<p>Lots of questions coming out about housing, so I thought I'd start a thread with as many of the answers as I can come up with. That way I won't have to type them over and over!</p>
<p>I'll mainly be addressing this for incoming freshman, as I don't know as much about transfer housing.</p>
<p>Types of Housing Styles:
Dorms/Residential Halls (1, 2, or 3 person rooms)
Suites (number in rooms depends on building)
Apartments (number also determined by building)</p>
<p>Residential Halls are the typical place for freshmen to be in. They include New/North, Birnkrant, Pardee, Marks Tower, Radisson, Marks Hall, and Trojan Hall. These buildings are in North and South Area. The vast majority of rooms in these halls are doubles. There are a few exceptions, which usually go to sophomores. Of these buildings, only Radisson has air conditioning. However, there are only a few really hot weeks a year (LA rarely gets humid), and I've always been fine surviving with a fan or two (and some popsicles in the fridge!). There are communal bathrooms in all of the buildings other than Radisson. They are cleaned daily, and are rarely crowded. I have never had to wait for an open shower in my three years living in Residential Halls. </p>
<p>The social life in residential halls can vary greatly each year. Students generally self-select into the types of halls that they want to be in. Below, I will describe each hall in detail. All of these halls are located in the same general area of campus, and it will take about five minutes to get to most of your GE courses on campus. This is generally true for all housing, as all of the buildings are on the edges of campus, while the most popular class buildings (THH, WPH etc) are in the middle of campus. If you are on campus, location itself will be pretty unimportant.</p>
<p>New/North: Has a reputation as a party hall. This is partially due to the fact that about 75% of student in the hall will rush (I got this figure from someone who lived there for two years). If you have a good relationship with your roommate and are able to make good rules in the beginning of the year, you should be able to study and sleep when you need to. However, if you need lots of quiet while you sleep, you may have some difficulties here. </p>
<p>Birnkrant: A favorite option for many students. This dorm tends to have a nice mix of socially active students while still being relatively quiet as a building. The location of the building is nice if you plan on studying in the library a lot, and I think you can see the Hollywood sign (on a clear day) from the top floors. </p>
<p>Pardee/Marks Tower: These buildings are truthfully pretty similar. They are connected to each other, and each are large towers. They are relatively social, but not as social as New/North. Pardee has a washer/dryer unit on each floor, while Marks Tower has one in the basement. Both buildings got a plasma screen TV this year (true with many buildings, but I only know the details in South Area). The lounge in Marks Tower was just redone, and I think the Pardee lounge is getting redone soon.</p>
<p>Radisson: Yes, you can live in a hotel. This is the only south area building with co-ed floors. All of the North area buildings (New/North/Birnkrant) are Co-ed (I think...). Each room has a bathroom, air conditioner, and is very big. However, they are across the street, and somewhat disconnected from the social scene. This is one of the quieter halls- very little partying actually happens in the hall.</p>
<p>Marks Hall: (Disclaimer- I RA here!). Last summer the bathrooms and lounges (new TVs and furniture) were redone. This is one of the honors halls, although honors students aren't the only ones living here. This is the first building in South area to have its own exercise room. It has treadmills/ellipticals/bikes with individual TVs attached. Very cool! This is definitely a quieter floor at night, but that doesn't mean that it is asocial. The students here either aren't partiers, or tend to party elsewhere. It isn't boring- things to happen here, and people do go out, they just aren't as loud about it. </p>
<p>Trojan Hall: Another honors hall, but has a larger population of non-honors students than Marks Hall. Has access to the exercise facilities in Marks Hall. Has a lounge with a flat screen TV. Marks Hall and Trojan Hall are considered to be the same community.</p>
<p>I'll go more into the suites etc. later, as this is already really long!</p>