<p>I got put in Sargent, wanted Elder or Allison. I don't think paying 7k is worth living in Sargent when I could pay almost that much for an apartment or just commute. Do I contact the office or is there something online I could do?</p>
<p>My advice would be to stay in the dorm. The first year of college, from a social standpoint, you should live in a dorm, not in an apartment. Everyone there will be in the same boat. I went to Cornell, albeit 35 years ago, and living in a crappy dorm was part of the college experience, kind of like living in the barracks in the army. The second year, I got a nice dorm.</p>
<p>I totally agree…living in the dorm (however crappy it may be) with fellow classmates can be totally an enriching experience, one that cannot be replicated ever!</p>
<p>Hell, I’d be happy to be in Sargent. I got put into the North Mid Quads, which from what I hear, aren’t too great (and it’s exactly the opposite of what I wanted).</p>
<p>But what can you do, ya know?</p>
<p>True but both donth have A.C., lighting (I’m a night owl), or much of anything else.</p>
<p>My advice would be, don’t live off campus as a freshman. It will be way harder for you to make friends, especially at first. I lived in Sargent two years ago and made some great friends there. The building is not the best but it’s not the worst, either. Not having A/C is only an issue for like 2 months out of the whole school year.</p>
<p>I actually switched into Sargent from my original housing assignment as a freshman, which was somewhere else. If I remember correctly, you <em>can</em> call the housing office and try to get your placement changed – but you’re not going to get into Elder or Allison. Those are the two most popular dorms for freshmen. Any open spots will likely be in dorms like NMQ or SMQ.</p>
<p>What about Willard. Lots of people who didn’t even apply got into it.</p>
<p>You didn’t apply to get into any specific dorm. I didn’t apply for Allison and I got into it. Just take what they give you. It’s all about what you make of it.</p>
<p>at least the dorm is AT Northwestern. And even a bad dorm at NU is better than the best dorm at most other schools.</p>
<p>But I feel your pain. My son is going to be a freshman in Engineering, with most classes expected in Tech, & his Big Sis is a 4 year memeber of a North campus RC. So he put in his Res College letter, wanting a North Campus Res College - BOOM! He gets a South Campus RC that he has absolutely zero interest in. Now THIS will be a learning experience for him - the lesson so far is “MORTY!!! Your New System Sucks!”</p>
<p>However, if you DO want to transfer dorms, Fresh are only allowed to put in to transfer 1st day of Winter Quarter - per the NU website. </p>
<p>Bottom line - I also recommend saying on campus as a freshman. Misery loves company = bonding over the bad = lifetime experience = good college experience. </p>
<p>Good luck to you OP ! :)</p>
<p>True, but considering I received no FA, I dont think it’s fair I didn’t get a better dorm.</p>
<p>Last year D got her last-choice dorm (and we also pay full tuition), but in the end was very happy to have stayed where she was placed. I totally agree with others that it makes no real difference where you live, as you will make great new friends all over campus no matter where you sleep at night… as long as you are sleeping ON campus! D was every bit as happy as her (very few) friends who were placed in dorms higher on their preference list.</p>
<p>As far as I’m aware, financial aid eligibility is not a factor when placing freshmen in dorms. Northwestern is sort of in the middle up a “master plan” to update housing on campus, which means that, while some of the dorms are post-renovation and very nice, others have yet to be renovated and are a bit older. And until the rest of the dorms get updated, which will be a very long process, people will have to live in the older dorms, like Sargent.</p>
<p>There are many students who, like you, did not get the housing assignments they wanted. However, when you get to campus and meet the people in your dorm and start your classes, that kind of stuff just stops mattering, unless you fixate on it like this. If you go into the school year with the mindset that you’re living in a crappy dorm and that it’s going to be a crappy experience, then I’m sure it will be. Your undergraduate living experience at NU is really what you make of it.</p>
<p>My son got his last choice (a south campus res college) and wound up liking it so much he is staying there for soph year. There are worse places than Sargent.</p>
<p>Come on, Sargent is not THAT bad. You also get the convenience of having Tech literally next door, the dining hall within the building, the north campus gym (SPAC) across the parking lot, and the frats within a 2-min walk away. One of my best friends who was used to a very high standard of living lived there and was fine.</p>
<p>Your dorm is what you make of it. Most likely you’ll make a lot of friends, have plenty of fun with them (both in the dorm and elsewhere), gaily observe and undergo some rites of adulthood, and generally have the time of your life.</p>
<p>Whether you are at Dorm X, Y or Z will not really affect this.</p>
<p>You’ll have a blast.</p>
<p>I was a resident of Sellery A at UW-Madison… not the posh Lake Shore dorms or one of the other better-reputed potential domiciles on campus. What we lacked in amenities we more than made up for in our fortunate location – a stone’s throw from the annual Mifflin Street Block Party, a relatively short walk from the Memorial Union on Lake Mendota, State Street and the frats and sororities on Langdon Street. </p>
<p>You’ll surely find your own totems of locational luck.</p>
<p>If I recall, Sargent is undergoing a renovation this year.</p>
<p>To the point – as a freshman, you definitely want to live in the dorms. If you’re engineering, Sargent is really convenient to your classes.</p>
<p>In any event, My D was in Sargent last year as a freshman and she decided to stay there for next year. The dorm is fine.</p>
<p>Re Post #10, I don’t think that whether a student gets FA has anything to do with what dorm s/he gets (nor do I think it should).</p>
<p>It’s not that it should but it’s a lot of money for my parents to pay for. As owners of apartment buildings they almost think they should invest in one in Evanston.</p>
<p>So far I am getting my last choice in everything whereas my friends got their first choices. We’ll see what else I get screwed over on. I don’t even think I put my freshman seminar in my top ten.</p>
<p>WHile i disagree with your post #10 re the relationship (or lack thereof) between FA and getting your choice of dorm, getting a freshman seminar that wasn’t in your top 10 just doesn’t sound right. You might want to call about that and see what happened/whether there’s anything that can be done.</p>