<p>To any Amherst student out there, I was taken to a beautiful, drop dead gorgeous dorm on last summer campus tour. It had parquet floor, big screen tv in lounge with fireplace. The bathrooms were huge and modern. The rooms were spacious. It was clear the dorm was recently renovated. There appeared to be a huge amount of construction going on. The campus seemed to be a combination of new structures and old beautiful buildings renovated. </p>
<p>Since then I have heard from a few kids who have visited friends at Amherst and they say the dorm I saw on tour was a show dorm and that the typical dorm is far from exotic, with small rooms, cramped quarters and nothing special common areas. What is the reality?</p>
<p>Also those former beautiful fraternities that have been turned into dorms, who gets into those houses? Does Amherst have lottery system with seniors having priority. Are soph and junior dorms the worst?</p>
<p>yes thank you for stating the obvious but I was seeking a response to the questions I was asking about the reality of housing versus what we may be shown at the campus tour. I was very impressed with all of the construction and renovation and wondered if much of it was related to housing and non-classroom facilities. The campus is beautiful. The endowment is impressive. I am interested to know if I get accepted when I apply for class of 2011 the type of physical campus I will inhabit for four years. I already want to go because of the great education. Thanks</p>
<p>you probably saw james or stearns, which are typically shown on tours. many of the dorms on campus are as nice as the one you saw: north and south were fully renovated the year before james and stearns were and are of comparable beauty, king and wieland are arguably even nicer than james and stearns, and the three triangle dorms and cohan/hamilton are mostly nice too. the only dorms that aren't very nice are the mods, moore, and the socials, but the socials have other benefits. on the whole, amherst has substantially nicer housing than any other college i've visited.</p>
<p>D is in Appleton on the subfree all female floor, and the room is very roomy, with wonderful large windows, a nice common room. The rooms we saw were very much the largest we have seen at any other school.</p>
<p>My D is a soph and lives in one of the beautiful old frat houses. She has a small single w/ 2 closets, moved w/ friends from last year, and is very happy about it. There are bright, beautiful living areas on the ground floor- even a piano. Interestingly, she had one of the very worst #s in the lottery draw, and yet still got a great room.</p>
<p>Last year she was in Pratt (which is now having renovation). She had a large triple- two rooms (one for their beds, one for their desks & couch). It was dark and old, but she liked being with ~99 other freshmen and close to everything. No doubt Pratt will be MUCH nicer when it reopens next year. </p>
<p>My S is a now a high school senior, and when he visited in Nov., he stayed in Sterns and said it was a palace!</p>
<p>James and Stearns are crazy nice. Other dorms, however, aren't bad either. I live on the same floor as Evitajr's daughter, and it's homey and comfortable. The mods, [ironically] named Plaza and Waldorf-Astoria, aren't the most glamorous... but even their rooms are big. And if you get into a situation where you realllllly hate your room, you can file for a room change and the housing department will fix you up.</p>