Freshman Housing

<p>How’s this for a really basic question from a soon-to-be Elon parent: at the March 15-16 spring orientation, are students toured around the various residence/dorm options? And if so, at what point do they submit their preferences? My D applied ED and knows she is Elon-bound, but thinks all the residential options sound great. I hope she will home in on what is right for her during that weekend.
By the way, thanks to all for being so patient with my questions! I am sure they seem very basic, as I said above, but my older girl went to college for theater, so it was a whole different process. We had no idea at this time of year where she would end up, and the application process involved running around the country auditioning. This has been much nicer. And that process led to this: my D ended up knowing and working professionally with so many Elon theater and musical theater students and grads that it was one of the first schools my younger looked at. We figured they must be doing something right at Elon for so many kids to love it so much. I am hopeful my younger D will love it just as much.</p>

<p>Hi - during spring orientation in March - we did do a dorm tour. You do not see every dorm, however. We saw a room in Smith, a room in Colonnades, and two flat/apartment options in Daniely. I recommend taking notes as you go, it tends to blur. Then - he received an online form - maybe in April - which asked him to list choices 1-5 for dorms and answer a few basic questions about sleep preferences, study with music or not, etc. This online form also presented the options for the LCs. Son requested an LC - wrote a short essay about why he was interested in it, what he would contribute, etc. Housing decision was posted on OnTrack later in the spring.</p>

<p>I agree with RVM, take notes as it will all blur, and trust me you will want that info when it comes time to submit your list. If you deposited on or close to Dec. 1, your D will almost certainly get 1st choice, so you want to know what to put in those #1 and 2 spots. I would also investigate the dorms on your own (you can’t get in, but you can look to strike up conversations with kids coming and going.) I suggest you look carefully at Danielly, Colonnades, and Virginia/West. They seem to be the 3 most popular choices and they hit each building type and area of campus. Smith and Carolina are single-sex, but resemble Virginia and Sloan in terms of style (old.) HBB is sort of unique and I know nothing about it. I guess you should look at the Global Village too!</p>

<p>Hello Everyone!</p>

<p>I am a current Freshman and I can give some insight on the living situation. The Global Neighborhood (as I understand- but I could be wrong) will ONLY be learning communities next year. Only two of the five buildings will be complete- that is limited space. All of the language communities are moving there as well as the International Learning Community and a few others. So if that interests you- you will be in the new Global dorms. Also- consider that the common facility that will be located in the middle of the Global Neighborhood will not be finished as well as the other three dorms- that means a lot of construction! But the new dorms are supposed to be very nice. And right next to the performing arts center and brand-new Lakeside dining hall that everyone on campus raves about!</p>

<p>I currently live in Colonnades. It is very nice but not very communal- especially because I live on the first floor which is split in half by the lobby. We do not have that “hall bond” that the older dorms have because we have very narrow hallways and doors that do not prop open. It is very much like living in a hotel. I have a great bond with my suite mates, but do not see many others that much. Some of the other Colonnades floors have a better feel, but from my perspective it is a very nice environment, especially if you like peace and quiet, but not necessarily for meeting tons of people. Pluses- right next to the Colonnades dining hall and KOBC for the business students. They are the newest dorms (besides Global Neighborhood) and very nice</p>

<p>Danieley is a hike but is a great way to live with a large group of people. Freshman can live in flats with 8 girls (4 bedrooms) with a shared kitchen and bathrooms. Some freshman live in 4 person apartments now, but I think that is going to change and they are gearing that towards sophomores next year in order to get more people living on campus. We will see. It is a 15-20 minute walk to get to classes as compared to the 5-10 minute walk from Colonnades and the 1-5 minute walk from the older dorms, but I know people that love the environment. It is very social and you definitely meet large groups of people being in Danieley Center. </p>

<p>West and Carolina are all girls dorms.FOR SOME REASON (unknown to me) Carolina seems to be occupied by very social girls who like to go out often, and West is a little calmer. Now, that is a huge generalization and does not fit everyone by any means…but this trend has continued some years now and deserves some mention. Both halls are very communal environments and there are always girls around the hall and doors open with people to talk to. They are both great places to meet other freshman and very prime locations on campus. </p>

