<p>I'm glad Senior House is mostly doubles for freshmen. Keeps people from coming here just to get a single.</p>
<p>That being said, Macgregor has some incredibly awesome people. If you're awesome, you're probably there to be with these awesome people. If you're not, you'll probably end up in a hole-in-the-wall entry away from awesome people, where you can have your precious single.</p>
<p>People matter way more than the actual dorm building.</p>
<p>Well, since we're putting down other dorms now, it is of my personal opinion that New House and Next House blow. Don't live there.</p>
<p>Hey now... let's not get hasty here... Next House is awesome :)</p>
<h2>Uh, not the only reason...? Some people, shockingly, try to get in because they like the people in the dorm.</h2>
<p>I don't remember even getting to meet any people before I had to put in my preference for the dorm lottery. I don't remember when exactly I had to do it, but I think it might have been before I even got to campus. I was trying to visit as many frats I could during the Rush period, which was only like 2 days, so I didn't really check out the dorms then either.</p>
<p>Is it true the MIT campus overlooks the water? I mean that doesnt sound urban to me. Harvard square looks so crowded and creepy Kendall is so much cleaner and calmer!</p>
<p>^It is true. :) I had a river view dorm room on the 15th floor my junior year (although I wouldn't necessarily recommend it -- a river view is a southern exposure, and it got hot in that room).</p>
<p>MIT's campus is definitely urban, but I think it does feel somewhat isolated from other parts of Cambridge. It's kind of a nice balance -- you feel at home and cozy on campus, but you're just a short walk from Central Square in one direction and Boston in the other.</p>
<p>EDIT:
[quote]
I don't remember even getting to meet any people before I had to put in my preference for the dorm lottery. I don't remember when exactly I had to do it, but I think it might have been before I even got to campus. I was trying to visit as many frats I could during the Rush period, which was only like 2 days, so I didn't really check out the dorms then either.
[/quote]
Since the decision to house all freshmen on campus (and don't even get me started on that one), dorm residents have tried to push the window of freshmen information-collecting back as far as possible. A lot of people visit all the different dorms during CPW, and a decent number even meet their future roommates there. The dorms put a lot of effort into their i3 videos, and I thought all the videos I saw last year did a good job of representing each dorm's culture.</p>
<p>During orientation, the focus is solely on the dorms, since fraternity rush doesn't begin until after school has started.</p>
<p>"So a C-C dorm discussion is welcomed."</p>
<p>I remember there was an extensive discussion of each dorm and its uniqueness that Mollie started last year.... somewhere...</p>
<p>Does this forum archive those threads? I only see like 5 pages of old threads... l0l</p>
<p>I've spent a lot of time in a lot of the dorms, the following are my observations and should be taken with a grain of salt.</p>
<p>Baker: Lots of people. Lots of social people. Nothing too distinguishing, and that seems to be a sort of appeal. You might forget you're in an MIT dorm (until it gets late and people have to do psets). Parties revolve heavily, heavily, on alcohol. </p>
<p>Burton-Conner: Similar to Baker, this dorm possesses a lot of "normal" people. Geeky, suite-based cultures are definitely present. Houses one of MIT's most infamous party halls: Burton 3. I like a lot of the people I've met from BC, but it varies with each hall, as you'd expect. Less homogeneous than, say, Baker. </p>
<p>East Campus: These are those crazy guys who make big explosions for everyone to enjoy. EC is full of engineers and course 6, though that's far from all you'll find there. Culture varies drastically from hall to hall, but is generally more "free" than what you'd find in other dorms. Lots of freedom to modify your dorm room. </p>
