<p>Hi! I'm an incoming first year who was assigned to Gooch. However I have an allergy (not life threatening or anything, more of an annoyance) to dust mites so I specified on my medical form that I would prefer not to be placed in a dorm with carpeting in the rooms (which is the case in Gooch).</p>
<p>So I talked to housing and although they were very accommodating, they said the only open housing that had rooms w/o carpeting was in the IRC.</p>
<p>I'm pretty social and I really want a traditional first year experience with plenty of opportunities to meet people. I know Gooch is an all-first year dorm, but has a reputation of being anti-social. the IRC looks pretty social, but do first years feel isolated from their classmates, since there are not many first years in IRC?</p>
<p>Also how do the locations of the two dorms compare? the IRC looks closer to grounds but looks far away from all the other first years. Does this limit opportunities to meet other first years substantially? Gooch looks farther away from grounds but appears to be closer to the other first year dorms (Alderman etc.) so would it be worth it to stay in Gooch to be near other first years?</p>
<p>My allergy is an annoyance, but I can definitely live with it.</p>
<p>Any thoughts/advice would be appreciated!!!!</p>
<p>I lived in an international residence hall in grad school and really enjoyed it. However, my guess is that most first years would prefer to be closer to most other first years.</p>
<p>Is there any way you could arrange a trade on your own with someone in the McCormick Road dorms, which don’t have carpets? Housing may not be happy with that arrangement, but I bet on the facebook group you could find someone assigned to McCormick would who prefer a single air conditioned room in Gooch.</p>
<p>Gooch has AC which may actually help you - and my daughter just spent her 1st year in Gooch and loved it!! Truly loved it - I think the anti-social stigma is an old one and not applicable anymore. Now that it is used for 1st years they make a big effort to have activities, etc. The suite style arrangements can make it trickier for socialization (my daughter was lucky in that she and her suitemates all got along really well and bonded) but they also spent a lot of time with other suites, etc.</p>
<p>I have also heard good things about the IRC but I don’t know anything about it.</p>
<p>I’m surprised you are choosing no air conditioning over air conditioning if you have allergies. However, I also really dislike carpeting (I had to buy a Dyson when I moved in to my current apartment after living in Brown with floors for 4 years) because of my allergies. At worst, just get yourself a Dyson. If you do switch to a place with floors, make sure you bring a swiffer!</p>
<p>Hey! I was placed in a single dorm on McCormick which is close to central grounds and not carpeted and am looking for a single at Gooch. Are you female?</p>
<p>Before you switch to McCormick think twice about it. S1’s allergies were awful in McCormick. He loved living there though! The floors were not carpet however the rooms are very very dusty and filled with pollen. You have to leave your windows open because of the lack of AC. He had not had allergy or asthma issues in years but he did living there. He had a cough for months and months that no allergy meds or antibiotics could remedy. He learned to keep his room clean and dusted. By doing this he and his roommate kept the pollen and dust at bay. We knew it was the dorm when he came home for break and he was fine in a matter of days. When he would return it would start all over again. He would not trade his 1st year experience living in McCormick. He loved it! </p>
<p>My point is if you have allergies and are in AC or have another option such as the IRC chose one of those and not the dorms with no AC.</p>
<p>Your mention of allergies more then likely placed a dorm with A/C on higher priority for housing then your request for no carpeting. The housing blog actually stated in the spring if you had allergies to please let them know and request A/C due to the seasons in Charlottesville. They know what they’re doing. As others have said you are going to be better off sticking with A/C and navigating the carpet. </p>
<p>Regarding the dorm reputation… First year students can’t pick their dorms, it’s random. The old stereotypes of what dorms house what type of students are outdated. Each year the dorm takes on the personality of those that are randomly assigned so who knows from year to year what that might be. Some lend themselves to more socializing then others, however there is no way to know where the ‘loners’, ‘partiers’, ‘jocks’, or ‘preps’ will be. More then likely each dorm will be a mix.</p>
<p>S1 lived in the IRC last year and will return as a second year, so are most of his friends.
You can not beat the location!
The first years became a very close knit community with a true international flavor.
S1 IRC friends are americans and internationals. He also met friends through his activities and classes. </p>
<p>The activities (and budget) are vast due to the fact that a lot of students are from abroad.
Dinner in the Rotunda, meeting with faculties, free breakfast…check out the IRC website for those. </p>
<p>The non A/C can be bad the first few weeks, but since S1 is allergic to carpet it was the best choice for him. Hope this helps
WAHOO Class of '15</p>
