First Year Housing

<p>I've searched Smith's website, but I still can't find what I'm looking for. Does anyone know how housing is assigned to first-years? Does the incoming class have any say in what house they live in, or are we just assigned leftovers? I've read about the lottery, but it didn't say anything about the incoming class.</p>

<p>First years are sent a housing form in which they state roommate preferences (ie music while studying, sleeping hours, etc) and what part of campus you would prefer; Quad, upper or lower Elm, or Green Street/Center Campus. You can state a preference for a particular house but I have no idea if that has any effect. Then the housing coordinator assigns houses and roommates. The sooner you get your housing form in the better your chance of getting the area of campus you want. All the houses (with a few exceptions) have students from all four years and doubles generally go to first years, though there are some first year singles. The housing lottery is for rising sophmores and up, and done in the spring. First years get their housing info in mid to late July, though phone numbers are showing up on the campus directory now and sometimes you can figure out your house from your phone number. The Smith 09livejournal has a thread on which phone numbers go with which house.
Ellen</p>

<p>Thank you very much. I'm very interested in Northrop & Gillett Houses. Do you have any info on them?</p>

<p>Nope, except that they are in Lower Elm. My daughter lives in Baldwin which is also lower Elm. She likes the location alot since it is close to town but not very far from classes. She also likes the house colors, purple and green.</p>

<p>Mini, how do you access the 09livejournal? I have my phone number -- 585-6482.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.livejournal.com/community/smithies09/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.livejournal.com/community/smithies09/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>I guess I'm in Cutter....</p>

<p>Cutter is actually quite nice inside. Some folks complain about the outside - it is a '50s building. I actually think it better than a lot of college architecture of the period. Doubles are very large, with built in closets. The kosher/hallal kitchen is going to be located there, which means there is a very large array of different food choices surrounding you, with Vegan/Vegetarian at Northrup/Gillet, traditional at Chase/Duckett, Mediterranean at Lamont (that's where my d. eats most of the time), and the kosher/hallal.</p>

<p>Thanks for listing some of the positive aspects of living in Cutter Mini. I didn't know about the change in the dining hall to kosher/hallal and that is a definite plus. </p>

<p>I did tour Cutter when I visited campus and the thing that I liked was the large rooms that have a <em>lot</em> more natural light than the rooms in the older houses due to the huge windows in every room. However, there was a definite lack of charm (Students call the Cutter rooms boxes, and that seems a pretty accurate description.) and the white and grey tile floors didn't seem as warm and inviting as the wood floors in the older houses. </p>

<p>I do hope they replace some of the living room furniture before school opens again. It wasn't just threadbare, there were chairs and couches with ripped upholstery and foam padding sticking out. I can't see anyone wanting to hang out in that environment and that has to take away from building house community.</p>

<p>I've heard lots of stories on this board of people getting the houses (or at least campus area) they requested, even though there is no guarentee. In my case I sent back the housing request form the same day it arrived and listed 6 different houses in order of preference and any house in the quad as choice number 7. Cutter was not among the houses I listed but perhaps it will turn out to be great and I'll end up loving it. :-)</p>

<p>At the suggestion of my dad, who has been reading these forums since I was applying last year, I jump at the chance to talk about Gillett, my place of residence. I warn you, I am a Gold Key Tour Guide, so this may be far more detailed than you would like, but I will try to be informative.</p>

<p>Gillett was built in 1911 and is connected to Northrop House by a covered portico, mirrored images of each other inside. Each houses 80 people, with 4 doubles and 72 single rooms. The double rooms always go to first years, but as there are usually around 20 first years in the house, the majority DO end up in single rooms, which is incredibly rare overall for the Smith campus. Rooms are nicely sized on the whole, and as it is an older house, are definitely not uniform in size or shape. All rooms have hardwood floors and white wallpaper. There is a recently renovated bathroom on floors 2-4 with 3 showers, 1 bathtub, 4 toilets, and 4 sinks. The 5th floor has a bathroom with 1 toilet, 1 shower, and 2 sinks. Students of all 4 years live in Gillett, as well as Ada Comstock scholars, non-traditional aged students. Some of the Gillett rooms are organized into "suites," meaning that they share a common door to the hallway, providing more quiet in the rooms. Most first years who do have single rooms are placed in a suite. The house has a really cute dining room, with yellow floral wallpaper, and will be Vegan-Vegetarian for the coming year (hopefully that will change!). The house is in an INCREDIBLE location, across the street from the bus stop and JMG, a minute away from the Campus Center, near most academic buildings, close to the library, and about a 2-3 minute walk from downtown. I realize that I sound like a brochure, but hey, I really do like my house. If this didn't do it for you, feel free to IM me with more questions. AIM: Banangaroo13
-Sarah</p>

<p>Nice description and great first post, Gillettie08. Thanks for posting.</p>

<p>Thanks for the report, Gillettie. My D will be in Northrup after having been in Albright first year. Gillette/Northrup really do sound ideal for her purposes, although she is a carnivore! She's ready to deal with this, though.</p>

<p>Theyll be sending out our assignments on friday (Hopefully!) I called to get my # for a coach and for my computer order and I was told they hadnt assigned me anyhwhere yet! He said they arent promising that it will be all done by friday..........hurry up SMITH!</p>

<p>Phone numbers were up in the Smith directory on Saturday, but they are no longer listed.</p>

<p>N.B., once you get your phone numbers, some helpful people may be able to tell you what house you're in...my D actually found the people who had had her exact room the year before.</p>

<p>enjoyingthis, who is your daughter?</p>

<p>Gillettie-- she'd be a pretty unhappy camper if I posted her name here as she's very private. But I'll tell you that she's just 4' 11" and a member of the Ultimate team. Ring any bells?</p>

<p>Totally understood enjoying this, and nope, not ringing any bells for me.</p>

<p>Me either... I was in Albright 2004-2005. I'm not too aware of any ultimate frisbee players in there... but I do recall a short girl who planned to move out- did her name start with M? And lived with a Californian girl who's really into politics?</p>

<p>Ticklemepink-- yep, you got her. Although when I've talked about you on here, she's never been able to figure out who YOU ARE!</p>