<p>Hey guys, you've probably heard this question so many times, but I have to ask, since my preferences are probably different from others. </p>
<p>I am a male student and have been accepted into UIUC's Electrical Engineering program and am trying to decide on which dorm would be the best for me.
Important characteristics: Location, social life, study capabilities.</p>
<p>When I asked some of my college friends who attend UIUC, I was told that ISR, PAR, and Synder were good options. What I heard:
-ISR: quiet, good for studying, "nerdy", gaming, not a lot of social life
-PAR: very social, good food, far from rest of campus</p>
<p>Oh, I also want to mention, I would also like for a Christian community as well. Would the housing play a large role in that?</p>
<p>ISR is known as having a large number of engineering students but it is difficult for freshman to get into because it has a large contingent of upper classmen leaving a lower than usual number of rooms for freshman. Snyder is the substance free dorm where all agree not to bring any alcohol or drugs into the dorm. PAR is one of the dorms that is a long walk to the main quad and engineering quad. Engineering freshman actually occupy most to all of the dorms and it is difficult to say that one is really that much better or that much worse than another. PAR would be somewhat calmer than others but reality is you will find varying personalities and activity levels at all the dorms. You will not find a Christian experience in the dorms except for whatever you personally care to do. There are Private Certified Housing units that promote themselves for that.</p>
<p>^Newman would give you both proximity to engineering quad and a Christian oriented hall but it is Private Certified Housing rather than a UIUC residence hall, which means higher price, although nicer rooms, and your meal plan is restricted to the particular hall. You should also be aware that Private Certified Housing does not have the same system of awarding housing as the UIUC residence halls and accepts applicants as they apply and many have been applying for private certified housing since February and even before. Thus, if you are going to go that route you need to get application in quickly (each private certified has its own application) or risk not being able to get in.</p>
<p>Newman is Catholic and is very nice and has its own food hall. ISR is right next to the engineering campus. PAR is further away…it does have good food a newer cafeteria, but ALL the dorms (not private like Newman) share the same food passes. My kids used to go to PAR for their oriental buffet, but they didn’t live there. I think you’d probably find your niche at any of the dorms. The six pack (Weston, etc.) is where my kids lived and they liked it. You an apply for one of the learning communities and you get to move in early and it almost guarantees you a spot in the dorm.</p>