<p>I’ve known several girls who liked their temp housing and their temp housing group so much that they opted to remain in temp housing as long as possible, so that they could keep their group together. There’s a story about it in one of the old Sophian articles if you want to look. Obviously, temp housing is not ideal, but it may end up being a good experience. And eventually, everyone is placed somewhere. Just hang in there in the meantime, and enjoy the first floor digs. Any temp housers will have a much easier move in than most other first years.</p>
<p>@mommycat1962: If they “A” spaces are inside the room, then yes, they are probably closets. If they’re outside the room, in the halls for example, they may be hall storage spaces, which are sometimes available to students but more often are used by the housekeepers and custodial staff to store supplies. </p>
<p>If your floorplan shows a kitchen anywhere other than the first floor, what you’re actually looking at is a kitchenette. It’s for student use and what kind of equipment it has varies, but there’s usually a sink and a microwave, sometimes a toaster oven or a fridge. If you’re really lucky it will have a table and some other bits and pieces. Kitchenettes vary a lot from house to house, some are really equipped, others are very basic. Students sometimes set up rice cookers or hot water heaters there during term time.</p>
<p>King and Scales are great - do you have a single. My D has for all years which has been great plus many rooms have huge closets! Down side she accumulated more clothes than she can fit in her closet at home.
Plus for your parents an elevator for moving in and out :)</p>
<p>Hey everyone. So I have a question about housing. I know that a lot of people have been placed in temporary housing and such. And I’ve heard that Haven is a cool house to be in. So I know I’m not in too much of a position to be requesting a room change. However, what I really wanted was single housing because I do like to keep some things private and I really wanted a space to call my own. I have a very nice roommate and we live in the biggest double. I was wondering if there was anyone out there who got a single that would like to have a roommate and move into a double at Haven. Also, does Smith allow us to switch rooms and can they help me with this? Or is there some other way to go about getting a single? And what is the likelihood of me getting a room change? All advice and comments are appreciated! Thank you!</p>
<p>Smith does allow you to change rooms, but you have to go through a process that includes completion of forms, a meeting with your area coordinator, and, since you have a roommate, possibly a meeting with the two of you and your head resident to make sure you’re not moving because of conflicts that could be easily resolved. </p>
<p>It is worth noting that you cannot do anything about changing your room until after the first thirty days of the semester. Furthermore, because of the housing crunch this year, singles are going to be hard to come by, and your room request will be processed only after those in temp housing who wish to move have been reassigned. It’s a long process in many cases. </p>
<p>In the meantime, I’d focus on making the best possible situation out of your double. I felt the same way last year about wanting a single and my own space, and I still feel that way, but a double can be good (especially one with a nice roommate!) or at least tolerable until something else opens up if you make it that way. </p>
<p>You’re right, though–Haven is a wonderful house! Plus, you have some excellent HONS this year.</p>
<p>How can you be certain that you’re in temp housing? Is your housing assignment email supposed to say so? Mine doesn’t say anything about temp housing, but it seems like my room has a lot of the characteristics of temp housing.</p>
<p>Also, yet another house community/“what is this house like?” question: What is the community in Washburn like? After searching through some old posts, I’ve gathered that it’s really quiet and studious even for Green St. standards, and someone even said that all of the houses at Smith are great…except for Washburn. I appreciate the proximity to libraries and classrooms, and I did want a house that wasn’t huge or loud, but is there any sense of community in Washburn?</p>
<p>I don’t know if anyone who posts on here regularly is a Washburn resident. If they are, they may be able to shed some light on it. But just to repeat what I said earlier: house community is not really a thing that just exists in isolation. It’s created by people showing up at house events (like tea), joining house council (which you can do in your first year) to plan fun events, spending time with your housemates, finding ways to improve your house. Frankly, whatever anyone tells you about the house community last year is going to have very little to no bearing on the way the community is this year. Not the best thing to hear when you’re trying to imagine what your future will be like, I know, but it’s the honest truth about houses. Like pretty much everything you do at Smith, it’s what you yourself put into it that is going to make or break things. </p>
<p>Washburn I think was recently renovated, so you may not be in temporary housing, they may have just literally changed the S room into a regular room. If you want to know for sure how permanent it is, call ResLife or email them.</p>
<p>My D was in Washburn for two years and is moving to the quad only because she is ready for a single (there are too many rising juniors in Washburn and only a few lucky enough to draw singles). She liked Washburn and found it really convenient to get to class. Certainly, there was a warm sense of community, with people hanging out together, going out to dinner or having house tea. She did say that the house parties were ‘lame’ but she is very much an individualist and not into large groups of any kind. Washburnites have a quirky sense of humor (you’ll meet Mr. Safety Man), but you can skip the Dr. Who episodes if you’re not into it. If you need more information, feel free to PM me and I’ll get you in touch with her.</p>
