the following ranking as suggested by mrlinkcc is conservative.</p>
<p>1) Kelley Living Learning Center
2) Academic - Northwest Neighborhood
3) Double - (No Roommate Request)
4) I can not afford Premium Rate Housing</p>
<p>My D is very happy in Southeast/honors floor.
I’m not deluded…I know she goes out and finds fun, social stuff to do–maybe even parties! --she doesn’t study 24/7. She’s having a great experience. She has a few friends she’s met in class and activities who live in NW who DO NOT enjoy it there–they say there’s lots of drinking, rowdiness, people throwing up in the bathroom, RAs who basically won’t enforce rules. Now, maybe her friends wouldn’t be considered cool by their peers in NW. Maybe their floors/dorms are unusual (though my D says NOT). They hang out in Collins or SE alot, and feel there’s little to be gained by complaining and spend little time in the dorms. It’s just not a good fit for some people.</p>
<p>Clearly some (many?) NW-ers like the party atmosphere, and I’m sure many there study and do well. Truth801 and Leila both are entitled to their opinions–doesn’t mean one is right and the other is wrong. There is a just a different ‘culture’ to each neighborhood it seems. You need to ponder what culture you’ll enjoy living in most.</p>
<p>Honestly, I live in Northwest and I only go out one day a week. If you live in the KLLC or Northwest Honors, you will find a lot of students like this. The NW honors floor is great because about half like to go out and have fun but still get their stuff done (4 or 5 are serious partiers, but are highly intelligent and able to maintain decent, if not excellent grades). There are also a lot of people that don’t go out at all, which is nice because you have people to hang out with if you don’t want to go out. </p>
<p>You didnt indicate if you were in the honors college, but if not and want to be, you could definitely apply and get in.
I have to warn you though, the adjustment to the northwest culture was a little rough for me at first, but now its pretty normal. I still wouldnt walk up fee lane alone at night.
In summary, you can find a good mix of party and study at NW honors or KLLC, or probably other academic communities in the neighborhood.
And some of the most genuine, smart, and interesting people I have met at IU live in the northwest neighborhood. Don’t stereotype thousands of students as being ignorant.
Sorry this is long, but one last thing to consider is that if you do party, some students in Central and Southeast may judge you or look down on you. I have a lot of friends in Teters honors floor, and this definitely happens.
Don’t worry so much about Northwest being unbearable, everyone adjusts. Its like IUmom7 said, just a different culture</p>
<p>"But I have lived in NW FIRST HAND and experienced it. There’s a lot of people who live here who would agree with me. My description is not exaggerated; I would not come here to give prospective students an exaggerated and misleading POV. This is just what I’ve garnered from several months of living here. Given that I live on a floor full of people who have had midterms on Friday mornings but chose to go out and drink that Thursday night, I think I am entitled to make such statements.</p>
<h2>And who actually “stays in” and has parties? Everyone knows that the party system at IU revolves around the Greek system, house and apartment parties, etc… there are VERY FEW cases where people just stay in the dorms and drink all night long."</h2>
<h2>I have lived in NW “FIRST HAND and experienced it” also, haha. Plenty of people “stay in” and have small gatherings/parties, nothing crazy. I don’t know if you know anyone pledging fraternities but after pledging on a given night a lot of guys will hang out in one dorm room and have small gatherings. There were also plenty of nights where nobody wanted to walk anywhere so they would just have people over and have a chill night.</h2>
<h2>"I’m not trying to argue or start anything, but I truly believe that freshmen should VERY CAREFULLY consider where they want to live. I’m sure there are floors in NW that are absolutely great, but there’s always the chance that you can get stuck with a crappy floor. "</h2>
<p>I agree, there is always a chance you get stuck with a “crappy” floor, which is extremely relative dependent on what you are seeking in your freshman experience. By selecting a random roommate in SE or Central you run a higher risk of getting a roommate that speaks minimal English, which while it’d be a unique experience, no matter how you look at it could be a struggle (I know 2 different people that this happened to). </p>
<p>LaRok0, great post.</p>
<p>does anyone know why the sports and society community has been discontinued for 2011-12?</p>
<p>LoonLake,</p>
<p>You mean they didn’t switch you after your request? Something went wrong there, something terribly wrong. In the first few weeks there’s supposed to be forms for you to fill out and submit so that you can change your room to another. If your RA/Dorm didn’t provide those for you then they really dropped the ball. When he gave you that black eye they are supposed to IMMEDIATELY give you a temporary room and then find you a permanent room. Something happened, because as I said the process should not be that difficult, especially in your situation.</p>
<p>I would like to thank all the posters for their honesty, and candor. This information allows everyone to make a more informed decision when choosing housing.</p>
<p>Which dorm is the northwest academic floor located in?</p>
<p>Ok. I am really concerned after reading this exchange. My D is planning on living at the KLLC. Her essays are in the final review stage. She is not a partier and thought it would be good to be with the other Kelley kids, who seemed pretty motivated. She is social and wants a fun place with comrodery, but is not a party person. When we visited the KLLC, the kids seemed pretty focused and down to earth. </p>
<p>After reading this exchange, maybe she should just go to Central. Is McNutt a bad dorm? With the clock ticking on the ability to change the housing application, I really appreciate feedback.</p>
<p>This is such an old thread I wouldn’t think too much about it. The KLLC is certainly a social area, but has many of the most motivated entering Kelley freshman. </p>
<p>Thanks hkem123. Your words are reassuring. I just want my D to have a Safe and Happy dorm experience. I had heard from an ex IU grad that McNutt can be a little wild, but hopefully the KLLC section will be calm, lol.</p>
<p>Our D was in McNutt and KLLC. The students there (from what we can tell) are like any other students away for their first year. Some buckle down and work, some party all the time. It can get quite loud at times, despite having RAs on the hall. </p>
<p>Whenever we were there (which wasn’t always on a parent’s weekend), the students there were polite and respectful.</p>
<p>Two things to note, if this makes a difference: </p>
<p>1) It’s co-ed by room, with bathrooms on one side of the hall that lock. Being co-ed was not an issue at all, and heard of no problems. This may or may not make a difference to you or your child. </p>
<p>2) The “C-Store” is a convenience store in McNutt, and the food service is in another building across the street (Greshum, I think). We were told in no uncertain terms that the food there was awful. There are other places on campus (Forrest, I believe) with a much better dining hall and food service. That works if they’re in the area, but I wouldn’t expect a student to walk from McNutt to Forrest, especially in the winter.</p>
<p>The food service may change next year, and it may not.</p>