<p>My S just returned from his Honors weekend experience, which he loved, but now we are looking at another question.</p>
<p>His dad and I assumed he would probably choose either Butler (Honors dorm) or Wall (the academic leadership dorm) for a residence hall. But now he is saying that he would like to live in Monroe. It's newly renovated and he likes the students he met there (including some Honors students). He is coming from a small public HS in a working class town where his closest circle of friends range from extremely good students like him to nice kids with average grades to HS athletes planning to go on to ROTC. He liked the mixture of kids he found in Monroe and thinks that like in his current HS, he won't have trouble refusing to play or party when he needs to go study. He says that being in a large dorm during his Freshman year will help him to get to know a lot of people. I myself think that after 12 years of small, insular school, he probably likes the idea of living with a larger number of students.</p>
<p>His dad, a former alcohol abuser, is extremely wary of putting him in a Freshman dorm where other students may not be as interested in studying as they are in partying. Also, we could never afford to pay full freight at Tulane, so keeping his scholarship is important, as is keeping his Honors status, since he wants to go on to law school. He says that those things are important to him too, but he wants to be in a dorm where he feels comfortable and - in his words - "there are other kids like me."</p>
<p>He said he spoke to graduating seniors who had not lived in the Honors dorm as freshmen and they said they really enjoyed getting to know a lot of different people. While this all sounds fine, we have real concerns, mostly due to past things I have read on the web about Monroe and its party reputation. I realize that most of these things were written pre-renovation so it may not be a fair assessment. </p>
<p>Right now we are of the opinion that he should apply to Wall (there is a written application) and put in Butler as a backup. While he thinks the dorm looks nice, he is under the impression that if he lives in Wall he will be somewhat cut off socially from the rest of the freshmen students. We feel that after freshman year, he can choose whatever dorm he wants. He thinks that he may have missed out on knowing a lot of people by then.</p>
<p>His dad is adamant, I am somwhat open to a reasonable argument from S that would come with some performance-based guarantees. As in , your first semester grades are mostly As, or you go to Butler for the spring (Wall won't be an option by then). And that if the atmosphere in Monroe is really distracting and crazy, that he be mature enough to request a transfer.</p>
<p>I'd love to hear from parents who kids were not in the Honors dorms as freshmen as to how they fared. Or really from anyone, parent or student, who might have some insight. This is a tough decision to make, and I feel like a lot is riding on it. My gut is telling me to give him a chance, and my gut is usually right. But who knows!</p>