<p>Would the current Wes students please tell us new guys about each of the freshmen dorms. I would like to know the up and down side of each dorm. Which has nicest, largest, worst rooms? Which have best student lounges and common rooms. Which are party dorms? Which are most/least sought after? Which dorm would you least want to have to live in again if you were thrust back in time and why? </p>
<p>I would also like to hear about the coed bathroom thing. I am quiet worldly but have no interest in sharing a bathroom experience with a guy no matter how hot he is. Do all of the dorms have coed bathrooms? I want a coed by room dorm but does that mean a coed bathroom?</p>
<p>By the time we are second year students do kids live in singles/ doubles ??</p>
<p>Can one request a dorm and what are chances request will be honored?</p>
<p>Please provide as much detail as possible. Your help will be appreciated by all of we newbies.</p>
<p>The only thing I would add is a bit more about Clark and Fauver; they're the newest dorms in terms of interiors (Clark's exterior is actually one of the oldest buildings on campus) and have pretty spanking new fixtures and furniture. Fauver even has a flat screen liquid whatever t.v. set.</p>
<p>Fauver is all one-room doubles. They're pretty big. Each hall has two bathrooms (so there's a potential for them to be gender-specific as opposed to open). There is a study lounge and a social lounge on each floor, and one HUGE lounge where the famed plasma TV resides. </p>
<p>Clark is similar in structure to Fauver, but minus the plasma TV. </p>
<p>Fauver and Clark are both all-frosh, and as such have a tendency to be a bit louder and more prone to parties. The doors also slam really loudly.</p>
<p>Nicolson and WestCo are identical structurally. They have one- and two-room doubles for frosh, as well as two-room doubles and singles for sophomores. They're mixed-class, so they're on average a little quieter than an all-frosh dorm. Bathrooms are one per floor, so they're gender neutral, because who wants to have to go upstairs just to pee? I promise you it's not a big deal.</p>
<p>The Butterfields have positively gigantic one-room doubles for frosh. If you demand a single as a frosh, you will probably live in the Butts. They are generally quieter than the other dorms. Bathrooms vary depending on the hall. Some have gender-specific, most don't. Again, not a huge issue. There are big lounges on the ground floors but none on the upper floors. These dorms have been renovated least recently, but they're totally fine.</p>
<p>200 Church is a converted frat house, so that's the structural sense. </p>
<p>As a sophomore you will in all likelihood have a single. The vast majority of people do.</p>
<p>You fill out a ranking form with your choices, and most people get one of the dorms on their list. It's not a big deal. Where you live your frosh year does not define you.</p>
<p>I have a question sort of along these lines... today I (an ED admit) got updated Wes info about lots of stuff in the mail, including the 2007-08 financial info. The freshman/sophomore "residential comprehensive fee" was lower than the junior/senior one. So is it one fixed cost for housing regardless of if you live in a single or a double? I thought that it was more expensive to live in a single. Or is that added on later and the difference in the RCF has a different reason? The financial aid booklet sort of explains it, but I'm not sure.</p>
<p>You have it right, eurydiced. Frosh and sophomores pay one amount, juniors and seniors pay a little more. This way, people on financial aid can live in housing appropriate for their class years without worrying about the additional cost of singles/apartments/houses.</p>
<p>It used to cost more to live in a single than a double, but ResLife and financial aid come to the conclusion that the vast majority of students live in a double as a frosh and a single as a sophomore, so it would even out in the end if everyone was just charged one rate for the first two years (similar logic applies for juniors living in apartments and seniors in woodframe houses and paying one rate for the last two years).</p>
<p>It also used to be true that financial aid would only cover need up to the cost of a res. hall double. This was ridiculous for seniors on financial aid, who literally are not able to choose to live in a res. hall double and whose housing used to cost about $1000-$1500 more than the baseline res. hall double rate. Under the new system, financial aid will cover the comprehensive room and board fee for all students no matter what, which was a major victory in terms of tuition being affordable for lower-income students.</p>
<p>The other side of this that probably isn't in the booklet is that students who are denied class-appropriate housing one year get a "point bonus" in the housing lottery the following year so they can get first dibs at picking class-appropriate housing, which also helps to make up for the potentially unfair situation of people paying the same amount of money for different quality housing.</p>
<p>That was probably more info than you wanted. I was on the committee that helped make this decision, so if you have any questions, ask away. Congrats on being admitted.</p>
<p>are the butts really that bad? i'm not anti-social, but i'm kind of shy and not a big party person. it sort of seems like the butts would be the best dorm for me...</p>
<p>Wow, it's weird to see that I was the op on this thread as I am now in my second semester here at Wes and loving it. I live in Clark which is a great dorm from all standpoints. First and foremost we are an all freshman dorm and the kids that live here are a great mix of people. Physically the dorm is beautiful and recently renovated. The kids are an eclectic(no pun intended Weskids) group and a shy person is just as welcome and included as the most outgoing person.</p>
<p>The Butts are not near the other freshmen dorms but I know a number of kids there and they like their dorm. The key is that Wes is a school that is inclusive not exclusive. You will meet people who mesh nicely with your personality. Wes is a school where you will grow as you meet new people. There are so many amazing things to do here every day with so many cool kids to do them with that I bet your shyness will soon not be a factor you fear it will. If u come to Wes you can reinvent yourself and don't be surprised if u become an extrovert.</p>
<p>The Butts are pretty underrated, in my opinion. It's nice and quiet, the rooms are enormous (compared to other freshman dorms), and it's a short walk from PAC, Olin, SciLi, etc. </p>
<p>As a sophomore, I recommend Hewitt, especially considering that the opening of Usdan has kind of moved the center of campus closer towards College Row.</p>