<p>Which dorm is the best option for an incoming freshman? And why?
Thanks.</p>
<p>Different people tend to appreciate different dorms, so you'd probably get a variety of answers if you asked people to name their favorites.</p>
<p>In any case, you don't get to choose. There are certain preferences you can air which may narrow the list of dorms you could be placed in, though. A strong preference for a single-sex hall would be one example.</p>
<p>Upon visiting, I would probably say Worth/Wharton and Parrish are the nicest although those are the only dorms I really saw. Based on the people I talked to, those are the best dorms but every one has their own preference depending on their habits, etc. I think the one dorm that people told me to avoid is Willets because its loud and the "party dorm" but if that's your thing then I guess it would be a good fit. If you want to see the dorm profiles you can go here:</p>
<p>There will be a long list of sophmores who would gladly trade rooms with any first-year assigned to Willets. Willets is very high demand in the sophmore room lottery.</p>
<p>It's really hard to give an absolute ranking. The New Dorm (Alice Paul) and the New New Dorm (David Kemp) have not really been fully assimilated into the way Swatties view their housing options.</p>
<p>You don't get to pick--but there are definite hierarchies based on your preferences. Swatties generally value location highest, then niceness and social fit. Parrish and Wharton have top location, then anything on campus is the next tier down (Mertz & New Dorms, Danawell, Worth & Lodges, Willets) with Willets being slightly dispreferred for noise and smell. PPR & Woolman are the next location farther, with ML and Strath being the farthest. There's an element of personal preference, but that's the general consensus. </p>
<p>Don't worry about housing, though. You have no control over it, and for most freshmen it ends up quite well. Just answer your questionnaire honestly when you get it.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the information. I didn't realize that you can't request a specific dorm.</p>
<p>You can request a specific dorm if you want to. It's just that they might ignore the request.</p>
<p>More important is to be honest and clear about your preferences. If you really don't want to be around smokers, then make that really clear.</p>
<p>LDS,</p>
<p>Incoming freshmen have to fill out a housing questionnaire and what matters most is to answer honestly and accurately so that you can be matched with a compatible roommate. There are some dorms that are decidedly better than others, but the best dorm with an incompatible roommate can be a nightmare. </p>
<p>My own d, a freshman, was distraught when she found out that she would be in Willets. Several kids that she had met, and liked during Ride the Tide and at meetings arranged with other incoming freshmen on facebook, were all assigned to Wharton, one of the best dorms. My d was convinced that being in Willets would be awful, specially on account of the horrible things that she had heard about it. In the end, none of the things that she had heard mattered. </p>
<p>A few weeks after her arrival at Swarthmore, I asked her if she was still upset about being assigned to Willets. She replied that it did not matter that she was at Willets. She was very happy with her roommate and had met other great kids at Willets, some of which have become very close friends. Ultimately the dorm itself was less important than having a good roommate and meeting other great kids. In fact, a number of her Wharton friends spend a lot of time visiting her at Willets and they have huge sleepovers in the large Willets common areas. So do not worry, it all works out.</p>
<p>My daughter was plenty happy when she got a Willetts room off "Myrt's wait list" in the sophmore lottery. She chose a Willet's double over shoebox singles in PPR.</p>
<p>It had been her first choice dorm (of the feasible sophmore options), all along. Willets has been selling out first in the sophmore lottery for several years now. It's a good place to be assigned as a freshman. Lots of activity. Meet lots of people. Go to the library, right next door, when you want to study.</p>
<p>Unless things have changed, the walls in Willets are paper thin. I lived there sophomore year and had a great time, though. Lived in Pittinger freshman year, found it a bit off the beaten track socially. But also made two lifelong friends there -- girls from Palmer.</p>
<p>I must add in a little Mertz love to this topic. :) I'm currently a freshman, and I think Mertz is completely fantastic. The hall life is great and balanced decently between social and studious. I'm really close with my hall, especially my fellow freshmen, which is always an added bonus. And for your creative side, Mertz has tons of little "nooks" all over the building at the end of hallways that people decorate. (And I'm sitting in my hall's nook right now!) The rooms are clean and fairly spacious- I haven't had any major issues yet. </p>
<p>(Of course, crossing the bog to get to Sharples sucks. That's a bad part, especially in the snow. But, eh.)</p>
<p>Now that I'm a seasoned sophomore who's gone through the process, in my humble opinion, anywhere that is on campus is good housing. Some of it may once in a while be loud, some of it may lack a social life, but all in all, it all comes down to how long your walk is to Caf</p>
<p>A little ML love: My D, a freshman, was initially very disappointed to have been placed in Mary Lyons, but after only a few weeks, decided it was actually "the best" dorm for freshmen. The rooms are beautiful with wood floors (not linoleum like the new dorms) and there is an extremely strong sense of community. ML kids really get to know each other and develop strong bonds of friendship early on. This (mostly) compensates for being a 20-min walk from campus. The walk has meant no Freshman Fifteen -- a nice bonus. All that being said (and she says A LOT how much she loves ML), when asked if she would choose to live there next year, she says "NO WAY!!" She wants to be on campus. Go figure! I think it just underscores that situations (living and otherwise) are what you make of them. Nothing's all good or all bad. Always mixes of both.</p>