<p>Hey rising freshman, hopefully you have not yet made your housing selection before you read this. If you have, maybe you can change it. Hopefully this thread will still be around for 2016 and on. I am going to give you my inside scoop on JHU freshman housing, ranked in order from best to worst, and why. Enjoy.</p>
<ol>
<li>Wolman (Suite style living in which each suite has 2 double bedrooms, a small kitchen, and a bathroom. AC. common rooms on each floor that have some couches, tables, and a TV)<br></li>
</ol>
<p>Wolman is by far the best housing choice, for two important reasons. </p>
<pre><code> A) It has air conditioning (unlike the AMRs). If you live in the AMRs you will be miserable for the first 2 months of school; I woke up in a pile of sweat multiple nights, even with multiple fans on me. Heat wasn't an issue in April or May, thankfully, but it seriously sucked in the first 2 months.
B) Each floor has a common room for people to chill in (unlike the AMRs and the Buildings). In the AMRs or the Buildings, if you want to hang out outside of your own room, you generally have to chill on the floor in the hallway. This sucks for two reasons. 1. it's not very comfortable 2. The walls are thin and you can hear everyone who chills out in the hallways crystal clear, which kept me up many a night. I actually had to get out of bed and ask people outside to pipe down at 2, 3, 4, 5 AM, even during finals period. You don't have the noise problem in wolman because the common room is far away enough from the rooms that, in addition to the double doorway, you won't have noise bleed in.
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<p>Other reasons why Wolman is cool:</p>
<pre><code> -You have a small kitchen (no stove, but a microwave, fridge, cupboards, and stovetop) to store and cook your food when you don't feel like leaving your room.
-You have your own bathroom, which is right next to your bedroom. Sharing a floor bathroom with 15 or so other guys in the AMRs was not a big deal, but having your own bathroom rocks because 1. it's right next to your bedroom; some unlucky people in the AMRs have to walk way down the hallway to get to their bathroom 2. you can keep all your toiletries in your bathroom instead of having to repeatedly cart your stuff from your bedroom to the bathroom (which, again, could be way down the hallway)
-Elevators! If you're ever tired, sore, injured and on crutches or in a wheelchair, etc, voila! Up you go, without any trouble at all. I lived on the third floor of AMR II, which was 30 steps up. No elevators in AMRs or Buldings, so have fun climbing those stairs. That said, many people on the 2nd or 3rd floors of Wolman just took the stairs, but at least you have the option of elevators
-Regardless of what people say about the AMRs being the social dorms, it really is just luck. My own floor in the AMRs was pretty anti social and I found myself going to other floors or to Wolman quite often. Wolman was quite social and I knew many floors that bonded quite well.
-Laundry is much closer to your room than in the AMRs. Again, a somewhat minor factor, but all those long trips you will take to the laundry room will add up.
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<p>Some negatives about Wolman that need addressing so I can maintain objectivity. </p>
<pre><code> -It's relatively far from the FFC (dining hall) and the gym. By comparison, the Buldings and the AMRs are right there. But the walk is not more than about 2 minutes, and Wolman has better access to Subway, Chipotle, and Char Mar.
-The turnstiles suck. The ones in the AMRs and the Buildings are much easier to pass, but whatever. This is a very minor factor.
-It's a few hundred dollars more than the AMRs and the Buldings. This is a fair concern, but if you're decently well off and paying ~50,000 a year to go to college, just nut up and pay the extra money to be in Wolman, it is worth it.
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<ol>
<li>The AMRs ("traditional" college housing, doubles along a hallway with community bathrooms, no AC, no elevators)</li>
</ol>
<p>Good things</p>
<pre><code> -Proximity to the FFC and the gym. Very convenient.
-The bathrooms are cleaned daily. In Wolman/the Buldings, you are responsible for cleaning up
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<p>Bad things</p>
<pre><code> -No AC. This really sucks. I'm not being a drama queen. I, like most people, don't like waking up in sweat pools or returning to an 85 degree room after walking around in 100 degree heat. You're going to be crying for AC after a day. Another note, although the parents won't want to hear this: pre-gaming gets EXTREMELY hot. Wolman is much nicer for that.
-Community bathrooms. These suck not because you have to share with other people (get over it) but because they can be far from your room and you cannot keep your things in them. Have fun walking down the hallway every night with your tote bags and towels.
-the common room is far away. best hangout spots are cramming into people's hot rooms or in the hallways. Hallways suck for 2 reasons: they aren't comfortable and the noise you make goes right into rooms.
-No elevators. if you're hurt or tired, tough nuggets. Up the stairs you go.
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<ol>
<li>The Buldings, A and B (suitstyle living like Wolman in which each suite has 2 double bedrooms and a bathroom, but no kitchen)</li>
</ol>
<p>Good things</p>
<pre><code> -AC
-private bathroom next to room that you can keep your things in
-proximity to FFC and gym
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<p>Bad things</p>
<pre><code> -even though this really isn't a fair consideration, and can change year to year, the Buildings simply have a reputation for being lame. If you like to hole up in your room and play video games by yourself, then this could be a good thing. But if you like to socialize and meet people, you won't want to live in the buildings. And if you get stuck there, you will want to hang out elsewhere, as several people I know did.
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<p>So there you have it! Any more questions, just ask. </p>
<p>A side note: go for a single, seriously. Having a roommate is cool for about a week because you will always have someone to chill with, but after that it sucks. Even if you manage to avoid personality conflicts/general jerks, there are other problems. One of you will keep the other up every night or wake the other up early every morning - I always went to bed later than my roommate, and despite serious attempts at silence, he would wake up. Similarly, he woke me up in the morning. Also, having to sexile your roommate when you want to get busy with someone sucks, and having your girlfriend/boyfriend sleepover is always a little awkward. That said, if you can live with someone for a year in the same room and never have any serious problems, you can do anything. But go for the single. Everyone I knew with one loved it. Girls, I SERIOUSLY recommend getting a single, as it seems ladies have much more trouble getting along than gents.</p>
From what current students have said, finding a single at Wolman is like finding diamond. Is this truuu?</p>