<p>Does anyone have advice on where to live on campus? There seems to be a huge array and my daughter is pretty much of a regular, disciplined schedule type of person. We have heard the horror stories about roomies who sleep all day and are up all night in into the morning for classes and that just won't fly.
Thanks.</p>
<p>I am unsure about which dorm to choose too. I am still waiting to hear from 4 other schools but UIUC seems to be my first choice right now.</p>
<p>As far as I know, all dorms have common bathroom. Am I right?</p>
<p>Some schools have the kids fill-out lifestyle preference questionnaires to match roommates. UIUC isn’t really able to provide this kind of service for 7,000.+ incoming frosh. Consider quieter res. halls such as Busey-Evans or Lincoln Ave. Another option is to get a “single.”</p>
<p>Also check out Certified Private Housing. These are on campus and dorm like, but with single rooms. My son’s in Newman Hall, and has a single bedroom in a 4 bedroom suite where you share a common room and bathroom with only three other students. They are a little more than the dorms, but the difference isn’t too bad. If you can afford it, I’d consider it and mainly for the reasons that you mentioned.</p>
<p>Newman is also a convenient 5 min. walk to the main Quad where most of your 1st. yr. classes will be…</p>
<p>What/Where is Newman?</p>
<p>newman, bromley, IT and presby are all relatively upscale living for freshman PCH options, but are generally known to be less social and its harder to make friends in these places than in university dorms. i live in bromley and have made all my friends outside of here.</p>
<p>my theory is that when you don’t share a bathroom with a whole hall of people, you don’t see them as much, and you don’t end up getting to know them as well. in my experience, people in six pack and such tend to make stronger friendships and have an easier time socially.</p>
<p>and dont be misled to think that bad roommates are more likely to occur in university housing. they are everywhere. in most random roommate situations, you both just end up tolerating each other and getting along mildly well. in rare cases, you either become best friends or great enemies. this can happen in any dorm.</p>
<p>that being said, the dorms with the “quiet” stigma attached are typically the urbana halls: busey evans, allen hall, lincoln hall. ISR is known to have lots of engineers and PAR/FAR are known to have lots of minorities for some reason. PAR/FAR are also really inconveniently located, you should try hard not to live there.</p>
<p>Jax, I’m not quite sure why you’re having trouble meeting people and making friends in Bromley, just as I’m not sure what type of interactions occur when sharing bathrooms that make you feel that they enhance the potential for friendship.</p>
<p>Trust me. There are ample opportunities to make friends and socialization opportunities are abundant in certified private housing.</p>
<p>Also, since when is “quiet” a stigma? To most, it’s a distinct benefit with it’s opposite “a party dorm” being the stigma. Relative quiet allows you to study when you need to, while socializing in your free time.</p>
<p>Information on Newman Hall: [St</a>. John’s Catholic Newman Center at the University of Illinois | Live Landing](<a href=“http://www.sjcnc.org/Live.aspx]St”>http://www.sjcnc.org/Live.aspx)</p>
<p>Ok, one more question: What’s six pack? I’ve heard that term a lot.</p>
<p>I think by “six-packs” he means athletic people, who are interested in sports. If you want, just Google “six packs” in Google Images.</p>
<p>Ha, Ha. The Six Pack is a set of dorms north of Peabody, south of Gregory, between First and Fourth Streets in Champaign. Looking on the map, there appears to be more than 6 dorms there now, but the name is pretty old.</p>
<p>@BerneseMtn
Lol. But admit it, it was quite easy to misunderstand looking at the structure of the sentence. :D</p>
<p>The Res. Halls & Living Learning Communities as well as the Private Certified Housing to a lesser extent, all have Resident Advisors on the floors to function as a resource and guide to 1st. yr. students. It is virtually impossible not to make friends given the unlimited number of activities and programs organized for the sole purpose of generating involvement, fun, and friendships. Each incoming class establishes a Facebook page for early hookups and builds excitement before arriving on campus. Some of the Living Learning Communities have early Orientation where incoming frosh. arrive a couple days earlier than the rest of their class for fun activities designed to break the ice and meet people…</p>
<p>By the way, I still have a six-pack. It’s just safely encased in a protective layer of fat now. ;-)</p>
<p>Yes, you have to protect it from the hazardous nature of the outside world. It’s way too precious to expose. :D</p>
<p>I’m also divided… </p>
<p>I want to go to a dorm where I can socialise and occasionally party… But if people party every night, how am I going to get the sleep I love so much? :(</p>
<p>Also, are 6 packs individualised rooms for each person or is it just 6 people in one room?</p>
<p>The “six-pack” is so named because it originated as a group of 6 dorm buildings packed relatively close together. Most dorms have two people to a room, which opens onto a hall at the end of which is a communal bathroom with showers. There are some singles and some three person rooms, but the vast majority are 2 people to a room. The people who say that they like to party seem to gravitate to that set of dorms, but the “party” thing is way overblown. Your first year at UIUC is not the 5th year of high school. If you think that you’re going to party first and study second, you’ll soon find yourself on academic probation, and on your way out.</p>
<p>Roommates really have nothing to do with which dorm you live in. Most people tend to want to live in the Six Pack, but many people don’t and end up living elsewhere, so you might have to deal with that kind of person no matter what. With that said, I currently live in PAR and personally do not find it inconveniently located. There are also 3 buses that run through PAR (it being the first stop) and go through pretty much anywhere on campus you want to go. There are also people who enjoy partying just as much as people who live in the Six Pack. In the end, though, dorm life is really what you make it.</p>
<p>Balthezar, you misunderstand me. I have plenty of friends in and out of Bromley, although mostly outside. I’m just saying that by virtue of less hallway traffic (due to bathrooms being inside the dorm room), people are less exposed to each other, making it more difficult to make friends in the aforementioned PCH dorms. Different kinds of personalities certainly thrive in these places more than others, I’m just saying on the whole, these dorms are less social.</p>
<p>How do I know that? Because I’m a student. As a parent, you really have no idea, and it is really somewhat inappropriate for you to comment on the social atmosphere of the dorms at UIUC. I am sharing my personal experiences and some generalizations I’ve gathered through those experiences. You have no right to call them into question when, frankly, you don’t live here. How can you even say “Trust me” with a straight face? You’re not wrong, plenty of people make great friendships in PCH. But you’re certainly not as credible as a student, and readers of this forum should be aware of this.</p>
<p>For example, you’re wrong about six-pack. I know of many kids that have schedules/easy majors that allow them to get all their work done and still go out on weekdays. There is plenty of weekday partying, and most kids can clean themselves up before getting so far as academic probation if it becomes a problem. That being said, weekends are much rowdier than weekdays, and that goes for every dorm, not just six-pack.</p>
<p>Finally, I will correct myself on the use of the word “stigma.” I didn’t mean to imply that quietness is a negative trait. My purpose was simply to point out that it is a trait of those particular dorms.</p>
<p>Jax,</p>
<p>For one, I’m a grad. Second, I’ve been in and around UIUC for the last 30 years. You’re a student. You’ve been there for a minimal amount of time. How many dorms have you lived in during that time? You have an opinion. And, quite simply, your opinion is wrong. I can’t say it any more plainly than that. Your premise that the amount of hallway traffic in a dorm has a bearing on friendship is ludicrous, and to say that certain personalities thrive in “these places” is ridiculous. Also, I stand by my statement about the six-pack’s reputation, which I go on to state is way overblown, but seems to attract people who say they want to party. As for my credibility and yours, I’ll let the readers determine that. </p>
<p>Oh, and by the way, I noticed that you’re responding at 2:30am on a weekday. If I were you, I’d get some sleep.</p>