<p>What is the situation for housing on campus for Freshmen? Is everyone on South Campus? It seems so far from classes. Is there air-conditioning? Where will they be putting Freshmen next year?</p>
<p>My d lives in Craige North which is on the South Campus. Her dorm is fairly new, air-conditioned, and pretty luxurious compared to the dorms of my youth...lol! I know there are several new dorms exactly like Craige North, as well as about some huge dorms that are older that don't have central A/C on South Campus. I believe one or two of them are being renovated and I'm not sure when they will be completed. My d tells me it is already pretty chilly in the mornings/evenings (has been for about a month) and the days are very nice. So I'm not sure if A/C vs. no A/C is really an issue.</p>
<p>The distance hasn't been that much of a factor for my d. She just catches the bus or takes her scooter to class. And the walk is not THAT bad...10 minutes or so...and it is a really beautiful area. It's not like you are out in the boonies alone if you live on South campus either....the medical center, security, stadium/Ramshead are all right there and there is the feeling of being in the center of things. She eats her evening meals at the Ramshead which is really close to her dorm and convenient. During the day she eats at Lenoir, by the Pit, which is close to her classes.</p>
<p>As far as dorm assignments go, I hear they started mixing things up this year....freshman are not just relegated to South Campus anymore. Craige North seems to have freshmen, sophomores and juniors and also seems to have a lot of honors kids, oos kids and athletes. Not sure about the other dorms in the area.</p>
<p>I don't know if this will help you at all, but everyone I know who has stayed at Granville Towers has advised me not to room there if I go to Carolina--it's off-campus, making it more isolated, and has its own dining hall, which means that you're even eating every meal with your roommates, etc. They all wish they had stayed somewhere more central.</p>
<p>My d liked Granville when she toured it, liked the closeness to Franklin Street and the older part of the campus. But a couple of deal breakers.... They have their own meal plan which is part of the fees, so you don't have the option of popping in at the Lenoir or Ramshead for a meal with classmates unless you are willing to pay again. And we heard a lot of the Granville kids are h.s. buddies, many of whom are Greek bound. She wanted a full year of getting to know a wide variety of people before she even thought about sororities...and she definitely didn't want to have to hike back off campus to eat.</p>
<p>My D is a freshman living in Lewis, which is on north campus. It was built in the 1920s, three stories, renovated in the '60s, but it has high ceilings, a huge window and central A/C (which is always freezing). She loves the location, although there are not many freshmen in her dorm. She has made friends of all ages, in her quad (five dorms surround a central grassy courtyard with volleyball court), which is good (btw, she is rooming with a friend from hometown, which has worked out well). They like being close to Franklin street, the libraries and classes. She and her friends visit other friends on south campus and they eat at Ramshead as much as they eat at Lenoir. Only downside is it's very far away from the Dean Dome, so if they go to basketball games, which not everyone gets to go to, there's a lottery system for tickets; then it's a long, long hike or they will take the bus.</p>
<p>Nicest dorms on campus are the directional dorms on South Campus (Ehringhaus South, Hinton James North, Morrison South, Craige North). The other South campus dorms (same names without directions) are not so nice (most rooms with no a/c). However, even if you are in one of the not so nice ones, I still think it's worth it to live on South Campus freshman year just for the atmosphere, as the vast majority of south campus residents are Freshmen. Yes, South campus is farther away from classes/libraries, but it does have Ramshead right there,which includes a gym and cafeteria (which I actually prefer to Lenoir, the cafeteria on North Campus), as well as the Dean Dome and Kenan Stadium. The walk really isn't that bad either. If you book it, you can walk to the pit/quad area in 10 minutes. Even at a normal pace, it's no more than 15 minutes. If you really hate to walk, there are buses that run very frequently and can get you anywhere on campus/Franklin St. very quickly. North campus dorms are more consistently decent, but it might be harder to make friends as it is a much higher % upper classmen. Personally, I don't think the dorms on north campus are that much better than the old south campus ones (and nowhere near as nice as the new south campus dorms), so the only advantage I see to living there as a freshman is the shorter walk to class. As for Granville, it has pretty nice rooms and is a shorter walk to campus than from south campus. It's right on Franklin St. which is nice on weekends. It has a very rich/fratty atmosphere though, and as someone else said, lots of people do tend to know each other from HS there. It is kind of cut off from the rest of campus, as it has its own dining hall, so it tends to function as its own little "colony" of Carolina with Granville kids tending to only hang out with other Granville kids. Overall, I would recommend South Campus, as it probably has the best combination of all factors. If you're lucky you will get put in a new dorm there which is really a great situation.</p>
<p>i feel like too many people are just commenting on north and south campus, without even mentioning middle campus.</p>
<p>i live in carmichael (as a freshman) and it's a pretty good deal. we're directly across from the football stadium, two minute walk from ramshead, 5 minute walk from the pit, lenoir, classes, etc. our rooms are MUCH nicer than the non-directional south campus dorms. the only down side is that they're a bit smaller. but my roomate and i bunked our beds, and we definitely have plenty of room for all of our stuff. </p>
<p>it's set up differently from south/north campus dorms. we have it suit style (4 dorms, 8 people, 1 bathroom) that's connected to the hallway. pretty much, it's the greatest way to meet people, because we have a lounge area. at any given point of the day (including obscure hours) you can find someone out there. i'm best friends with everyone in my hallway and it's seriously one of the best experiences here. i know so many people who CHOSE to be on south campus, because they figured they'd be with so many freshman and meeting them. but with the way a lot of the dorms are set up, it's actually harder to meet people (due to solely hall style dorms or solely suite style dorms). </p>
<p>middle campus is in the (uh, well) middle of everything. it takes me 5 minutes to get down to south campus to see my friends there, and 10 minutes to get to franklin street. i've never even ridden the bus before, because it's more of a hassle to wait for the bus than to actually just walk. so really, i'm not too worried about the freshman 15.</p>
<p>anyway, just scope it out on campus when you take the tour or whatever. and definitely check out middle campus- it's a pretty good time!</p>
<p>I'm a sophomore at UNC. Last year I lived in a South Campus "directional dorm" (I got lucky!) and this year I'm on North Campus in the Kenan community. I've heard that they're trying to move more freshmen on to North Campus, and there are several rooms of freshmen on my hall. Honestly, South Campus isn't that bad, although North Campus is obviously much more convenient. I'd have to agree with the poster above me and suggest applying for Carmichael and Parker communities - Middle Campus offers the "best of both worlds" for incoming freshmen. As far as North Campus goes, Kenan community and Cobb are newly renovated and are a lot nicer than most of the dorms on campus (I actually like my dorm this year a lot more than my old one- it feels more like home than the new South Campus dorms, which I found kind of cold).</p>
<p>My D is a freshman in Craige. Suite dorm w/one out of the four with a/c. Not such a big deal now, but sweltering in August and September. They have five fans and now that it's getting cooler, the heat has not been turned on yet. They hope to move up a notch next year. Don't know how that is determined, do you? She doesn't mind the walking as she was a runner here at home and it helps keep the freshman 15 away.</p>