<p>MacGregor: If there's any dorm it's hard to speak generally about, it's MacGregor. This is mostly due to the way it's broken up: into several groups of floors called "entries," which share common areas. It has a reputation for being the "anti-social" dorm, and for sure, some of the entries are quite anti-social, while others closer to Baker and yet others closer to Senior House.</p>
<p>McCormick: The all girls dorm. Nice location on campus. Dorm is like a freaking hotel... extraordinarily nice. Most of the girls there are your average MIT girls. To be fair, a some girls end up in McCormick because their parents impose it as a condition on them going to MIT, but then there are a lot of girls who are plain unwilling to live near guys. I don't know enough about dorm culture to comment beyond that.</p>
<p>New House: Holds the "cultural houses" and therefore has a lot of international students, but don't expect to interact with them often. Each of the 9 "Houses" in New House tends to keep to itself, and I don't know enough of the house culture to comment beyond that. I went to a party there, and it was pretty horrible.</p>
<p>Next House: the only dorm I know nothing about. Furthest away from everything, residence based advising (ew). A lot of my friends at Next felt "trapped" in the RBA program (you can't switch out). This will change next year. Go check it out for yourself, for me, it wasn't worth the walk.</p>
<p>Random Hall: EC's younger, nerdier, perhaps socially awkward sibling. Good people who often do awesome things. The vast majority of the dorm does EECS or Math. Definitely for some people, and not others. When you think of your stereotypical MIT "nerd", you're probably imagining some combination of Randomites. Also the smallest dorm... very tight communities.</p>
<p>Senior House: Key word is freedom. Senior House functions under a sort of paradise law. You can do pretty much whatever you want, and others can do the same. It's a delicate balance between doing what you want and keeping the interests of your peers in mind. If something bothers you, you tell that person to stop, and they probably will. But if you live in Senior House, most things shouldn't bother you. Freedom also means if you're a jerk you can expect someone to urinate on your door. Don't be a jerk.</p>
<p>Simmons: the space sponge. A really, really, young dorm. Doesn't have a culture yet. I haven't spent much time there but I do have a lot of friends living there. It's an odd amalgamation of cross-campus culture that varies depending on the part of the dorm you're in. Because of the way it's broken up, you may not have much contact with many of the people in the dorm, especially not outside the same "tower."</p>
<p>^this is pretty accurate. You forgot Bexley though. They blatently anti-rush freshmen. Tight community I hear, been to one cross dressing party (not my proudest moment) it was decent. Someone who's been there more than once should comment though.</p>
<p>And one thing to note, the parties in Baker are thrown by a specific floor, floor 6, who are awesome. I can't remember the last time I've went to a party in Baker that wasn't thrown mostly by 6, but the ones that are were crazy. And from what I hear Baker is filled with a lot of upperclassmen girls and freshmen guys, mainly because a good portion of the guys pledges frats and then moved out the next year leaving a high percentage of upperclassmen girls. Have no clue if this rumor is true.</p>
<p>And it's Burton 3rd, not Burton 3.</p>
<p>Other than that, absolutely accurate in my opinion.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>My best friend lives on Baker 6. There is definitely at least a kernel of truth to that statement.</p>
<p>
<p>Other than that, absolutely accurate in my opinion.
