<p>What is life like in a living-learning community? I can see the advantage of being surrounded by smart/driven people, but I wouldn't want to join anything cliquish/isolated or that requires lots of special time committments, and DeGraff looks far away from everything else by its position on the virtual tour. Can anyone give me any tips?</p>
<p>My freshman year, I lived in a Living-Learning Community, and I wouldn't necessarily call them cliquish. From what I remember, and from viewing another LLC that was also based in my residence hall, you'll have maybe a class or two that you'll be able to take in your residence hall that would be closed to anyone else at the university, in addition to attending some colloquiums (kind of like honor seminars; the number to attend varies depending on the LLC) given by professors who teach in the LLC's focus area [that's a plus] that you'll have to fulfill while living there (pass/fail grades, but ample time is given to complete them...just get them done early). While you will see the other students in your residence halls moreso than those students who aren't enrolled in an LLC, I knew a lot of people who had friends elsewhere.</p>
<p>Maybe if you lived in a LLC that was tied to (a) limited-access major(s) (the one in DeGraff isn't), it may appear isolated since you'll be surrounded by several people in your major/LLC track (my living-learning community was closed to only those in my major--music--and most of those who I knew in my LLC in Cawthon, I had the same classes with all 4 years of college...asssuming you don't change majors). In terms of location, yes, DeGraff is kind of far, since it's on the other side of Tennessee Street, but for those that I knew who lived there, it wasn't a huge problem.</p>
<p>It seems like all or most of the suite style dorms are learning communities, or at least that's what it seemed like when looking at the housing book pdf on the FSU website. It will say home of the "fill in the blank" learning community. Rest of hall open to non-participants.</p>
<p>I set my top four picks as DeGraff, Wildwood, Gilchrist and Cawthorn; all of which are home to a learning community. Being that I'm not a member of any of these "learning communities", will I still get into one of the halls with a 262 priority number or should I put a choice within a hall not designated for a learning community? </p>
<p>Thanks in advance.</p>
<p>D2 stayed in the Reynolds LLC freshman year and had a great time. Very social community.</p>
<p>Matt, you should be fine. You'll most likely get your first or second choice.</p>
<p>Can freshmen get a suite room? Or are those only (or mostly) for upperclassmen?</p>
<p>Most upperclassmen don't live in dorms. I lived in Reynolds and Degraff - both suite style dorms. </p>
<p>I was in the Social Sciences LLC my freshman year (now I'm a sophomore). It definitely was not cliquish or isolated. On the contrary, it was a good way to meet people who are interested in the same subjects as you are. After a while people actually sort of made their own cliques within the community, which is to be expected.</p>
<p>As far as time commitments, I think they are always changing the way it works, but this is how it was for me:</p>
<p>We had one class every Monday where we would watch a movie. If you chose to do so, you could skip the class and watch the movie on your own. I'll be honest, I only liked about half the movies. There were some good ones, like Paradise Now and Three Kings, but also some really boring ones. There would be sets of say...four movies with a central "theme." We would then be divided into groups for discussion with our professor after getting through a theme. We were graded on our contribution to the discussion. This was a part I didn't really like because the system of grading was so subjective.</p>
<p>The part I did like was our requirement to see speakers who came to FSU. I still go to see them now. Speakers such as ambassadors, journalists, and foreign policy experts come to FSU all the time and speak at the Moore Auditorium. We had to see a certain amount of them over the course of the semester.</p>
<p>Degraff is a good dorm to live in. Its location is not quite as central as say Reynolds or Landis, but it is brand new! I was the first one to live in my dorm. :) Plus, the campus is not actually that big. It is very compact; you can get from one end to the other in 15 minutes. I highly recommend getting a bike.</p>