<li><p>Does anyone have any insight into the different dorms at Willamette? What are some basic descriptions of the different buildings? </p></li>
<li><p>Are choices assigned based on when you make your deposit to attend the school, or when you actually send you housing form and deposit (after May 1st)?</p></li>
<li><p>Are there no Freshman dorms or halls? Do freshman ever actually get assigned to room with an upperclassman as the website says happens? Does anyone have an opinion on the experience of having a non-freshman as a roommate?</p></li>
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<p>Hi! I'm a senior at Willamette, so I'll try to tackle your questions. The main dorm buildings:
Doney and Lausanne- These are pretty popular. They're fairly old buildings (1930's, I think?) but have been updated and the University has really taken care of them.
Kaneko Commons- The newest dorms on campus. They're very nice, many rooms even have balconies. However, they are across the railroad tracks from the main part of campus, so it can be a pain to walk over the skybridge to get to the cafeteria or to class.
Baxter, and Belknap-Matthews complex- Typical dorm rooms, nothing too special. Would not recommend Belknap-Matthews, though I do know they are being removed in the next year or two to make way for a whole new building, so I'm not sure if they will be open in 08-09 or not.</p>
<p>There are also several smaller buildings, many with themes. The setup of the buildings varies, but the students I know who live in them really enjoy them.</p>
<p>As for housing assignment, sorry but I'm not sure. Might want to just call the school to find out...</p>
<p>There are no officially freshman dorms or halls. Students are required to live on-campus for the first two years, so some freshmen do end up having a Sophomore roommate. I have not heard of any freshmen who had junior or senior roommates. I think by the time students become upperclassmen, those who still live on campus choose their friends as roommates.</p>
<p>D lived in Belknap her first year and every time the train went by when we were talking to her on the phone, all conversation had to be put on hold (train whistle). She is in Lausanne now and likes it much better. Her first year she had a junior Japanese student as a roommate. This is something they don't point out very well on the housing application. It was not a great first semester for her (roommate spoke little English, lived more or less on Tokyo time - emailing all hours of the night, sleeping much of the day- and in general mostly hung out with the other Japanese kids.) This was the situation for most of her friends who also were assigned Japanese roommates. IMHO it would have been better to house Japanese students together and intermingle the rooms rather than the roommates. The Japanese kids come in February and leave in December so in February she was to be assigned another roommate. She actually opted for another Japanese roommate and got a better fit (someone who was willing go to dinner with her, mingle with her friends and actually talk with her) but overall would have not preferred to have the initial experience. It is hard enough being away from home for the first time and being with someone you have little in common with, including language.</p>
<p>I also lived in Belknap my freshman year. I hear all the time that Belknap is loud because of the train (mostly from parents or visitors), but it really wasn't that big of an issue.
I also had a Japanese student. I agree, they do tend to stick to themselves. Luckily mine was 2nd semester (my previous roommate had moved into a Sorority house) so by then I was not so reliant on roommates for entertainment.</p>
<p>Can freshmen opt for one of the substance free dorms? Would they be missing out on a lot of freshmen experiences by choosing that option?</p>
<p>My D did substance free her soph year- there was still some alcohol here and there- it really depends on what you want- definitely it is more in the open in the regualr dorms.</p>
<p>She did request no foreign student her freshman year on the housing app- thought long and hard about it. Her freshman roommate also moved out mid-year and she ended up with a TIA student second semester- she enjoyed living with her very much, although she did have a circle of friends by that time as well. It ended up being a good experience for her, although if it had been first semester she might have felt differently.</p>
<p>Willamette is a very good school over all but the Kaneko dorms are a grand experiment with 'communal living ' and 'student designed government' and leave a lot to be desired. I know of students who have left this drom as they were disapointed in the quality of the so-called governing process.. not very democratic , not a lot of oversight that students not familiar with governing process need . Mostly a power trip and popularity contest with cliquish (sp) behavior by the elected 'rulers'. Students who are elected are awarded points by their ruling peers that give them preference in the next year's choice of roooms. But there really is not any criteria for the voting or appeals process (that I am aware of ). I am sure it will become better as the years go by, I hope so, it seems like a good idea.</p>
