<p>Global Studies is a Living Learning Community. That means that it’s basically just an area of a floor in Comstock that just houses people with similar interests. That’s about it. You might do some more specific activities for welcome week, and so forth, but it’s moreover just a selective housing arrangement. They also have the Gay/Lesbian/Bisexual LLC in Comstock. It’s just a group of similar people assigned to live together in the dorms. </p>
<p>As far as meeting people goes, you generally hang out with the people that you live around. Not really the people in your classes, because the classes are larger and everyone is focused on that. There are plenty of student organizations on campus, so if you go out of your way, you should have no trouble in meeting people and networking. </p>
<p>Just remember that in the dorms, even if you don’t have any of your friends there, neither do any of the other people. They’ll be going out of their way to meet people just like you are. In fact, the first 2 weeks or so can be somewhat awkward due to that fact that people are overly trying to meet others. </p>
<p>In regards to the dorms, the main options that you have are the Superblock, Comstock, Middlebrook, Sanford, Bailey, On-Campus apartments, and Off-Campus apartments.
If this is your first year, and you really don’t know anyone, don’t live in the apartments. If you do know some people, an apartment can be better, and the Off-Campus apartments like District on Delaware are better than the On-Campus options in my own opinion.</p>
<p>The U of M - Twin Cities has two main campuses. One in Saint Paul, and one in Minneapolis. They’re very different from each other, with the Minneapolis campus being the primary campus. The Saint Paul campus is more like a traditional land-grant school, and focuses on Agriculture, Botany, Veterinary Medicine, etc. Unless you’re in Pre-Vet, or something that would require you to go to the St. Paul campus, DO NOT GO FOR BAILEY. The Bailey residence hall is on the St. Paul campus, and so you’d have to commute (5-15 minutes) to the Minneapolis campus a lot, and you’d feel much more disconnected and not a real part of the campus. You’ll be prone to being late, as the buses aren’t always on time, especially in the winter. </p>
<p>Comstock is personally my favorite of the residence halls, because of its location and feel. It’s the closest to the mall, and the Union. There aren’t as many Freshman, though. You’ll have the option of living by yourself or with someone else. But the LLC you’re considering might require that you room with someone. It just depends. </p>
<p>If you go with the Superblock, they’re generally similar. Pioneer is the oldest, and doesn’t have air-conditioning. Centennial is my favorite of the superblocks, but it doesn’t have that many double rooms, so you’ll more than likely be by yourself. But this also applies to everyone else, so they’ll also be trying to meet people much as yourself.
Territorial and Frontier are Freshman only dorms. Territorial is apparently more social than Frontier, but both are good options. You will be forced to room with someone that you don’t know, though. </p>
<p>There are a very good number of people living in the Superblock, which is the four residence halls I just described all on one city block with common area in between them. You’ll always see people coming and going, and a lot of the social scene is focused around the Superblock. It’s also right next to Stadium Village, which has a lot of restaurants and so forth.</p>
<p>Middlebrook is a tower on the West Bank. It has more arts majors and honors students, but its location isn’t that great. It’s not the best neighborhood, as it has the highest concentration of poor housing projects in the city. Most of the crimes on campus occur to students on the West Bank at night. And you would be walking back to your dorm at night if you go out at all. The building right next to the West Bank is known as the “Crack Stacks”, and you can do a Google Image search of it, and it will be the first result. The fact that it’s on the West Bank will also mean that you’ll have to cross the Mississippi river on a daily basis to get to the majority of your classes on the East Bank. The bridge can be somewhat crowded at certain times of the day, and it might make you late. It’s also not the best walk to do in the winter months because of how cold it gets. You can avoid the weather on the East Bank by taking the underground tunnels and Skywalks known as “The Gopher Way”.</p>
<p>Sanford is somewhat off campus on the far north-western end of the East Bank. It’s right next to Dinkytown, which is the entertainment district in Minneapolis that focuses around the U’s students. But it also can have some safety issues for walking to at night, but as long as you practice common sense in when and where to be at night, you should have no problems at all. The eating facility in Sanford is rather nice, and has a great view of the city. There are a lot of student athletes in Sanford. </p>
<p>I’d mainly look at a map if I were you, find the residence halls, and know where the majority of your classes will be. It all depends on what your major is. Just know that the East Bank is generally the place you want to be, and that if you’re not secluded in your room all day, you shouldn’t have any trouble meeting people.</p>
<p>Best of luck to you!</p>