<p>Could somebody help me out? I'm kinda confused about the Cornell housing system.
I read all the descriptions of the different facilities in the packet they sent and the online ones too, but as expected the descriptions of each residence hall is flowery and they all paint a really good picture of themselves.
I kinda wanna know the student perspective on them tho... I would be attending on financial aid, and i heard that means u have to get a double (is that true??). Also I'm in engineering so which one would be the most convenient if any?
I want to be in a residence hall that gives me the opportunity to meet new people and make friends, but I wouldn't want anything too big, rowdy, etc....
any advice?</p>
<p>thanks.</p>
<p>I’m an admitted student who saw the dorms during Cornell Days. Almost all freshman are housed on northern campus, so you have about a good 20 minute walk to the engineering quad. Each dorm house has a few hundred students in it approximately. Finaid means double; I don’t think you can pick a dorm, they assign it randomly unless you specifically request Balch Hall or any of the program houses, which have themes (such as JAM, Just About Music, which is for music lovers).</p>
<p>Freshmen all live on north. There are a variety of places. Donlon has 5 floors each with about 90 people in 50ish rooms. Dickson is a huge complex with lots and lots of rooms in sprawling hallways, as is balch but that’s women only. The low rises have suite style dorms, ie you’re in a suite that has somewhere between 5-10 rooms, I don’t remember the exact amount, but a suite has less people than a floor/area in other buildings. CKB and Mews are arrange by part of the building and floor and the newest buildings by a few decades. The high rises I believe just have a bunch of floors. There are also the townhouses which are townhouses and the program houses which are themed. You don’t get to choose which freshmen residence hall you live in unless its a program house, and you might be able to put your preference of living in one of the townhouses(can’t really remember), but for the standard freshmen dorms, its supposedly random.</p>
<p>Donlon is generally the most social btw since its layout is the most cohesive for that, since all the rooms are arranged around a central common room.</p>
<p>In regards to your question about financial aid.</p>
<p>Two things. You can request a single. Financial aid will just give you the amount to cover the double. You will have to pay the difference. or you can request a double and if you get a single, they will increase your financial aid to cover the extra cost.</p>
<p>If you are female, you can request a double in Balch Hall and there is a good chance you will get a single anyway. As for the rest of the dorms. You don’t get to pick so there really is no sense in even thinking about it, let alone worrying about it.</p>