Hello, I’m an incoming first year who just got assigned a double in Gooch. I was wondering if someone could tell me what that’s like, is it hard to meet people because Gooch isn’t hall style? I know it’s really far from everything, but I don’t really mind the walk. Any insight would be helpful! thanks!!
All housing has its pros and cons. You won’t be living with 20 people on a hall, but you will have a living room for socializing.
One thing new students can do to meet each other is to keep their door open during the first couple weeks, and/or hang out on balconies or other common areas.
Gooch is far but you’ll still meet a ton of other first years out at parties, clubs, classes, sports games, etc. Old dorms kids tend to know their dorm better because it’s hall style and the light weight doors and lower quality amenities make it conducive to socializing for whatever reason (I was in old dorms myself) but new dorms despite being hall style are still less social typically than old dorms. Obviously there are exceptions to the rule but for the most part that’s true. You’ll become close with your suite and as long as you’re an even slightly social person you’ll have tons of friends from all over UVA Don’t worry, no living situation can affect that.
It’s very decent. The air conditioning works (most of the time) and you should be able to make friends easily enough at extracurriculars and other social events. Plus, Gooch is close to Runk Dining Hall, which is generally very decent (but somewhat sparse during off-hours).
You’ll be close to your suitemates,but you’ll also get close with your neighboring suites as your RA will be responsible for a couple of suites and will plan outings for you all. My son loved it in gooch last year and also thought runk had the best food of all the dining halls. You’ll love living there.