<p>I will be entering UA in the Fall 2011 and am trying to determine my Honors housing options for my upcoming Freshman Year based upon certain criteria. I will be in the first group to choose, so am expecting to have several options. Thus, if the Board could assist with the following questions, I would be most appreciative:</p>
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<li><p>I will be coming to the school out-of-state and will not know anyone. Which Honors dorm will have the greatest concentration of Freshmen? I would prefer to be in a situation with other like minded Freshmen.</p></li>
<li><p>I will have a car. Which Honors dorm will have the best access to parking?</p></li>
<li><p>I will be a Business student. Which Honors dorm will be closest to the Business School?</p></li>
<li><p>Which Honors dorm(s) has the best location and amenities in general? </p></li>
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<p>Any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated.</p>
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<li><p>Most of the students living in on-campus housing will be freshmen. If you want to live in a suite with all freshmen, pick an empty suite or search for the people already assigned to the suite on facebook to see if they are freshmen. That said, don’t automatically decide that you don’t want to live with sophomores, juniors, and seniors. You might end up being good friends and are able to use their expertise in navigating university life.</p></li>
<li><p>Hands down, the Ridgecrest Dorms have the best parking, which is the parking garage under Ridgecrest South. The other two Ridgecrests (East is non-honors) are just across the street from Ridgecrest South.</p></li>
<li><p>For your first year, your classes will probably be in buildings throughout campus. In terms of location, the Ridgecrests are a short 4-7 minute walk to the Business School (Bidgood Hall, Alston Hall, and the Bruno Library). The Lakeside Residence halls are an additional 1-2 minutes away.</p></li>
<li><p>The honors dorms are all very similar to each other. Ridgecrest South has a basketball court, Ridgecrest West has a sand volleyball court, and the Riversides have a pool. Also, there is a lake (Lake Palmer) that is surrounded by the Lakesides and Ridgecrest East and West. Around 20 ducks live there. </p></li>
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<p>Riggo–I’m originally from Boston. Lived in Dorchester till I was eight, then moved to Wilmington. In early adulthood, lived all over Boston area–Allston, Brighton, Boston proper (near BU), Cambridge, “Slummerville,” Arlington Heights. Used to love to vacation in the Berkshires. Left Mass. in the early '80s. Have lived in NC 21 years and counting. Total convert to the Southern way of life!</p>
<p>LadyDianeski: The Ridegcrest community is closer to Tenhoor, where a lot of history/political science classes are held. B.B. Comer is home for many of the classes for the classics.</p>
<p>^Okay … hope nobody minds me tagging along here … :)</p>
<p>How about engineering? Are the Ridgecrest honors dorms in a good location for engineering, too? Any other honors dorm wisdom for engineering students? Music students? </p>
<p>Riverside is closer to the engineering complex, but there are plenty of engineering majors who live in the Ridgecrest or Lakeside communities, too.</p>
<p>^And where do Riverside students park? Didn’t I read elsewhere that Riverside is very nice? I can’t for the life of me remember the name of the dorm that we toured, but it was amazing!</p>
<p>When you look at a map, Riverside is to the north of the Engineering and Science buildings and Ridgecrest is to the west. Both groupings of housing are probably about the same distance. </p>
<p>If I was choosing Riverside, I would choose Riverside East. The Ridgecrest buildings are all about the same distance away. Ridgecrest has the multi-level parking structure.</p>
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