No, I lived in Charles Pratt (sub-free being all of Stearns and about half of Williston), which i definitely felt affected my experience due to its size. It seems to me that substance free doesn’t seem to make much of a difference in the closeness; it seemed that the majority of floors, regardless of which dorm they were in, had a pretty strong relationship. However, Pratt was pretty notorious for having a poor community, as its nearly twice the size of the other dorms, and consequently a lot harder to for everyone on a given floor to get to know one another really well. That’s not to say that people who live in Pratt can’t make a lot of good friends; there’s just going to be less opportunity for close bonding with everyone on the floor.
@lillypod - could you give more details on your kids’ experiences? Esp re the not so good experience at the big ivy. I’m considering between Cornell and Amherst.
FWIW, D is a new frosh but is loving Amherst so far. She is not an athlete. (well she is, but she is not on a varsity or club team at Amherst). Her friends have so far come mostly from her dorm floor and her orientation trip (notsomuch the orientation squad, for whatever reason). I am sure as classes and clubs (she joined several) go on the group will evolve.
She is not what I’d call an extrovert but she made an effort to leave her dorm door open and such, because it was important to her to have people to hang out with. She was fortunate in her roommate assignment as they get along very well, though they are different in many ways (probably no common clubs or classes).
My daughter is also a new Freshman and she is extremely enthusiastic about Amherst thus far. I couldn’t have dreamt for a better reaction. She made friends in both her squad and her orientation program. She also has a sweet roommate and they get along well, although they are very different too and don’t have any clubs or over-arching interests in common. She has not made any close buddies in the dorm but she is still pleased with the people and the location. She is an athlete although she was not recruited. She will attempt to walk on the team. Her friends are a really great mix of folks.
Sent you a PM okthenyeah