Dorms for freshman

<p>Can anyone provide some info about the dorms that I can pass along to my daughter? She does not need substance free or a single sex floor, but would like to be able to study in her dorm (?a quieter one?) and have it be convenient. Advantages? Disadvantages? Thanks!!</p>

<p>The butterfield dorms are away from foss hill and it's quieter there. There are also dorms for science students and 100 church street (i think that's what it's called) which are away from where most of the socializing on campus takes place. They're close but aren't at the location which makes them a lot more quiet.</p>

<p>I'd suggest your daughter request one of the mixed freshmen and sophmore dorms (Butterfield, Foss Hill, or Westco) as opposed to an all-freshman dorm (Fauver or Clark) since the latter tend to be a lot more out of control. Except, that doesn't even really matter too much because there are plenty of study spaces outside the dorms. All the freshman dorms are located more or less a 2-3 minute walk from the library, science center, and other academic buildings. I don't think any of the buildings is drastically better than the others (unless she really wants to live in the totally brand new building, which is Fauver Field).</p>

<p>Also, speaking as a 2-year Butterfields RA, it's really NOT the "quiet", "antisocial', "far away from everything", blah blah blah dorm. Ignore anyone who tells you this.</p>

<p>Hi,</p>

<p>My daughter just completed her freshman year. She was in Clark, one of the larger freshman dorms, great facilities, but very loud late into the night
even on week nights when its not exam/ midtermn time. She had a great year and she (and we) both love Wesleyan. That being said the adminstration is very lack on drug use (and drinking) in dorms. There's
alot going on (as there is at most other LAC's).<br>
Wesleyan has a parent's listerv (email Q & A among Wes Parents) a great resource, just click on the link below</p>

<p><a href="http://www.wesleyan.edu/parents/resources/parentstalk.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.wesleyan.edu/parents/resources/parentstalk.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Thanks to all who answered my question about the dorms. I especially appreciated the link to the parent listserv. Having said that I have to say I was a little dismayed at seeing some of the posts about the kids having a tough time socially if they did not ingest, imbibe, etc. I know many have posted here that that is not the case, that you can have a great social life without doing that.
Hope so, as my kid is substance free. I am keeping my fingers crossed that she will be happy......again, thanks to all!</p>

<p>She will most likely be more than fine. The parents listserv is fairly self-selecting for people with grievances to air. My parents probably don't even know it exists. I only know it exists because I'm on some ResLife committees (I'm an RA) and the ResLife admin people always say "oh man, some parents on the parent listserv were complaing about this and this..."</p>

<p>Do any parents think their kids aren't substance free? ;)</p>

<p>I don't smoke, and I'm really looking forward to wesleyan this fall.
Btw, Fauver has some of the best study lounges out of the wesleyan dorms.</p>

<p>Yeah, I guess that is usually the case. Why would people post just to say hey my kid is fine and loves it here.</p>

<p>I think she will love it at Wes.....</p>

<p>I already love it. There are so many awesome '10ers.
I've already started talking to kids on the phone haha.
My excitement cannot be contained!</p>

<p>I think, as at any school, it often takes students a bit of time to adjust and really find "their crowd." I have plenty of friends that don't drink or smoke or do drugs, and plenty of friends who do; sometimes it's harder to find the ones who don't, since they're not drinking in their room watching a movie or just hanging out with some friends, as opposed to drinking at a large party where it's easy to bump into new people. But they exist everywhere, and you'll find your crowd eventually :) The best advice I can give is that sometimes individuals feel they have to stick to the social group of their hall, which can often involve drinking and the like... and even though it's hard, a lot of people I know have been much happier when they've started to branch out.</p>

<p>Edit: Also, I don't generally drink or smoke, and I absolutely love it here, and can't imagine a better college experience.</p>

<p>As an imcoming freshman, I will soon have to pick a dorm. Any advice would be greatly appreciated on the following topics: </p>

<ul>
<li>Freshman only vs. Mixed years </li>
<li>Single vs. Double </li>
<li>Any opinions about the freshman dorms (Fauver and Clark)</li>
</ul>

<p>Mixed year dorms are great because you get to meet a lot more people.</p>

<p>Single vs. double is entirely up to you. Would you be better off with your own space? I've had a single and a 2 room double, and I like the single a lot more. I have a lot of bikes and stuff (I race road bikes) and they'd get in the way if I was living in a double.</p>

<p>Fauver and clark are great, they're a little more sociable as dorms. If you're looking for something more quiet, the butts are good.</p>

<p>Fauver and Clark certainly seem nice, especially compared to Butterfields. I don't know anything about their dorm identities, if they exist.</p>

<p>Any current students mind explaining 200 Church and Westco a bit more in depth? I love the idea of living in a "house" community like this, but know very little about them.</p>

<p>A mixed dorm is one thing, communal showers -boys and girls using the same shower room at the same time- is another thing and not a good one. I'm not that liberal. I'm a parent. I've heard Oberlin's dorms have communal showers unless you get into the only all-female dorm on campus. Is this true about the communal showers?</p>

<p>truly communal showers (with multiple shower heads in one long stall) are extremely rare at Wesleyan. Mostly, there are just bathrooms with a separate shower section in them. If women are using any of the showers, there are numerous ways of keeping men away until they have finished. It's just a matter of common courtesy. Also, it works both ways; not all men are thrilled with the idea of being walked in on while showering.</p>

<p>pretty much all of the foss hill dorms, which make up a fair percentage of freshman/sophomore dorms, have a large bathroom with 3 toilet stalls and 3 shower stalls. these are used by everyone in the hall, and it is quite normal for a man and woman to be showering in adjacent stalls. quite normal, and my experiences tell me no one really has a problem with it.</p>

<p>Yeah, I think communal showers are kind of "Sixteen Candles" and don't really happen anymore in college (or anywhere?)
But communal shower rooms are totally normal (at least at any school that has co-ed floors). I've been to a lot of summer camps on college campuses and the majority of them, except one in my conservative home state, had co-ed bathrooms. I don't think there's much to worry about though unless you think there's something inherently wrong with co-ed bathrooms -- it's not like people barge in on each other or anything, just like that would never happen in a single-sex bathroom.</p>

<p>We have communal showers? Most halls have two bathrooms and the residents vote on whether they should be nongendered at the first hall meeting. I've lived in Fauver and the Butts. Doubles are probably best in Fauver and Clark and they are designed to facilitate a community but the butts have singles but might have to work at the community a bit more. I've never lived with Upperclassmen, but I've been the upperclassman and always willing to help out, like most people, in the butts.<br>
200 Church and Westco are program living. I have a lot of friends at Church, they have cool events(Jubilee, one of many) and keep the community tight, its a good experience but the normal frosh experience could be just as cool, you can go to most of the 200 church events. Westco is definitely the more artsy dorm and houses the type of students most people associate with Wes, I have some close friends there but its different than most dorms ie Dorm student reps and quiet hours might not always be adhered to.
Hope this brief outline has been helpful, I might be wrong about my impressions of these places, if so, go right ahead and correct me.
I'd recommend Freshmen housing, but that's my preference, you'll meet plenty of upperclassmen through classes, activities, and friends.</p>