<p>First of all housing is RANDOM. the only way you can request a dorm as a freshman is if:
-you're a girl and you want to live in Balch
-you apply to live in a program house (JAM, Ujamaa, etc.)</p>
<p>Second of all every dorm has some good thing and some bad things</p>
<p>Finally because it's random, what you make of your living situation really comes down to YOU.</p>
<p>Balch- all girls dorm. some halls are really quiet and others are more social it really just depends on the people. some girls request to live live in balch some girls just get put there. The rooms are very large and each have there own sink. Closest dorm to the risley bus stop which which can be really nice in bad weather/cold/you are carrying a ton of groceries. It's farther from the dining halls though. Also I think there are rules about guys being in balch at certain times/place but i'm not quite sure.</p>
<p>CKB (Court Kay Bauer)- ONe of the newer dorms along with mews. Has air conditioning which will be awesome the first couple weeks of school when everyone else is sleeping in their bra and underwear/boxers on top of bed with a fan going. pretty social hall style dorm with common rooms and such. One floor in Court is all guys and nicknamed "Balls Hall". This year they all got lax pennies that said balls hall in greek letters. Nice Kitchen and Common room on the first floor. Also you need your id to access the stairs once you're already in the building so if you're visiting friends keep that in mind.</p>
<p>Dickson- I haven't been in dickson but it seems nice enough. I think they take prefrosh kids into dickson for the tours so you probably know more about it than me. I do know some fun people that live there though. This year at one point at least some of the kids in dickson were going to make shirts that said "hey donlon, suck our dickson" or something. Nothing malicious though. I think it goes with Donlon getting the rep for being the most social dorm. plus dickson was going to have a dickson formal but that didn't happen and then donlon did.</p>
<p>Donlon- It's the thong shaped building in the center of North right by rpc. Given the rep for being the most social dorm partly because of the way it's set up. each floor has three spikes with a central common room in the center. some floors are more social than others but thats just because housing is random. i think all of the rooms are doubles which are pretty good sized. At the beginning of the year they have the donlon games where floors compete against each other. unlike some of the other dorms if you don't live in donlon its really easy to get in donlon because there are always people going in and out and the rest of the building is open. They have the more typical dorm bathrooms, i.e. multiple showers, sinks and toilets.</p>
<p>Jameson/Highrise - Like the low rises, these were built in the 70's and designed to be riot proof. Can be confusing the first few days but pretty easy to get used to. You have to take the elevator up which can get annoying. Rooms are decently sized and arranged suite style. Some suites are super tight and others not so much. They both have a "sky lounge" which is just a main common room on the top floor with some flat screens and couches. good for watching football.</p>
<p>Lowrises- the most often over looked dorms and the farthest from campus along with the townhouses. Low rises are also set up to be riot proof (read: confusing). No elevators and no air conditioning, but the rooms are big. some of the doubles are actually huge, especially if you get one on the fourth floor because the ceilings are lofted. the triples though not so much. they're basically doubles with more furniture (read: way less room). Each unit (floor) has like 6 suites, and each suite shares a bathroom. Each bathroom has a double sink, a toilet, and a shower with a tub (though i can't imagine anyone EVER taking a bath). Each unit also has a common room and a kitchen. Even though the architecture doesn't promote floor bonding as much as donlon it's still really easy to meet people if you're social. Far from campus but close to a bus stop that's especially useful on the weekends </p>
<p>Mews- Very similar to CKB. The newest dorm. Has air conditioning which is good for the first coiuple weeks. The rooms are smaller in mews than the older dorms but still nice. Really close to Appel and Helen Newman</p>
<p>Townhouses- The townhouses are across the street from the rest of north. Not a big problem if you don't mind walking or can figure out the buses. They're basically little apartments. Each one has a full kitchen and a living/dining room area downstairs and rooms (doubles) and a bathroom upstairs. It can be somewhat harder to meet people in the town houses because it's not like you just open your door and walk across the hall, but there are plenty of opportunities to meet people and if you're social you won't have a problem. The townhouses can be awesome for pregaming and other activities as long as it doesn't get out of control (a bunch of kids got JAed at the beginning of the year). A couple downsides to basically having an apartment as a freshman are that you have to go to the main townhouse community building to do laundry, and your bathroom only gets cleaned once a month (other bathrooms get cleaned twice a week). A lot of athletes end up in the townhouses. </p>
<p>Overall if you're social you won't have a problem meeting people. some people have their best friends on the floor, but it's just as easy to have friends in other buildings. Your dorm experience is really what you make of it. Leave your door open AT LEAST the first week and walk around. It's SO easy to meet people if you put in any effort at all. Remember that housing is randomly assigned (being in donlon doesn't make you social, being in balch doesn't mean you don't like boys, etc.)</p>