<p>connie are you a student or a parent? If you are a student what residence option did you choose? I think I remember reading that Keneko allowed co-ed suites. Is that true?</p>
<p>Willamette has recently begun an experimental program to allow coed options, although I'm not sure that it is restricted to Kaneko suites. This is by no means an automatic thing, so if it's not something you're interested in, you need not be worried about being stuck in a coed situation. It was mainly spearheaded by the GLBT community on campus as an option for those who may not be comfortable in the traditional dorm room environment, and I think it's great that the university was so receptive.</p>
<p>on our recent tour we went inside Belknap. The room was tiny but had good storage. The tour guide told us that the rooms in Belknap were smaller than those in other dorms. Lausanne had sky high ceilings. Wish I had more to tell you. There is a lot of variety at WU and I think if my girls were sending in housing forms they would not put Belknap in their top 3 but would put Lausanne there.</p>
<p>I have a quick question about the bathrooms (men's)-- I looked inside one dorm building (I think Belknap?) and peeked inside the bathrooms quick, and from what I could see, it looked like the showers were just the wide open room with several nozzles. I didn't see in all the way, so I could be wrong, but is this the case in any of the bathrooms at Willamette? If so I would like to know which buildings... I prefer some privacy.</p>
<p>No clue but great question. Anyone??</p>
<p>All of the bathrooms I have seen have showers where each shower is partitioned off with curtains. And then there is a changing area either individually outside each shower (separated by curtain or stall door) or one big changing area, separated from the rest of the bathroom by a curtain. I have not seen any big rooms with a bunch of shower nozzles, though I don't know, maybe the guys do it differently.</p>
<p>S likes what he knows about Kaneko–the building is quite attractive and the dining hall serves his kind of food–Asian cusine and it did all look fresh and attractive. We understand that they serve lunch and breakfast there and then the students use the main dining hall on campus for lunch. His main concern is the short walk back to the dorm between classes or “in case I forget something”. He liked what he learned about the student government but it makes sense to me that there may still be things to be worked out. Would love to hear more about all of the dorms and hope some of you can share more information with these '09 ers.</p>
<p>Sent the deposit in last night!</p>
<p>My D has lived in an apartment in Kaneko the last 2 years- lived in Matthews and Baxter years 1 and 2. She really didn’t mind the walk back and forth- Kaneko is fairly new and bright compared to the dorms closer in. She says Matthews has the smallest rooms. Most freshmen are housed in Matthews, Baxter(substance free) and Kaneko I think. I think it’s a trade off- you have to walk more for nicer accomodations. Sometimes it is a pain. Plus you eat dinner at Goudy. She says the 2 older dorms Doney and Lausanne have the biggest rooms, but are usually not available to freshman. But basically the campus is small enough so that even Kaneko is not far from everything else.</p>
<p>Oregon 101- I hope your son enjoys his 4 years as much as my D has- good luck-</p>
<p>thanks westfan–s just likes the building and the sense of community because of the large common space. I had read that some thought the governing there needs some help but I have not heard anything else.</p>
<p>My daughter was not active in Kaneko government as a junior/senior- she lived in an apt there- she did say that she got into an apt as a junior because one of her roomates was a senior and had lived there before, so had higher housing priority. Then she just stayed on in the same apt her senior year w/new roommates. I also don’t know about the preference points for room assignments- definitely freshman are at the bottom- and Kaneko does award some extra credit for student involvement- but that is not going to matter much to a freshman anyway.</p>
<p>I stayed overnight (so this was only one dorm, and I can’t remember which one) and I didn’t like the showers–basically, they were just curtained off, which meant there was no private changing area to strip down and store dry clothes, so I had to change outside. 
The room was nice, though. I so want an all-woman’s hall.</p>
<p>hii i am from the UK and have a place at willamette next year, just wondering if anyone could tell me anymore about the dorms, how many people do you share with? Do you share bathrooms? do people drink? also what activities are there to do at night and around the campus and salem? I have only been to America once and don’t really now anything about oregon, and am very anxious to do my exchange year next year! I hope someone can help me, would be grateful appreciated. Thank you!</p>