</p>
<p>Whoops. Most people here just call them the Bombers, or "those *** from Burton-Connor who steal all our alcohol."</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Okay, no. I can't think of anyone in BC who would like the fact that our primary characteristic according to your list is "similar to Baker." I take offense at being called "normal." No, seriously. If I can rewrite your summary at bit:</p>
<p>BC is like MacGregor in the "unable to broadly stereotype" category. Floors form very close-knit communities which vary from the infamous Burton 3rd party floor to the quiet and studious Burton 2 (yeah, the loudest floor is directly above the quietest floor, it's awesome) and the quirkily nerdy Conner 2. People that live here like it for its diversity- it's often considered the most "east campusy" of the west campus dorms.</p>
<p>Also, to defend New House a little: it's pretty chill. I'm not surprised that their parties suck, but I know Conner 2 has a special friendship with New House 4, and we get together for potluck dinners and board game nights. Obviously they're not hard partiers, but they're not lame and anti-social either, just sort of laid-back.</p>
<p>Also, as for the Next House RBA thing, is that actually happening? I know there was some proposal for allowing frosh in Next to readjust but I didn't hear that it actually went through. That would be awesome. Can anyone direct me to the most recent info on that?</p>
<p>I know it's no longer an option for freshman, but I lived at Student House, and loved it. Yes, the rooms were small, but the common areas were very nice and were kept very clean. I was disappointed to hear that all freshman have to live on campus now, because the money saved thanks to Student House made it possible for me to attend MIT. Still - it's an option to keep in mind once freshman year is over.</p>
<p>Meep! I didn't mean the dorm was similar to Baker, just that it had plenty of "normal" people, like Baker does. I put "normal" in quotes for a reason. Nobody at MIT is exactly "normal," but it's a relative thing, and BC definitely falls further on that end of the spectrum. People who aren't bat**** crazy, aren't ridiculously nerdy, love a good time, etc.</p>
<p>Then again, I'm only familiar with three of the halls in Burton Conner (and one of those is Burton 3rd), so the whole inability-to-categorize thing may apply. Your words carry more weight than mine, needless to say.</p>
<p>my uninvited opinions, with extra commas:</p>
<p>Baker: I live here, it's nice, i like some of the people on each floor, good rooms, bricks, mostly it's for my downtime
Bexley: Lots of cool people, it's cool, cozier than it looks, maybe not great for the average freshman
Burton-Conner: Solid people, chill, decent middle-road, not really that loud
East Campus: Fun, halls very tight, personally i think about 5-ish of the halls are my style, some are loud
MacGregor: Suite-mates are tight, quiet, depends who you live with
McCormick: I rarely meet these girls, they do girl things? they come and go in droves. Sometimes I sneak past the desk workers for fun
New House: it's ok, living in a cultural house and cooking stuff would be alright
Next House: Sometimes I hang out with people from Next House, they tend to be mostly asianish girls/guys, depends on my mood
Random Hall: coolest segment is the neverending mopper convention going on, really solid people in general, good mystery hunt team, climb my traverse (!)
Senior Haus: they don't suck, counterculture, not that loud honestly (?)
Simmons Hall: really cool building, cool people but mostly not the type that would free climb the building like they should be doing</p>
<p>i'm rather familiar with all the greeks, but it's difficult to convey (i'm pretty glad i'm not in a frat)</p>
<p>I hope you find many places you like and one place you'd like to live</p>
<p>Do you guys like that the dorms are sortof 'branded' with a type of personality?</p>
<p>What are your thoughts on if this kindof thing further 'categorizes' people? Stereotyping?</p>
<p>"Sometimes I sneak past the desk workers for fun"</p>
<p>And you don't set off the boy alarms? I hear they would have to evacuate.</p>
<p>XaserT-</p>
<p>Yeah, I mean you kind of end up with a limited number of people from East Campus that think of all West Campus people as teenage robot drones and some people in West Campus thinking East CAmpus people are diseased. But those are ignorant people so no one cares what they think.</p>
<p>I kind of feel like MIT tries to represent real life to its students as best as possible. In real life you (most of us at least) are not going to eat dinner every night at 7 in a dining hall filled with pre-prepared food with all of your diverse and purely platonic friends. In real life you're going to seek the people that have interests similar to yours (or maybe you won't) but what's more important is that you will surround yourself with people that you CHOOSE. Here, you choose where you want to live. You can choose to buy into the stereotypes and dye your hair purple or pierce all the lose skin on your body or get drunk to the point of passing out every weekend, or you could just hang out and veg. You know, like me. I veg.</p>
