<p>Can anyone tell me the perceptions of various houses? I love Smith but it makes my head spin.</p>
<p>Honestly, the perceptions of the various houses will change from year to year as new people move in and graduates leave. These are just a very few of the houses, but they are the only ones I can attest to:</p>
<p>[ul]</p>
<p>[<em>] Cutter-Ziskind: home to the “nerdiest” people on campus; good location, ugly buildings. “I live in Cutter-Z” usually results in “Oh, I’m sorry” from other students.
[</em>] The Quad: lots of parties. Sorry, not too familiar with the perceptions of the individual houses. I heard that last year Scales took the rivalry with King too seriously or vice versa.
[<em>] Capen: the Quad on Elm Street. Raucous but not nearly as much as the Quad.
[</em>] Gillett: SCABIES. O_O
[<em>] Tenney: offbeat vegetarians (but also very smart).
[</em>] Lawrence: best house on campus. 
[/ul]</p>
<p>But not biased or anything about Lawrence house, I’m sure! 
Thanks so much for the advice, it makes a lot of sense ~ <3</p>
<p>Biased about Lawrence House? Me? Never! ;)</p>
<p>Glad I can help, even if it’s just a little help.</p>
<p>When we took a tour of campus the guide took us to her house, Cutter, which reminded me of a 50’s Howard Johnson motel. But she seemed to love it and inside it was quite nice.</p>
<p>We just went over 20,000 posts…Smith College Forum FTW!</p>
<p>@Phanatic: It really means a lot to me…thank you <333</p>
<p>@bossf51: Yay Smith forum! 
I saw a few houses on tour and they were all really beautiful…I just looked up Cutter and it wasn’t that bad but compared to the others…</p>
<p>Lawrence? Close. Very close. </p>
<p>Hubbard.</p>
<p>Green Street is kinda like the women’s colleges in microcosm: they’re all great but there’s sibling rivalry among them; however, they all agree that they’re better than the Quad. </p>
<p>Got that?</p>
<p>Best rivalry dig I ever heard at another house was, “X, where not even the walls are straight.”</p>
<p><walks away=“” whistling=“” tunelessly=“”></walks></p>
<p>Hey now, not only did I happily live in Cutter for several years, I was on Cutter house council, so let me tell you for a fact: only the Ziskind kids qualify as the nerdiest people
:-p I loved Cutter, though I was unhappy to be put there at first and I always had to apologize to my tours that they weren’t getting to see any of the pretty houses. Still, it’s the people that make a house, not the architecture, and we had some of the very best people when I lived there. I knew much prettier houses with much more miserable residents. </p>
<p>Seriously, since housing is assigned more or less at random and is a mix of all four years (versus at some other colleges where students choose houses based on their particular persona, like frats), the housing situation changes a lot from year to year. A really fun house with a tight community might be undone when a group of seniors who drive the community graduate or when a group of quiet first years move in and vice versa. So that renders questions like this more or less meaningless. Pick a house based on what you want in terms of location and size, and then see how the character suits. There’s nothing wrong with changing your house at the end of your first year, or even your first semester.</p>
<p>Cutter and Ziskind do have a lot of pluses. The dining hall there is one of the better ones on campus and it’s nice to have that convenience. The rooms are also a really good size with great windows. On any other campus, they would not be so vilified, but when other dorms have the appearance of Chapin or Tyler, Cutter-Z looks less appealing, at least from the outside. </p>
<p>S&P, I’m definitely not insulting your old house. I actually like it a lot, and the people last year in Cutter-Z were fantastic.</p>
<p>TD, you nailed it about Green Street, though I’m definitely not Hubbard’s biggest fan. But it does have a fantastic location… and at least, like you said, it’s not the Quad. ;)</p>
<p>Something else to realize is that you don’t HAVE to be part of the house community in your own house. There are plenty of people who are very involved, and there are others who just go there own way. You can also be involved in other houses communities if you have a lot of friends there (not in a formal capacity, but there have been cases where I knew more people in a house and about what was happening there than one of my friends who lived there). Don’t let where you live be a limiting factor in who your friends are, but also don’t shut out the possibility of being involved in your house until you give it a shot and get a feel for the people there.</p>
<p>Just to iterate what everyone else has sad, house character changes A LOT from year to year. I personally loved living in my house first year, and liked it last year. However, looking at where the community is headed next year, I decided to move as did all of my core group of friends in my former house. We all still plan on graduating with that house, but it was time for all of us to try something different and do our own version of going abroad.</p>
<p>House vibes also depend on who is living there that year! </p>
<p>Totally agree with McPucks about being part of other house communities. My house has zero house community. Most (if not all) of my good friends are from other houses, and I’ve come to love the other houses.</p>
<p>one plus of king, scales, cutter ziskind - all singles from first year on and because all first years are in singles it there is bonding even without roommates. D loves having a single but still has lots of friends in her house. D Quad house has combo of parties and lot’s of serious studying. On the other hand she has to walk across camus to most classes regardless of weather or cold :)</p>
<p>Cutter Z is not all singles, there are definitely doubles and first years definitely live in them. But there are only 8 doubles for each house (four on each floor), so your chances of having a single are higher, especially after first year. </p>
<p>Definitely agree that you shouldn’t let where you live limit who your friends are. Going to other houses for visits is half the fun!</p>
<p>Thank you so much for all the responses, you guys! S&P, I definitely wasn’t trying to step on anyone’s feelings about houses or anything–all I know are pictures! It’s good to know that house isn’t necessarily something that will determine your whole existence. It’s been kind emphasized to me, so…yeah…</p>
<p>:-) It’s ok, I’m not at all offended, I’m used to standing up for old Cutter, she needs all the love she can get!</p>
<p>oops sorry for the misinfo on C-Z At least as of last year Scales is al singles and King might have a couple of doubles</p>
<p>I think King has some suites or something along those lines. At any rate, I did know first years in Cutter in singles, and definitely a possibility.</p>
<p>Can anyone tell me anything about the Parsons Annex/Parsons house? It’s seriously the one house I can find NO info on. Is it that bad? I really wanted the quad but was too afraid to first choice it, ugh :(</p>
<p>@SmithieandProud Are there actually kitchens on the second/third floors of Cutter? <a href=“http://www.smith.edu/sao/reslife/floorplans/cutter-3rd.pdf[/url]”>http://www.smith.edu/sao/reslife/floorplans/cutter-3rd.pdf</a> And is there any other advice you’d like to give to a first year who’ll be living in Cutter…? :]</p>