<p>I do not if there have been any posts on this, but can anyone give me some info about the dorms for freshman class, etc? Thanks!</p>
<p>It depends from building to building. They aren't great but are better than a lot of places. </p>
<p>But really, your decision of school shouldn't depend on the dorms.</p>
<p>What are dorm options and how are they assigned, ie. by common interest or concentration or just randomly? </p>
<ol>
<li>Are there single sex floors?</li>
<li>Substance free dorms?</li>
<li>How is your roommate chosen? </li>
<li>Do any of the dorms have kitchens?<br></li>
<li>Heating/air conditioning in the rooms? </li>
<li>Availability of wireless in the room?</li>
</ol>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>There are single sex and substance free locations that you can go to if you request it. None of the freshman dorms have air conditioning and only New Dorm (that I know of) does, which is almost entirely seniors and a few juniors. Dorms have communal kitchens, but no freshman will have their own. Wireless is setup in all freshman dorms, as far as I know.</p>
<p>Roomates are chosen basically randomly, there is about a 6-8 question questionnaire about smoking, sleeping habits, etc that is used to match at least a few simple things up with people, but test runs have shown that more rigorous methods are not any more likely to create roommate pairings that are more likely to result in amicable situations.</p>
<p>Man, this class loves to start lots of separate threads-- my year and hte year before used almost entirely the "Brown Student taking questions" for the short, non-personally specific stuff...</p>
<p>Also, check out the webpage:</p>
<p>reslife.brown.edu</p>
<p>That'll have information on all the dorms.</p>
<p>Here's the breakdown of where you'll probably end up living as a freshman</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Keeney Quad -- houses about a 3rd of the freshmen class, traditionally known as the party dorm, generally experiences more vandalism than other dorms, nice sized doubles, communal bathrooms w/each bathroom having 2 showers (no worries, there is never really a line 4 the showers), close 2 the Ratty (main dining hall) & Ivy Rm (falafel wrap place) & Wriston Quad (frat party place), close to Main Green where many large classes are held at unless it's math & physics-related, carpeted hallways, tiled floors, close to the Rock (main library)</p></li>
<li><p>Pembroke -- Dorms are the New Pembrokes 1-4 (small rooms), Mo-Champ & Em-Wool (smaller dorms in comparison 2 keeney but has relatively private bathrooms w/4ish peo. sharing 1 bathroom), Andrews (larger doubles than keeney, communal bathrooms), farther from Main Green, right next to Thayer, close to Spiritus, close to V-Dub (nicer & smaller dining hall though closed on weekends; actually located w/in Mo-Champ, Em-Wool Complex), far from the Rock (main library), close to Gate (pizza, panini place)</p></li>
<li><p>Main Campus -- Hope (only holds about 60 freshmen, large doubles, right on Main Green, close to Faunce where Blue Room & Campus Mkt, across from John Hays & diagnol from Rock), Littlefield (small walk-in closets, high ceilings, smaller double than keeney, small dorm, nice lounges & kitchens, b/t Lincoln & Main Green, used b/outside athletes during winter break so littlefielders must/should lock up closets, across from Ratty), Wayland (good doubles, on Wriston Quad, ontop of reslife, closer to Ratty than keeney), Perkins (carpeted rooms, plasma tv's in lounges, very nice lounges & kitchens, relatively newly done kitchens, close to Barus & Holley so great for math & physics & cog classes, far from most eateries)</p></li>
</ol>
<p>generally speaking, keeney peo. can't imagine living on pembroke & pembroke peo. can't imagine living in keeney</p>
<p>i recall finding some dorm pics in flickr and other photo sharing sites.</p>
<p>What determines a freshman's placement in a particular dorm?</p>
<p>Randomness.</p>
<p>what about air conditioning?</p>
<p>no air conditioning, according to what i've read. at leastnot in the academic year.</p>
<p>that quite harsh. does it get too hot in the spring or september time?</p>
<p>a fan is usually fine for sept and may. I've never found the heat at night to be a problem</p>
<p>The heat is only an issue for maybe two or three weeks when you get here, and at best 2 weeks (if the weather is great) before leaving. It definitely does not make sense to have AC considering how little of the year it would make a difference. That being said, New Dorm, which is primarily seniors and some juniors does have AC.</p>
<p>can you request a roommate?</p>
<p>EvilMonkey, as far as I know, no that's not a possibility. Check with Reslife though, they'll answer your email in a day, definitely.</p>
<p>How's the hygiene? In general, of course. I've done time in the barracks during national service so my expectations are kinda low when it comes to accomodation. Having said that, I can't stand roaches in the bathroom.</p>
<p>Nothing like roaches in the bathrooms, etc. In my experience, everything has been clean except for the wrong Keeney (freshman dorm) bathroom that was destroyed by drunks over the weekend. It's all cleaned up Monday, though.</p>
<p>Dorms at Brown (at least in Keeney where I stayed) were like run-down motel rooms. Hallways were cold and uninviting. Hated it.</p>
<p>Keeney is a zoo. That's why. New Dorm and Andrews are awesome.</p>
<p>all dorms are dorms. even adams house at harvard--one of the most opulent dorms in the country i'm sure--has a seedy, dorm like feel as soon as you walk out of the common spaces into the living spaces.
the freshman dorms at brown are pretty much on par with those at other wealthy private schools. they are livable. not always spotless. but you will grow to love them because of the people you live with.</p>