<p>Hey guys, for those of you who already attend U of I tell us prospective students about the dorms and any other info about the campus life.</p>
<p>The dorms are fairly nice at the University of Illinois. I had the opportunity to stay with a friend up there who is staying in Bromley Dorm. They seem to be nice. I didn't get to see any of the actual University ones because Bromley is private certifiedl. Most everyone seems to enjoy themselves up there.</p>
<p>UIUC</p>
<p>JErod</p>
<p>Freshman either have to live in one of the dorms or private certified housing. The private certified tends to range from somewhat nicer to a lot better than the dorms, but at a higher and, for the lot better, a significantly higher cost than the dorms. The dorms are typical older dorms that are far from being palaces but are not quite dungeons either-- mostly small double rooms, some even smaller singles, and some larger tripples, with community bathrooms and showers. Some dorms, like some in the six-pack area (the Gregory and Peabody area group of dorms, have varying sizes of double rooms). Only some of the buildings are air-conditioned -- for most of the year that is not an issue but that first month in school can be hot. Florida and Pennsylvania Avenue residences are the farthest away (about .7 miles) from the main square where most classes are. The six-pack dorms are fairly close to the main square. There are others that are in between. ISR (Illinois Street Residence) is heavily occupied by upper classmen engineering students because it is closest to the engineering quad. Nevertheless, ISR, in my view, is really one of the worst dorms on site (its heating and air-conditioned units are ancient, noisy, and it seems no one has really bothered to clean the ducts since it was built). Pennsylvania and Florida Avenue Residences tend to have more internationals than others (but still a small minority) because there are living learning communities there that attract many -- like Women in Science, Math and Engineering -- and internationals tend to get in their housing requests later than others and preferences are done in order of receipt of deposit, and many from Illinois who know something about the campus send preferences for dorms closer to the main academic square. The six-pack dorms may as well be called Chicago south because it is hugely populated by students from the Chicago area.</p>