<p>At CPW, the only dorm I really liked was Baker. What other dorms are like it because I need a 2nd and 3rd choice.</p>
<p>Simmons, BC
If we are playing 'guess what I'm thinking' I'm assuming you mean that they attract a similar type of student.</p>
<p>well, um, bexley and uh... BC are also made of brick. Is next house?</p>
<p>Hmmm, when I was on campus, Baker was often referred to as "The largest fraternity on campus". You may want to look at the fraternities/sororities, and independent living groups as housing options after the freshman year (and yes, they do have a higher average gpa than the dorms).</p>
<p>If you tell us why you liked Baker, we will be able to help you better.</p>
<p>i really liked the people there and most of the people that I enjoyed the company of at CPW seemed to live in Baker. I also like their open door policy, and they seem to have really good facilities, particularly the dining hall. Mainly the culture/personality though.</p>
<p>Huh? Baker's dining hall may have good food, but it's by far the groddiest of all the dining halls.</p>
<p>i meant just the fact that it had a dining hall</p>
<p>I'm biased, since I lived in Simmons as a freshman - but I would suggest Simmons. A huge number of people put Baker and Simmons as their first and second choices my year, and it seems to be similar this year. Fewer people move out of Simmons to FSILGs, as well.</p>
<p>Burton-Conner and perhaps Next House are also not bad suggestions...did you explore any of the other dorms during CPW?</p>
<p>there are only 3 dorms w/ dining halls, right? next, baker, simmons...</p>
<p>there's your top 3</p>
<p>I'm a member of the MIT class '12, and I'm really liking the feel of simmons, BC, and next. I want an environment that I can study well in, but also be able to maintain a great social life and fun atmosphere in the dorms. What would you guys suggest? And what are your thoughts on East Campus and Next House?</p>
<p>I don't know much about Next itself (I do know awesome people who live there, though) but I absolutely love East Campus (where I lived). Different halls have varying degrees of loudness (and the walls are pretty thick) - most, I think, are sociable and fun. But the east side is also atypical =D. I think you need to take huge advantage of rush - visit every dorm and see where you like it best.</p>
<p>@ PiperXP:
atypical, huh? in my experience, that can be anything ranging from good to bad, but always extraordinarily entertaining. could you be a little more specific about the atmosphere and the people at east campus. i'd really appreciate anything you can tell me! </p>
<p>@ everyone:
and since i'm also interested in Baker.. i've been constantly hearing that the baker dorm is THE party and social dorm. don't get me wrong, I am totally up for making new friends and definitely being on the social scene, but I DESPERATELY need some reassurance that I will be able to thrive academically if I do get assigned to Baker, seeing as how I will be a PreMed student</p>
<p>@pebbles: McCormick has a dining hall as well, but obviously, guys can't live there. ;)</p>
<p>Dining halls are important...but not necessarily the most important element of the dorm experience, in my opinion, at least at MIT. Plenty of people are perfectly happy cooking in their own kitchens or eating at their fraternities, for example.</p>
<p>@bhpaak: If it helps, the blogger Melis had a 5.0 (perfect) GPA and lived in Baker throughout most of her MIT career. More fundamentally: no matter where you live, nothing is stopping you from grabbing your books and studying in any of the libraries or other quiet locations (such as the Student Center Reading Room) scattered throughout campus.</p>
<p>Also, I would recommend against calling Baker "the party and social dorm" while on campus...most non-Bakerites would probably be kind of offended. And, anyway, I can think of many other fraternities and even dorms that could give Baker a run for its money. Other dorms tend to socialize differently than Baker, not less than Baker.</p>
<p>Well, I certainly don't think East Campus is the <em>bad</em> sort of atypical, as I love it there very, very much =D. But East Campus is where you hear random explosions in the courtyard and think nothing of it, where people build rollercoasters every rush, make icecream using liquid nitrogen. It's that sort of atypical =D.</p>
<p>But every dorm has its quirks, its awesomeness, its personality - and it's really something you have to witness yourself to get the feel if you <em>really</em> want to be there. Guesstimate as best you can for the lottery, but check out all the dorms during rush. I MEAN IT. EVERY ONE. Even if you stick with your original choice (as I did), you'll know FOR SURE that this is the best fit for you =D.</p>
<p>I second Paul here. You can grab your books and/or be social in any dorm (ask Mollie about MacGregor - MacGregor has a reputation for being antisocial, but Mollie, I think, would disagree with this). There are a lot of dorms that are known for being social - BC has a lot of parties, Senior Haus has friggin STEER ROAST, and EC has a party almost every weekend. And I'm certain there's more than that.</p>
<p>MacGregor allows you to have alone time when you want it, which is not the same as antisocial, though there are relatively more social entries and relatively more quiet entries. Living in a "social" entry, I would estimate that I spent 95% of my awake time in the dorm either a) with my door open, b) in somebody else's room, or c) in the main lounge with friends. But if I needed to be alone, I could shut my door and be alone and dance in my underwear in front of the mirror or whatever.</p>
<p>On the academic front, there's not going to be any dorm that actively impedes your studying ability -- if you need to hunker down in the corner and do a problem set, nobody is going to stop you from doing that anywhere. People respect the need to do work. And anyway, it's likely that you'll be doing freshman problem sets in groups, so living in a social living group could even be a big plus for your studying habits.</p>
<p>And I hate to be a broken record, because I harp on this a lot<em>, but I would really caution people against choosing a dorm only based on its presence or lack of a dining hall. If you want to eat in the dining hall every single night, you will have no problem doing that even if you live in a non-dining hall dorm. You will find a way to eat that works for you, dining hall or no dining hall.
(</em>former house rush chair occupational hazard -- I'm sure Laura will agree)</p>
<p>Laura does agree.</p>
<p>Mollie and I will gladly rant for hours about the right and wrong reasons to choose a dorm, just ask! =D</p>
<p>Laura, I am beginning to realize I should have asked you for dorm advice when I was a pre-frosh, but I think I was too intimidated of you at the time. ;)</p>
<p>Laura! Give us dorm advice while we can still change our housing lottery forms!</p>
<p>^ Request seconded. I have no idea where I want to live.</p>