<p>Can someone explain the dorms/buildings at UMASS for me?</p>
<p>Have you looked on the UMass web site? Southwest is a mix of high and low rise buildings housing something like 6000 students. Central and Orchard Hill are located in the middle of campus, and Northeast is, not surprisingly, in the northeast part of campus. Central and Northeast are more traditional red brick buildings, not sure about O Hill.</p>
<p>I was wondering more about the social aspect, but thanks for the clarification</p>
<p>Southwest has a reputation as party central although my son finds it not so much (he reports, for what that’s worth). It is very social and a great place to meet people. Northeast is apparently where the engineers and studious types live (because he didn’t want to live there, despite being an engineering major).</p>
<p>So if you think of UMass as like a city, Southwest is downtown. It gets a little loud, there are lots of people, its where a lot of people like to be to party but it also has the best dining common. Northeast is the place where the engineers/studious typically reside, meaning its probably the . Central is more of a hipster area I guess you could say, so its the artsy part of town. Orchard Hill is where a majority of the Honor RAPs are and so its a bit quieter. OHill is the suburb.</p>
<p>My son lived in Southwest last year on the 16th floor. With limited elevators, it took him forever to get in and out, which was a pain–particularly if you’re rushing to get to a class The low rises in Southwest are easier in and out. This year, he’s living in Sylvan, which often gets panned as the most isolated and least sociable dorms–due, in part, to the suite living which doesn’t lend to easy interaction across a floor as when your door opens onto the common hallway. But he likes it there. Nice and quiet and more conducive to studying. That said, I don’t know if I would recommend Sylvan to a freshman My son, who makes friends easily, already had built up a social network. But overall there are so many people and opportunities to meet up, you could thrive anywhere. If you have trouble making friends Southwest won’t solve that on its own.</p>
<p>What about Central? Can anyone add comments about it?</p>
<p>Do the incoming freshman choose what section they prefer to be in, or is it in a designated area?</p>