<p>Smith is the only all boys dorm and is the “slums” of Elon. It is chaos non-stop, very dirty and has a permanent odor. But this is to be expected when you put a lot of freshman boys in the same building. Every semester these boys have tons of extra charges for breaking things- most recently they tore a water fountain from the wall among other things. Apparently Elon is considering making Smith co-ed next year (perhaps to control the apparent chaos). That will be interesting.</p>

<p>Sloan and Virginia are both co-ed and seem to be really great communities. Virginia is currently home to A LOT of learning communities (all except the third floor) and Sloan’s entire first floor is the Communications learning community. From what I can tell the residents really like living there. Some are suite style and others are dorms with shared bathrooms. They are also very nice and friendly places to meet new people. And prime location next to the Comm building and McEwen dining hall. </p>

<p>Good luck choosing a place to live! All are great options and I know people who are happy everywhere.</p>

<p>Thank you playourpart for describing the various housing options. I am curious about the Honors Pavillion in the Academic Village. Where is that located and do you know what the facilities are like? How is this different from the Honors housing in the Colonnades? Thanks!</p>

<p>The Honors Pavillion is located near Academic Buildings (it is in fact an academic building itself) with classrooms on the first floor and dorms on the second. This option is very nice (relatively new) and near the history, political science, philosophy and religion buildings and VERY close to the other academic buildings. There are not as many people that live here (this year it was all girls because not enough boys applied to be suite mates) and the people that live there have awesome study spaces and a common kitchen/ common area. It’s commonly known as “Billy House” and the residents always seem to form a close bond. </p>

<p>The honors floor in Colonnades is full of honors students as well as other students (because the hall is very big) so you don’t get the full immersion with just honors students. The dorm is very nice (I actually live in the building) and the nice part of living there is you are guaranteed a room in Colonnades (a prized possession on campus because they are new and very nice). The floor has a common area as well within the hall, not an enclosed room, and is a nice place to be- but a little further from academic buildings.</p>

<p>I lived in Danieley - had a terrible experience (got put with some very difficult people to live with). The walk wasn’t too bad, and the Bio Bus comes regularly enough and drops you off at either the Colonnades dining hall or McMichael so it’s always fairly quick to get to the center of campus. Even if you walk it only takes 10-15 minutes. If you do choose to live in Danieley, I suggest investing in a bike. While I hated living in danieley because of my suitemates, I’m grateful for the exercise it forced me to do. I lost 15 lbs my first semester alone :)</p>

<p>From what I know, Colonnades is like living in a hotel. All the rooms are new and very nice/spacious. It’s the only dorm on campus with elevators, which is useful come move in day. However, I do remember there being issues with fires in colonnades and the firemen were unable to get inside because they didn’t have key cards. But that was only one time.</p>

<p>Sloan/Virginia are great because they’re close to McEwen dining hall. The rooms are pretty good, though I have heard of insect problems in Sloan. West is all girls and the oldest building on campus. I don’t know much about it but I think it’s a good place to live, despite it being an old building. HBB sucks, from what I’ve heard. I have never heard a good thing about living in any of those halls. Carolina is all girls, and veryyy drama-filled, catty and I’ve heard it’s actually quite disgusting to live. Smith is more or less the same with guys, and there’s always something going on there. Some guy ripped a water fountain off the wall last semester, and I think someone threw a vending machine out of a window. But those are just rumors :P</p>

<p>If I had to pick the best place to live, I’d pick colonnades in a heartbeat. It’s the newest, the nicest and it’s close enough to the center of campus without being directly in it, but it’s also close to danieley where the majority of freshman live. Danieley is fine as long as you don’t mind living in a suite - and let me just tell you, living with 7 other randomized people is completely a luck of the draw. You might end up living with your 7 best friends or you might end up, as I did, with 7 nightmares contained in one suite. It’s hit or miss, but then again so is dorm life in general. It’s really just about what you want.</p>