<p>@imamiger - Consider Allen Hall. While there are a lot of art majors, I wouldn’t call it “artsy,” they need a better adjective for it. It just has a really diverse group of down-to-earth, open-minded, and friendly people. As for music, Allen hall has practice rooms equipped with pianos, and various drum rooms/pianos scattered around the building. I see SO many people with instruments around here, even though most of them aren’t music majors, and there are often concerts and music events held actually held within the hall. This year, as a guest-in-residence, we had musician Tim Eriksen and he lived at Allen for about 5 days, holding discussions about music, songwriting workshops, and musical performances. This is also one of the first halls to fill up though, so I recommend applying soon.</p>
<p>@mumoftwo - If your son doesn’t want a partying dorm, skip the 6-Pack in Champaign. ISR is probably the closest to the Quad and the engineering campus. It’s definitely not a party dorm and they have pretty nice facilities. </p>
<p>Allen is also close to the Quad and buses stop right in front of Allen that cover all sides of the Quad. I have no trouble studying at Allen since there are classrooms available for studying as long as no class is being held. On the inside, Allen looks pretty drab compared to the other halls, but there is a good balance between socializing and studying. </p>
<p>PAR/FAR is a bit farther than Allen, but they have a more frequent bus service than ISR. I hear that PAR/FAR is where most of the engineers end up so it’s usually quiet. I also notice that PAR/FAR has a irregularly high number of internationals compared to other dorms.</p>
<p>All University Residence Hall dorms are basically a box and no “layout” whatsoever. However, they are equipped with common areas, study areas, libraries, and computer labs, so most people don’t study in their room anyway.</p>
<p>To elaborate on boneh3ad’s comment, the brand new residence halls in Ikenberry commons will open for residents for the first time this fall. It’s the University’s way of trying to keep up with other school’s state-of-the-art residence halls. They should have classrooms to study in, but being in Urbana and right next to the 6-Pack, I expect the environment to get a bit hectic. Especially when they intend for the Ikenberry dining hall to replace the existing two 6-Pack dining halls. About the same distance from the Quad as Allen Hall. Overall, a shiny and impressive building, but the rooms are no bigger than usual and the atmosphere seems cold and intimidating.</p>
<p>As for private certified housing, they allow for more privacy since most of them only have about 5 people sharing one bathroom instead of an entire floor (though bathrooms have never been a problem for me) and larger living areas, some with kitchens. My friend lives at Illini Tower, which is close to the Quad, but he was randomly assigned roommates that often party and skip class, so I guess it’s the luck of the draw unless you find a roommate beforehand. There also seems to be a lack of socialization between dormmates in Private Certified Housing. The biggest drawback of PCH is the price, especially when considering that University Housing is already pretty expensive, but for some people, the privacy is worth it.</p>