<p>I'm curious since we get our rooming assignments next week. Hopefully someone knowledgable about this will pop by. What's the best freshman dorm for Singles? Doubles? Large suites? How do roommates pick out who gets the singles? etc. I'm sure a lot of us are nervous.</p>
<p>Hollis & Stoughton have HUGE doubles.</p>
<p>My son was in Matthews last year. There were 3 of them total. a double and a single. the 3 guys flipped a coin for the person who got the single first. Then they divided the year up evenly and traded. It worked out really well. My son loved Matthews! </p>
<p>Best of luck, I’m sure you love your experience at Harvard.</p>
<p>I heard there’s like quintuples…</p>
<p>quintuples? there are even six person suites</p>
<p>OP, I would advise you to not get your heart set on any dorm. The dorm
assignments are not in your control unless you have a disability that
enables you to room at Mass. I was initially very dissapointed with the
dorms after having visited MITs dorms. Later as I adjusted to my dorm
and it’s denizens there was a definite uplift in my outlook.</p>
<p>From my experience I can say that the dorm assignments seem to be
the opposite of what you would expect and the rommates are usually
dissimilar enough to make a good fit. You can be assured that your freshman
rooming assignment will be unique and eventually an enjoyable one as
you integrate yourself in to the Yard activities. What makes Harvard
a great place to be is based on your peers not on the buildings where you
live.</p>
<p>Mostly you will not see too pointed comments about freshman dorms because
it does not really matter as much as you initially think it does. Does it really
matter you got a room that a U.S President/[Michael</a> Crichton](<a href=“http://www.hcs.harvard.edu/~dorms/index.cgi?name=Crichton&grad=&year=&dorm=-+Any+-&room=]Michael”>http://www.hcs.harvard.edu/~dorms/index.cgi?name=Crichton&grad=&year=&dorm=-+Any+-&room=)stayed in? It probably
does initially but really does not mean anything after a month. Harvard also tends
to be fair - i.e. if you got a great view you are probably stuck with a smaller room.
If you got a large room you can be sure there will be other issues.</p>
<p>Apley is the most luxurious. Weld, Matthews, Strauss, Hollis etc all have nice
assignments depending on the specific entryway and specific floor. Grays
has a reputation for noise; Wiggs has a reputation for tourists peering
inside; Canaday has its own pluses and minuses depending on entryway.</p>
<p>Enjoy your first year! It will be a blast :)</p>
<p>^Thanks! Great advice - yes I have heard the people are what make the experience. I was merely being inquisitive about the nature of each dorm, because I already know that most of the nicest ones (Apley, Hollis) are out of my reach seeing as how I applied for a ‘sextuple.’ </p>
<p>Also, can you repaint your dorm room if its peeling or is that out of bounds?</p>
<p>There’s dorm crew for that I would think!</p>
<p>Here is a link to a map of the freshman dorms. If you click on each dorm, you will find further information about it. We found it helpful three years ago, when my D was looking forward to her own freshman year.</p>
<p>[Frosh</a> Dorms Project: Graphical Map](<a href=“http://www.hcs.harvard.edu/~trishin/sergey/galleries/2004/froshdorms/index.htm]Frosh”>http://www.hcs.harvard.edu/~trishin/sergey/galleries/2004/froshdorms/index.htm)</p>
<p>Since the link for Mass Hall in nceph’s map appears to be broken, I’ve included it here:</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.hcs.harvard.edu/~trishin/sergey/galleries/2004/froshdorms/mass/index.htm[/url]”>http://www.hcs.harvard.edu/~trishin/sergey/galleries/2004/froshdorms/mass/index.htm</a></p>
<p>Keep in mind that that the number of people that you requested is not necessarily what you wind up with. Students get randomly sorted into one of the yards first and then placed into room assignments.</p>
<p>big misconception that i need to clear up: </p>
<p>Hollis and Stoughton are IDENTICAL. they’re the exact same set up. so if hollis is nice, so is stoughton. </p>
<p>sorry.</p>
<p>I didn’t think Grays was that noisy when I lived there, I mean many of us said they we tended to go to bed in the 2-3 a.m. time interval, but I would think that each year, each dorm has a newfound personality.</p>
<p>As for paint, you cannot paint yourself, Harvard Cream is the only acceptable color for the walls in your room, and if the damage is severe, you should contact Yard Operations in the basement of Weld.</p>