Best Freshman Dorms at Tulane?

<p>I definitely want to room in Sharp or Monroe- I was wondering if someone could explain any differences between the two because they both sound equal to me and I’m not sure which should be my first choice. Also- is it true that more guys live in Monroe than Sharp?? Thanks!!</p>

<p>There is virtually no difference between the two. Monroe you depend on the elevators more because it is 12 stories, and there are some extremely minor differences in some room configurations, but those are pretty unnoticeable to most. Online it says Sharp has a pre-med floor and Monroe has an “artsy” floor, but I have never heard anyone talk about those so I am not sure how important anyone thinks that is.</p>

<p>Monroe holds more people, so in that sense there probably are more guys, but as a percentage I don’t think so. In fact I think this year there was one floor that was all girls in Monroe because of the high percentage of females in the freshman class, but normally it is coed by wing.</p>

<p>With last year’s freshman class about 63% female I don’t think there is a dorm with more guys! :)</p>

<p>I feel like JL (the all-girl dorm) is getting a bad rap in this forum. We are from Louisiana and have many friends who have graduated from Tulane. All of them encouraged my daughter to put JL down as her first choice (even though she is able to live in Butler). If you are attractive, nice and self-confident, you will meet members of the opposite sex no matter where you live! Last year, our friend who lived in Sharp ended up sleeping on the floor of her friends’ room down the hall because the “roommate’s boyfriend” spent every night in the room. When the mother of our friend called housing to complain, the comment made back to her was that it could be her daughter that someone was complaining against next year! Also, my daughter spent the night with another friend in Monroe this past Fall. She found the room small and the dorm noisy.</p>

<p>dixiemom-</p>

<p>i don’t think JL’s bad rap is unwarranted. i lived there last semester and switched into butler this semester. i hated JL. the social life/atmosphere was almost non-existent. the dorm is far from everything and it is hard to meet new people. i think your D will be missing out on a lot by enduring JL for a whole year. feel free to PM me if you have any questions about my experience there!</p>

<p>This will come down to personal preference. As I have said previously, I have talked to many girls who loved being in JL, most who thought they would hate it when Tulane put them there the summer before their freshman year. My D also likes it very much, and she was in Butler all freshman year which she thought was very good also. Some, like tulane14, feel differently about JL. This isn’t a true/false issue. Personally, I wouldn’t characterize JL as being “far from everything”, because nothing on the Tulane campus is far from everything. As college campuses go it is one of the more compact ones. I mean really, 3-4 minutes to walk to Bruff or the LBC is far? Looked at that way, JL is that much closer to all the things to do on Broadway, Carrollton and the Oak/Maple area, but again the difference is fairly meaningless.</p>

<p>This is why it is nice there are a variety of dorm atmospheres, people hopefully can get the one best for them. Butler is different than JL and both are different from Sharp/Monroe which are all different from Wall. Nice to have a place like CC where people can find out what these atmospheres are and make an informed dorm request. Space limitations means that won’t work out 100% of the time, but at least it helps.</p>

<p>MY s claims that Paterson isnt really a “wellness” dorm anymore. He, like shermani, wanted the “true freshman experience” so chose Monroe over Butler. He loved it.</p>

<p>Weighing in on Monroe–S chose it and got it and was always happy about being there.
He was a “Katrina” kid and was assigned to the 4th floor which was not affected by the hurricane. Much of the other campus buildings’ 1st floors & basements were affected.</p>

<p>I guess after having lived through that, I’d probably request a floor of 3 or higher :)</p>

<p>But overall, he felt Sharp was very similar, but at least the year he was there thought that:

  1. Sharp was louder, tended to have more partiers and the accompanying detritus that comes with it, and needed more renovations, updates to the rooms then Monroe.
  2. Sharp had slightly better area out front of the building (back then, Monroe’s entrance area was fairly bleak looking. I believe that’s changed since then).
  3. He had many friends in Sharp and many of them were pretty content there but ALL said they’d be really happy living in Monroe as well.
  4. If he were to select a dorm again, he would still choose Monroe due to location, building facilities, camaraderie and freshman spirit which he felt was present but not rah-rah, and layout.</p>

<p>Due to a number of post-Katrina renovations and general building updates and construction on campus, some of these observations may not hold true any more.</p>

<p>They are still pretty true. I know Sharp got a lot of new fixtures two years ago, they were putting them in during Orientation 2009. But I think overall there is no meaningful difference between Sharp and Monroe other than Monroe is 12 stories. If you get one of the top floors city side, you have the elevator wait but you also get the nice view.</p>

<p>Hi Gabby 1116 or anyone else: Can you please compare Monroe vs. Sharp? It is difficult to determine which to list first or second. Thanks very much</p>

<p>Tyler - There really isn’t much difference between the two. They are both very active and social. This year, Sharp seemed to be a bit more wild than Monroe but I’m sure that changes from year to year. The only reason I chose Monroe over Sharp was that all the people who I got friendly with at orientation and honor’s weekend decided we would all request it as our first choice. If you’re looking for a very social dorm, you should be happy with either.</p>

<p>Can students request an area within a dorm? For example, floors 5-7 in Sharp or non-balcony rooms in Paterson?</p>

<p>No, you can’t request a specific area.</p>

<p>Gabby1116: Thanks very much. Sounds like it may be a good idea to wait until orientation finishes and then put in the dorm request. I was under the impression that the dorm request went in with the commitment to attend. Thanks again!</p>

<p>I was under the impression that the dorm request went in with the commitment to attend.</p>

<p>i think it does. if i remember correctly, my S picked his top two request</p>

<p>If one finds a roommate and then requests a dorm, it improves one’s chance of getting one’s dorm of choice.</p>

<p>i’m thinking about wall as my first choice, but some say it limits socializing to a great extent…thoughts, advice?</p>

<p>Wall here as the top and only one I really want, too! All I care is good facilities, big rooms, quite environment to study, I really need the good grade to get into Creative program.
The freshman experience, I can get it if I want to- just go over to Sharp and party, who can’t? I just want to be able to study and be quite whenever I wish to.</p>

<p>Sharp vs. butler?</p>

<p>Night and day. Sharp (and Monroe) are the classic freshman dorms where there are often loud parties, quite a lot of pranks, and a larger number of students coming home drunk. I don’t mean to make it sound like it is out of control or even atypical compared to nearly any other freshman dorm at nearly any other school, just saying that in comparison to Butler it is far more raucous.</p>

<p>Butler, being the Honors Program dorm, tends to be quieter. Not that the students living there are not social and don’t like to party, of course they are and do. But they are often more involved in academics than the average student, as well as being involved in school organizations at a higher rate and Greek life at a lower rate.</p>

<p>So it just depends on what you are looking for in your dorm experience. Many Honors Program students choose to live in Monroe or Sharp because they want that more “typical” freshman experience, while non-Honors Program students sometimes try to and do get into Butler because they want the less distracting environment (and more sleep!). Nice if you have the choice. Plus for freshmen there is Wall (Residential College style) and Paterson (“wellness” dorm, although no special rules really, just more programs geared towards a healthier lifestyle). And if you are female, there is JL, which is all women. Keep these in mind as well, if you so desire.</p>