<p>also, two posts is not enough, so I'll say a little about the dorms that i know anything about:</p>
<p>East Campus- can be REALLY COOL when it wants to be. Which means its filled with some pretty creative, fearless folks. Roller coasters in the courtyard and waterslides and tree houses and the works. that stuff is generaly whipped out for rush but it's not completely limited to showing off, most people here are genuinely fun, i've seen huge trebuchets built in the middle of semester just to fling water balloons. Some people who are more vocal in EC like to act tough in email lists and judge people and stuff, but most people here aren't like that don't get the wrong impression. I do have to say, though, that EC is generally a lot more liberal in every way than your average college dorm. You should be at least a LITTLE sexually open-minded to live here without being seriously offended once in a while. We have, I think, the most freedom of any dorm. We have some cat halls, some smoking halls (2 halls are smoking, 8 others are non-smoking), some clothing-optional halls, we get to paint our rooms, paint murals all over the walls, dig holes in the walls, install stuff, kitchens to cook things but a crappy dining hall 20 feet away if you don't feel like cooking. Guaranteed single sophomore year. About half of freshmen get singles. Doors are almost always open if someone is home. Very social and comfortable I think.</p>
<p>Senior House- is more of a counterculture than MIT. Some of its residents are angry, others are very angry, still others are perfectly happy. Risk-taking, prides itself on things that are "darker". You'll find all sorts of people there though. I couldn't stand the hallways, they're all windy and little make you feel like you're stuck in plumbing. Doubles are absolutely huge. Singles are kind of small, not usually for freshmen. Bathrooms are big and very nice. Generally suite-styled, if not there's a lounge nearby. Kitchens every floor I think. Sometimes they're on opposite sides I honestly don't know. They're okay, not AWESOME. I think EC kitchens are nicer. Some people are pretentious and get really into the culture. True at EC as well.</p>
<p>Random- nerdy and proud of it. Really cool and accepting people though I don't think I've ever met someone there that I didn't like (I didn't quite get to meet all the antisocial people though). Small group. Terrible rooms. Okay they're not all terrible, but they're split up funny and you could either end up with a room that could fit no more than just your bed or have an agreeably sized double. Rooms really vary widely. Some on the street side are really nice with the sort of bay-windows idea, some on other sides face directly into trees or buildings. Place felt cramped to me. But very homey. Kind of far to walk. They say it's "really not very far" but it is. Because i had to walk to the MIT museum twice a week for 2 semesters. The walk is miserable ony because it is outside and outside is miserable. When outside is nice the walk is nice. But that is rare. </p>
<p>Simmons- most people I know who live/lived in simmons hated it. It's built as more of an art project than a home. Completely non-functional. The benches aren't comfortable, the lounges are made of concrete. The way the floors are arranged and how you get around is completely unreasonable and will get really annoying. People have complaints about the lighting, how sleek and modern green backdrop light really does not give any light. It's kind of impersonal and really eerily quiet most of the time, whatever fun to be had generally happens inside the rooms. It's cool to have 9 windows in your room but not cool that they're not much bigger than the size of your face and can only swing open approximately 3 inches to let in absolutely no air at all. Everything is concrete and new and you're not allowed to modify a bit of it (yet, that is, I think it's a time-sensitive contract). The rooms are pretty big though and you do generally get your own bathroom (or shared with a few people only). Dorm room doors are often closed because, um, I think it has a hydraulics thing that forces it to close w/o a door stop. I can't remember...no dining hall, I odn't htink. Also, really goddamn far away.</p>
<p>Baker- I had a cousin that had a quad in there. Yeah, sounds like a nightmare maybe emotionally it was (living w/ 3 other girls and all) but really there was more than enough room. Rooms in baker are actually very nice and they're the rooms we show on campus tours over the summer. I think it's a pretty peaceful place to live, nice views of the river. 80+ percent of the rooms have a river view. God I know so many facts about this building it's maddening. In terms of culture I hear it's pretty typical colleget. Fun mostly happens in rooms- I never saw too many open doors, some halls are more social than others. It's CLEAN. It's got a lot of bricks. Which means you can't do anything to your walls. Communal bathrooms in the hallways, lots of windows and good light. Dining hall. I think you HAVE to sign up for a meal plan if you live there- is it true?</p>
<p>I know someone who moved from Next house to my floor. He really didn't like it there. I don't know much about the other dorms! Plus I am tired.</p>