<p>^It looks like Doctor Who is catching on more and more at Smith, and I very much approve of this. :D</p>
<p>My daughter will be quite thrilled with that!</p>
<p>Doctor Who watching parties? Sounds like my kind of house.</p>
<p>Treefingers: If you’ve looked at a floorplan and you are pretty clearly in a nontraditional space – i.e. a TV room or study – it’s a pretty safe bet you’re in transitional housing. And they don’t tell you in your housing assignment e-mail. You will get a call or some other kind of communication from the housing office in a couple of weeks explaining that you are in transitional housing and what the process will be for moving into a more permanent situation. Like Smithieandproud I’ve heard of students who liked their temp housing so much they actually petitioned to stay – in some cases it seems roommates just bonded and/or they bonded with the house and/or decided that the space they occupy is more convenient/spacious/felicitous than at least some other potential options. And sometimes it’s just to be endured temporarily.</p>
<p>Washburn’s rather hard to describe, and I’m saying that as a rising sophomore Washburnite! We’re quiet but lively at the same time, very quirky, very warm sense of house community. Some people are a lot more involved than others, but that’s the same in every house! The important thing to remember is that there’s more to the house than the few people you will meet orientation week - they are lovely, but there are also people who are not so openly involved in the House Council bit of house community who are also so very much worth getting to know. We’re a mix of really interesting people, teas are always well attended (and not just for the absolutely delicious food Hubbard sends over), and someone will always be there to lend an ear if you need one. If you like Doctor Who, I can already think of a bunch of people you can talk Doctor Who with, most of whom are very, very good friends of mine. We don’t really throw “official” house parties beyond Winter/Spring Weekend and Senior Banquet, but there’s usually a few “unofficial” dance/theme parties in personal rooms every now and then. I like it that way, I like being able to go party when I want to but having a peaceful (and neat!) house to come home to. I personally love the house, I love the group of people I come home to, and I’m very excited to meet all of the first years - I hope you will love it as much as I do! If you have any more questions, please, please feel free to PM me! You can also find one of your HONS on the Facebook thread for Washburn, so if you haven’t taken a look at that yet, you should! Looking forward to meeting you!</p>
<p>Thanks for the detailed description, ppa!</p>
<p>I’ve been placed in King House and I’ve been wondering…is the Quad really known for being noisy and party-happy? That’s what I’ve heard and I’m kind of worried just cause I like the calm and quiet life. And does anyone have some information on King House? Like room size, atmosphere, inhabitants, AC/heating, etc. Haha I’m basically clueless about it except for what they give on the Smith website.</p>
<p>Lee you might want to check your class’s Facebook site. They have separate discussion groups on all the houses.</p>
<p>[Smith</a> College Class of 2015 | Facebook](<a href=“http://www.facebook.com/pages/Smith-College-Class-of-2015/174620342569361]Smith”>Redirecting...)</p>
<p>Most of the large all campus parties do happen in the Quad, though they don’t happen in the same house every weekend. King is a good house because it’s almost all singles, and you have a good dining hall. It’s also one of the larger houses, I think around 100 residents? Some people prefer the smaller houses, it’s a little bit more of an intimate experience because there’s not quite so many people to get to know. But the nice thing about a larger house is that you have a wide variety of people to choose from when making in-house friends. So if you’re not that into the party life, you can probably find people who feel as you do to hang out with. </p>
<p>Best piece of advice is just to be open minded. Smith College parties aren’t like Animal House parties or other college parties in TVs or movies. You may find they’re more to your taste than you realize, and if you don’t, then there are plenty of other things to do on campus other than party. If there’s a party going on you can always go into your nice quiet room, shut the door, and turn on a movie. Or go to another part of campus.</p>
<p>I stayed in Jordan when i was a prospie and the saturday night “partying” really wasn’t that loud. It was some loud giggling and some stomping around in heels but that’s about it. Nothing worth worrying about.</p>
<p>Also, King is pretty great. Most of the people who live there are really close with each other and have a great house community</p>
<p>I am currently trying to get excited about living in Wilder (the Quad was my last choice in housing previously) and would love, love, LOVE any insider comments concerning it or the tiny quadrangle it shares with it’s sister house. </p>
<p>I am also a more mellow and studious person by nature, so I am thinkful that the party scene isn’t as extreme on the quad as my imagination led me to believe it might have been. </p>
<p>So incredibly pumped for Smith in any case. :D</p>
<p>King house has been known to be the Green Street of the quad in that it is the quietest of the houses. The singles definitely contribute to that quietness, and sometimes those sort of nicknames tend to be self fulfilling prophecies since when upperclassmen move around they move to houses that have the culture they want.</p>
<p>Partying at smith tends to be more subdued unless your house is hosting a house party. There are smaller room parties, but they tend to be quieter and generally pretty respectful of all of the people in the hall. When asked to quiet down by housemates, people are generally very amenable to those requests.</p>