<p>I have a few questions about the BC dorm situation.</p>
<p>1) Do you get to put on the housing form whether you prefer Upper Campus or Newton? Which is better?</p>
<p>2) Is taking the bus from the Newton Campus an extreme hassle and do Newton students feel isolated from the BC community?</p>
<p>3) It says we find out where we will be living in August, but does anyone know when we will be getting housing information to fill out?</p>
<p>4) Are dorms at BC generally nice?</p>
<p>I am sure some of the current students will come on here and give you a more precise answer but here’s mine as a parent of a soph at BC
<p>One benefit of living on Newton campus is that there are NO forced triples.</p>
<p>1) you are able to choose where you want to live on agora/portal in the coming few months when you fill out a housing questionnaire. I lived on Newton my freshman year and loved it. I feel the dorms on Newton are nicer, but the only catch is the bus you have to take to get to campus. I believe trash bins are on the actual halls on Upper and can lead to the floor smelling putrid. There is a separate room for trash on Newton as well as metal bins outside of the dorms.</p>
<p>2) The bus ride is not a hassle, or at least not as much of a hassle as it was my freshman year. BC input a GPS system this year on the buses. So now, you can wait for a bus inside of a building (staying warm in the winter) and simply just walk to the bus stop as the bus nears, but be expected to wait a while since the buses are not necessarily too consistent with the time schedule.</p>
<p>3) I believe more tabs will open up once you have the enrollment deposit, at which point one of the tabs that pop up is the housing questionnaire. I believe you get until the mid to end of June to fill it out, giving you a few orientation sessions to make your decision :)</p>
<p>4) BC’s dorms are surprisingly spacious. There is plenty of room to store all your belongings and then some. The dorms for the most part are kept up to date and is livable, but some of the buildings (Edmonds) need some work. The 8 men rooms on lower are really nice though (Vandy, 90, The Gate), but as I said, some of the buildings are dated.</p>
<p>can anyone give any context to the part in the admissions letter that indicates how many years of guaranteed housing you receive? How big of a deal is it to be guaranteed only three years vs four years? Is the four year guarantee a lot sweeter than the three year, or is the junior year off campus okay? Thanks</p>
<p>The number of years of housing should be in the admissions letter somewhere, I believe it was in the first paragraph when I received mine. I am currently living off campus, and while it may be a hassle to get to class, students are provided much more freedom. Living off campus also helps you prep for the real world when you have to cook for yourself, instead of having the convenience of a dining hall. I am throughly enjoying my time off campus, but I can’t wait to get back on campus next year.</p>
<p>smbsmom, Having 3 years, rather than 4 years, of guaranteed housing is not a big deal at BC because 50% of each incoming class finds itself in that same situation. The year that your S or D will be “kicked off” campus will be the junior year, and many students do a semester or two abroad that year. There are lots of off-campus apartments/houses available and you can get info about them from BC. </p>
<p>My son has 4 years of guaranteed housing, but next year (his junior year), he is going to be on-campus only in the fall. He has opted to move off-campus for the spring semester to fill a spot in an apartment for a friend who is going to study in Europe then. He’ll be back on campus for his senior year.</p>
<p>When you fill out your housing survey, can you request a special kind of room (single, triple, quad)?</p>
<p>I think you can, but unless you have special circumstances, I don’t think your preferences are guaranteed</p>
<p>eemmzz10 is right – You can give your preference for single, double, or triple, and BC will try to accommodate you, but there is no guarantee. Freshmen don’t get singles, unless there is a medical reason. (There are very few singles in any of the BC dorms and those are mostly reserved for RAs.) And if they don’t have enough beds for all freshmen, you may get a “forced triple” (squeezing 3 people into a double). As noted in post #3, if you choose Newton, you definitely won’t get one of those.</p>
<p>Freshmen can get singles without having a medical problem, there are a small amount of the floors, but there are definitely singles available. And if you request Newton you will most likely get it, but if they need more girls or guys on Upper then there is a chance you could get a FT.</p>
<p>1) Yes, you can put a preference,. If you put Newton you will get it, but if you put Upper you will have to wait. I live on Newton now and I love it. Better things about Newton:
-the rooms are bigger
-no forced triples
-Stuart is a much better dining hall than McElroy
-more open space
-you can walk to Newton Center
-generally quieter, not as crazy
-smaller community, easier to meet people</p>
<p>2) It is sometimes, but overall it hasn’t bothered me too much. It is really helpful to be able to track the buses on the internet or phone, it makes a huge difference.</p>
<p>3) I can’t remember, I think it was like sometime in May?</p>
<p>4) Yeah, freshmen dorms are pretty much the same, I think they are nice. For the most part, they are big enough and clean. They are typical dorms.</p>
<p>Freshmen can get singles. Some dorms have one or two singles on each floor. The people I knew who are in one did not request it.</p>
<p>My daughter graduated from BC undergrad and masters 3 years ago. She had a great dorm freshman year and an ok 8 man suite sophomore year ( not lucky enough to get Vandy!) Unfortunately in sophomore year all her roomates were either in Nursing, the honors program or going abroad. They all moved oncapus for Junior year but she wasn’t allowed. She lived at 2000 Comm ave which was an excellent option for off campus housing and had great roommates, 2 of whom she sees often to this day.</p>
<p>But she just a few weeks ago, she brought up the issue of being forced out of her roommate grouping sophomore year and still really resents this.</p>
<p>I remember at Orientation, BC stating they do this due to the high % of study abroad students. While most of the juniors come back in Senior year praying for a MOD ( which are pretty crummy), I really wish BC reconsidered this policy. Perhaps when the new dorms are built, this won’t be a forced choice.</p>
<p>That being said, she did well by BC, made many lifelong friends who remain in the Boston area and always seemed to enjoy her dorm experiences even if she didn’t get a posh dorm!</p>
<p>As for Newton Campus…while you might be initially miffed if assigned there, those students do form a very close bond and while the transportation may be a slight hassle, the comraderie far outweighs that.</p>