<p>In general, dorms at Dartmouth are amazing. But after browsing the forums, I sense that East Wheelock has sort of an "anti-social" stereotype. And that's my concern. I'm not really into the party scene, but I do want some fun at college. I consider myself more intellectual and introverted than the stereotypical Dartmouth student. So naturally EW is appealing to me. But at the same time, I want to get away from self-segregation (I'm Asian), meet new people, and just leave my dorm door open for people to drop by. </p>
<p>I'm attracted to EW mainly because I feel that I will feel comfortable there; I don't want to have to mold my personality to fit in elsewhere. But, I'm concerned that I might become too secluded from the rest of the class.</p>
<p>So I guess my question is, how much of EW's supposed reputation is true? Should I live somewhere else freshman year then move in later (or vice versa )? How different is living in EW than living elsewhere (like McLaughlin)?</p>
<p>My kid is also more intellectual and more introverted than the D stereotype–which is one reason why he picked D. He didn’t want to turn into someone who spent their entire college career in their room. So far it seems to be working well.</p>
<p>I’d suggest that if you want to spread your wings a bit socially you go with a regular dorm, or maybe a substance free floor. Substance free means “not in your room,” not “not anywhere.”</p>
<p>If you are worried about self segregating, I’d not apply East Wheelock…not drinking doesn’t mean you won’t be happy in regular dorms…of my friends, some of them loved East Wheelock and got super close with their floors, some felt really isolated. If you’re worried you might naturally isolate yourself, go with regular housing.</p>
<p>FYI: For future posters/readers. It doesn’t seem to matter this year (2010-2011). There was not separate app for East Wheelock. It seems that some that wanted EW didn’t get it and others that expressed no interest were placed there.</p>
<p>The reputation over wash wheelock seem to be way out of portion. Your college experience is what you make of it. Realistically you can be a hermit in the most social dorm on campus if you don’t put your self out there and meet people.</p>
<p>My D social life did not suffer one iota from living in EW freshman year. She though it was the best of both worlds, she hung out with friends, outside of EW, she had a lot of friends inside EW (they were on a very social and cohesive floor that even when they moved they were still friends).</p>
<p>This is just speculation, but it very well may be that the lack of freshman application for EW this year is due to the fact that there is a new community director starting in 2010-2011. The community director is a central part of the team that usually reads the applications.</p>