<p>I was assigned a double in Bursley but I have the option of swapping into Betsy Barbour this year. I know the location of Betsy Barbour is much nicer than Bursley, but is it worth the swap? I'm not sure if an all female dorm is right for me, I heard that the girls are more conservative...</p>
<p>Bursley is on North campus so depending on where most of your classes are that can be a challenge. Both Barbour and Newberry have a large international population so the typical crazy freshman dorm feel doesn’t exist. My daughter lived there and loved being on central campus…especially in the winter</p>
<p>Propsmom is correct. Barbour/Newberry has a lot of international students from India and China so it’s pretty conservative. If you’re looking for a wild college experience, I’d suggest staying in Bursley, especially if you’re not in a substance-free hall.</p>
<p>Barbour and Newberry have a much more elegant feel as a dorm than Bursley. There are conservative girls in those dorms, but not all of them. Also, you are not far from West Quad and South Quad if you are looking for a party. You will likely make friends in your classes and clubs you join in other dorms – if it were me, I would live Barbour for location, and look outside your dorm for your social life if you feel like you need to look further. There is something to be said for sleeping in a dorm where no one is throwing up on the floor outside your room on Friday night or pulling the dorm fire alarm at 2 am in January.</p>
<p>I thought the girls would be more conservative but that turned out not to be the case. A LOT of girls get placed in Barbour/newberry without choosing it. There are big groups of girls that go out to parties and they are SO friendly and open. Back when Barbour had a cafeteria you would never eat alone even if you didnt know a soul because people would spot you and invite you to join them. I lived in newberry senior year and if I was still at umich Barbour is the only other place I’d be willing to live. I lived coed prior to living at newberry and the only discernible difference between newberry/Barbour and coed was that obviously everyone are girls, everyone is SO NICE, and the parties aren’t at home-- you go out to party with the other girls and come home to a quiet house to sleep.</p>
<p>There are a lot of rumors about the all girls dorms that are not true. People don’t realize Barbour/newberry and martha cook aren’t the same.</p>