<p>My D has been in the Pems her entire time at BMC. She started in a quad–I don’t know how she did it, because those rooms that seem huge for two are quite small for four people. After that, she got singles. One of her good friends has had the same room in Erdman for two years–which, architecturally, is very significant. It is a building that Louis Kahn designed and (I think) one of his last commissions. Unlike most other buildings on campus, it’s quite modern. My D tells me that there are often people coming to campus just to see that building and study the design.</p>
<p>My D does not particularly like Haffner because “it feels dark.” The dorm rooms have windows, but bathrooms and hallways don’t, like Erdman… at least that’s what I think… and that contributes to the dark feel. I think all the freshmen rooms in Haffner are singles. I really enjoyed having a roommate my freshman year, but some people really didn’t. The college does try to match you up for compatibility, though. But as for “language dorm,” don’t think you’ll learn a language living at Haffner… some people sign up for “language dorm” only because they want a single. It’s not like everyone will be walking around speaking German. OK if you know you want to speak better German and you may have a chance to speak it with people who live around you… and maybe your dorm activities will be like a German tea or something… but definitely NOT where you walk into the building and think you’re in Hamburg. </p>
<p>Merion… great location, beautiful common room and back smoker, good for studying. Rhodes is sort of far from everything except for the library… a little “removed” from the mainstream. Denbigh is good, but you have to be sure to get a room on the north side, because the rugby team parties in the common room & that can get loud. Radnor is cliquey, I would agree. We have “Radnor Babies” who get in there freshman year and keep staying there becuase they love it and never leave… that’s why it gets cliquey. But it is a nice dorm if you don’t mind noise… they have lots of parties. If there’s a party at BMC, it’s likely to be at Radnor. Lots of smokers live in Radnor… they have a front porch where you can smoke, you can open the windows and smoke (not supposed to), and it used to be the “smoking dorm.” Erdman… huge rooms, close to blue bus, don’t have to go outside to eat (one of the 2 dining rooms is in Erdman). But the common rooms aren’t worth beans. There’s a reason people stopped living in castles. If I lived in Erdman as a freshman, I would probably never leave my room… all the freshman rooms are single, and because the rooms are all on one side of the hallway (outside wall of the building), you don’t have people “across the hall”, just all in one row on one side of the hall, so kind of isolated. And since the common rooms suck & no one hangs out there, you have to WORK at it to be social as a freshman in Erdman. I have lived in Erdman directly under the kitchen/dining room, and I was not particularly bothered by it… not really lots of excessive noise… just sometimes a little bothersome. Brecon is really nice but a bit of a hike as has been stated… Pem-good, but bathrooms need work, which I think they are working on. Rock is also really nice, but they also have some smokers in there because the windows open really wide… so the hallways smell smokey. No one lives off campus… it’s too nice to live on campus.</p>