<p>What housing would you prefer for an out of state first year student from an urban area? I'm really used to the city life, 15 minutes away from nyc. I enjoy traditional housing but also value the modern vibe. Very social, but also get distracted easily, so perhaps a more quiet setting willl suit me better, but not too quiet, I'm easily bored. Any suggestions? I've heard East Halls are beautiful.</p>
<p>Regarding east halls - they are the oldest dorms on campus and certainly not beautiful - all the freshman live there. They are quite small but doable. All the freshman are housed in the east dorms so it a great way to meet people your first year at Penn state. There a nicer dorms on campus for sure though.</p>
<p>Since all freshman live in east, I have heard it gets loud and can be distracting if you let it.</p>
<p>Most of the freshmen do live in East Halls, but but not ALL of them. You can request a different dorm. South and Pollock Halls are closest to downtown…no NYC, but there are some nice restaurants and shops.</p>
<p>Housing requests are just that - requests. You can indicate the order of preference but that’s it. All the dorm rooms are pretty much cinder block traditional rooms (North is suites, but only upperclassmen live there). I would not worry too much about choosing appropriately, but I would worry about choosing in a timely fashion – how soon you choose is the biggest factor in what you get :)</p>
<p>East halls is not the oldest dorms at PSU. West Hall and Simmons and McElwain are some of the dorms built long before East Halls. West Hall and Simmons and McElwain have some of the bigger traditional dorm rooms. Most freshman live in East Halls because the upperclassmen for the most part don’t want to live there. Upperclassman with housing contracts have first choice of rooms so quite clearly the vote for best dorms is not East Halls. That being said many freshman enjoy East Halls because there are so many freshman. Most of the people in East Halls are new and looking to make friends and explore all that State College has to offer. Penn State does NOT designate some dorms as freshman experience or only freshman. Freshman are found in every dorm complex. The question you should ask yourself is do you want to live in the party or do you want to visit the party. Remember the party is often loud and has vomit in the bathroom. Spend some time online and look at the different options. Oh and not sure who you have been talking to but East Halls beautiful? Really?</p>
<p>Some of the SLOs are for freshman only-- First-Year Interest in Education, First-Year Interest in Liberal Arts and [FISE</a> House - First year In Science and Engineering — Eberly College of Science](<a href=“http://science.psu.edu/diversity/fise-house/FISEHouseBrochure.htm]FISE”>http://science.psu.edu/diversity/fise-house/FISEHouseBrochure.htm)</p>
<p>Have you visited campus? That would help you decide where you’d like to live. If you do an image search for East Halls you can see what they look like. As they say, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.</p>
<p><(North is suites, but only upperclassmen live there)></p>
<p>Not at all. My daughter lived there as a freshman and currently as a sophomore and there were several freshmen when she started. Having said that, it’s not especially lively, if that’s what you are looking for.</p>
<p>PSUMom - thanks for the clarification on East dorms. When I went on the tour, the student guide stated they were the oldest - perhaps she said that because they are so old looking! :). Regardless, picking your dorm for the freshman year is no easy task - hopefully it works out. Good luck everyone!</p>
<p>Cr2012: Thanks, and if you dont mind me asking which do you prefer?</p>
<p>Kblitz: Thanks for the heads up !</p>
<p>Cagb1016: lol, sometimes change is good, so maybe I need to see the other side of things. Perhaps I’ll leave nyc here to experiance State College there. From the pictures I see on google I like the Traditional buildings (architecture) etc.</p>
<p>Greenbutton: That’s so true, I should act fast. Thanks !</p>
<p>We saw pollock and east - pollock was nicer and the location is great!! Did not get to see other dorms so I can’t comment on them.</p>
<p>PSU85MOM: Thank you for your comment. Your question resolved my problem. I don’t want to live in the party. That narrows down my options after doing some research. And about east halls, i was exploring online and I randomly landed on an another student Site and several students commented on east halls being a better option and being beautiful. Therefore I decided to ask here if it were true.</p>
<p>1moremom: No, i have not visited the campus yet. But I will have to, in order to really see where I would best fit. I googled east halls and they seem okay like any other dorms. I wouldn’t say beautiful, i guess i should have just googled it earlier. But i guess everyone has there own perspective on things and each of us hold individial taste and preferences.</p>
<p>^Also thank you for the special housing options.</p>
<p>Slipjig: thanks, I think its a better idea to dorm with upperclassmen since they are more focused and so I wont get easily distracted into the party scene.</p>
<p>Cr2012: oh okay, Thanks. I’ll definitely look into pollock.</p>
<p>Our daughter is living in east halls. And Hastings Hall is the oldest of all the buildings in east. That is the one she is in. It’s a new experience and they adapt quite well. She was going to be in pollack but is happy she got the experience with all the freshman friends she made in east. It’s a hike to all their classes but all in all she said she would do it again. Good luck to your child, they will love the experience:)</p>