Freshmen Housing

<p>I was just wondering how freshmen housing is selected. I know that you write down your area preferences but how are you assigned them? Is it based on your deposit date?
Thanks!</p>

<p>ya they go by your preferences based on when you send your deposit in. FYI do not chose lake or village areas, they are the oldest dorms and do not have air conditioning.</p>

<p>eman, which areas are the best in your opinion?</p>

<p>My D lived in the Village sophomore year and loved it there. There were very few days in which she missed the AC and she found the location convenient to everything. She lived in Potomac, one of the new AC dorms freshman year, and liked the dorm but most of her classes were as far away on campus as you can get so she did get weary of that.</p>

<p>My daughter lived in Potomac her freshman year. She really loved it and appreciated the air conditioning and new building. She never really minded the walk to class. She is now in the village for her sophomore year. While the heat was tough at the beginning of the year, she now says the convenience of being close to everything is great.</p>

<p>I currently live in Potomac, which is in the skyline area and also includes Shenandoah and Chesapeake. The skyline dorms are the newest dorms and are very nice with A/C and kind of hotel like. Only drawback is that they are far from everything. Bluestone are also nice as well, all have A/c and have recently been renovated. Hillside are also nice but not as nice as Bluestone and Skyline, they do have A/C. The village area are decent because of the suites and are only not the best at the beginning of 1st semester and end of 2nd semester because of no A/C. Advoid lake area at all costs, they are the oldest dorms with no air conditioning. So I would put my put my preferences as 1.skyline, 2 bluestone, 3 hillside, 4 village, 5 lake. any other questions feel free to ask.</p>

<p>My son lives in Chesapeake; he was lucky and received his first choice of dorm. All three Skyline dorms have A/C (controlled in each room), have study halls and lounges on both wings of all floors, and are close to the East Campus Dining Hall and the Festival Center. There is a feeling of being on the far side of campus.</p>

<p>Not all the Bluestone dorms have A/C, just those that have been renovated; you won’t get to choose which one you want. All the Hillside dorms have A/C. The Village dorms are to be demolished in the long-term plan; word is that they were “like a sauna” until early October.</p>

<p>There are more dining choices on the older (west) side of campus, and evidently a feeling that this is the main part of campus; it’s closer to the downtown area of Harrisonburg and to the off-campus bus routes. The newer (east) side of campus is more spread out, can have some terrific views out the windows, and is closer to the main shopping area of Harrisonburg.</p>

<p>My son is a freshman and has a suite in the Village, and immediately had 5 close buddies, and a living room to hang out. He is close to most of his classes. He does have to go to the library to study though, for quiet.</p>

<p>So if AC is a must, would this be the order of preference? Hillside #1, Skyline or Lake Area Tree houses #2? Bluestone seems to be hit or miss with the AC. Village has none, and only Rockingham in the Lake Area has AC. Can you just request the Lake Tree Houses, which all have AC, rather than the other Lake Area dorms that are not air conditioned?</p>

<p>actually all bluestone dorms have A/C now with the renovation of Wayland expected to be completed by the summer, all bluestone dorms will have A/C. So the preference would be Skyline, Bluestone, Hillside, lake, village.</p>

<p>@Eman121991, thanks! So just curious, Skyline is so far from everything but in spite of this it’s so much nicer than the other areas that you rank it #1? How long does it take to get to the academic buildings from the Skyline area? And is it possible to request the Tree House dorms that do have AC in the Lake area, or are you randomly assigned any of the Lake area dorms if you choose Lake area? Thanks again for your advice.</p>

<p>The skyline dorms are about a 15 minute walk to the quad and the main campus but there are three bus stops on east campus that you can catch to get to west campus. Also if you end up on east campus it would be nice to have a bike, as there are many bike racks throughout campus. First semester i lived in skyline and then moved over to bluestone this semester. For freshmen, you cannot pick your resident hall, all you can do is once you send in your deposit is rank the areas 1 to 5 based on your personal preference. Where you live also depends on when you place your deposit, the later you send in your deposit the less likely you are to get your number 1 area preference.</p>