<p>I'm a Dartmouth '14, and in my free time I've started to look out the various housing options for freshmen.</p>
<p>I consider myself very studious (borderline nerdy :P) but still pretty social and friendly. I'm like everyone's small Asian little brother, and I'm not too interested in partying hard/drinking. </p>
<p>How well does Dartmouth pair up roommates? I know that Dartmouth has a very friendly community, but if I were to get a WASP, big and tall and athletic/born-to-party roommate, would we acutally get along? </p>
<p>I'm also considering East Wheelock, though I've heard stereotypes of its being socially awkward...</p>
<p>Please give me your insights!
Thank youuuuuuu :)</p>
<p>Roommate matches are always a bit of the tossup. We have a survey like most schools but in all honesty there is no perfect matching. Most of my friends are happy with their roommates but there are some exceptions that really make me value my roommate. </p>
<p>I wouldn’t suggest you make a profile of the roommate you will hate (“WASP, big and tall and athletic/born-to-party roommate”) because usually it can be the minor things that can get to you more than the big things. Some of what I thought were the best roommate pairings ended up being the worst ones and vice versa.</p>
<p>East Wheelock really isn’t that social awkward and is also a guarantee that you will have nice housing (I lucked out with Mclauglin) You will have more of a trek to go out and there is a lot more academic and social programing. (meeting with professor,discussion panels, ect) The people who chose East Wheelock are less likely to go out as often but they certainly still go out and it isn’t like they spend their day sitting together playing Scrabble. I would say to consider East Wheelock if you really want a dorm that is going to function as more a community. And a lot of the programing they have is pretty interesting but it isn’t like there aren’t enough things like that available to the entire student body. </p>
<p>P.S.
You have until the summer before you even start getting info about dorms and there isn’t much you can do besides fill out the survey. So besides deciding about East Wheelock, don’t worry about it. Believe me, because of our late start we send out all the documents out late (relative to a lot of other colleges)… you will have more than enough time to worry pointlessly about housing, celebrate/ cry about the dorm you got and dig deep in your roomies facebook profile.</p>
<p>If you don’t apply to East Wheelock you run the chance of getting the infamous “river cluster”. You could get lucky and get one of the nice dorms in Fahey/McLane or McLaughlin though.</p>
<p>One virtue of the River is that you are likely to get a 3-rm suite, which consists of two tiny bedrooms and a small common room. The rooms are small BUT you have your own bedroom and can close the door behind you. There’s a lot to be said for that.</p>
<p>That’s the strategy DS tried freshmen year–didn’t work though he ended up in Mclaughlin and loved it. For Soph year he chose a triple in the Fayers–he had a great number and could have gotten much more upscale housing, but wanted to be with his class. So unlike at many schools I think many at Dartmouth many choose peers over dorm quality which is why most freshmen seem happy wherever they land.</p>
<p>If you can’t deal with lots of partying (read often out of control drunk freshmen) choose E. Wheelock.</p>
I’m a '13 and I actually moved out of my assigned dorm. There are so many different types of people at Dartmouth, but the floor culture affects you whether you want it to or not. I’ve found that a happy medium is sub-free housing. Plenty of my friends in Little (a sub-free building in the Choates) go out and just keep their partying and loudness outside of the dorm, which seems like what you might be looking for. I didn’t move to a sub-free floor but I really wish I had applied for it when I filled out the survey. I actually really like my floor now and am glad that I got out of the situation, but mostly people just deal with their situations. I don’t know too many people IN LOVE with their roommates (definitely some, though), but part of the experience is learning how to deal with many different types of people.
As for roommates… I got along with mine really well. We would never be good friends but, a few road bumps aside, it worked out. My new roomie is awesome… although we never see each other since we’re always so busy.
East Wheelock… I love the people there, but it’s far away from everything and so they don’t seem to hang out with everyone else as much…but idk. I wouldn’t say it’s because they’re socially awkward, but they are self-selecting. I guess my point is that… you don’t have much of a say in where you live/who you room with anyway. Pick a living situation that you know you can deal with, whether that’s a single, double, triple, quad, etc. Then, pick EW, sub-free, or regular housing… and pretty much everything else is left to ORL. Like masonfactor said, you have plenty of time to worry about it… or not worry about it. Almost everyone is happy with their living situations… even people in the River (love you guys.)</p>
<p>
Keyword is pointless. Yeah, I *****ed when I found out I was in the Choates, but honestly… most people absolutely love their living situation, even if it wasn’t their first choice. And… DON’T facebook stalk your roomie… or anyone, really. Facebook only tells you what they want you to know.</p>
<p>if you apply for sub-free housing, are you guaranteed to get it (as a freshman)? Also, do people in sub-free housing just not drink in general or do they just don’t want drunk roommates?</p>
<p>Just curious: When you say that East Wheelock is far away from everything, just how far do you mean? My daughter applied to Dartmouth and she is the type who would probably like the EW type of setup, but I want to know where it is located. When we visited last summer, I don’t remember whether we saw it or not.</p>
<p>I think you do get sub free housing if you apply for it. In my DS’s freshmen year they put people who had not applied for it on sub free floors because that’s the only place they could fit them.</p>
<p>OHS: By “far away” we are speaking in Dartmouth terms. It is ~ 2 blocks east of the green. So really not that far away at all, just somewhat distanced compared to some other residential clusters. (excluding the river, which is farther that EW by far.</p>
<p>geezer: You can almost be guaranteed sub-free if you apply for it (like hmom said, some kids get it even if they don’t due to running out of non-sub free space.) However, the “sub-free” policy isn’t enforced in any noticeable way. It is supposed to be a community mindset, but you’ll find a lot of people change their minds once they get to college (or just applied for it because their parents made them.) You best bet for the closest to true subfree as you can come would be to apply for East Wheelock.</p>
<p>Thanks for the campus map. It helps a lot to know where EW is located. If she gets in, she might just be comfortable in that type of setting, since she is quiet and studious. On the other hand, if the students there are on the antisocial side, she wouldn’t come out of her shell the way she would if she were surrounded by more outgoing people. I suppose it is hard to strike a balance between having a large room that is quiet so you can study, but at the same time, to have more outgoing people around to encourage you to be more social. Thanks again for the info.</p>
<p>Thank you everyone for your suggestions and insights! I’m sorry that I stereotyped–I acutally don’t care what kind of roomie I get, it’s just I worry that they won’t like me
But it’s ok: I’ll try my hardest to get along!! :)</p>
<p>Based on what I have read and your opinions, I think I’m leaning towards (if only slightly) E. Wheelock, though I’m always open to anything I get so long as its DARTMOUTH!</p>
<p>I have a few more questions: Is it hard to get into E. Wheelock? Are a lot of people rejected each year?</p>
<p>Also, coming from CA’s SF Bay Area, I’m not really sure as to how to dress during the NH winters… Do students wear ski pants/jackets to get to class?</p>
<p>From what I’ve heard from current/past East Wheelock residents, what I think is one of the bigger drawbacks is that there as much interactions between residents on the floors- there definitely isn’t a lot of open door type thing. It’s really quiet, which is probably nice, but a friend of mine lives there and doesn’t know or talk to quite a large portion of the people on her floor.</p>
<p>Also, I’m a bay area kid too! So far, people wore jeans and flats and northfaces and peacoats in the fall, and then when it started to get really cold out in the winter, jeans (sometimes with tights underneath when it’s really cold), puffy jackets/ski jackets sometimes with sweaters underneath, and boots.
For me, essentials were a fleece for fall and then a lovely puffy jacket and uggs (fake ones work fine, too) for winter months.
If you’re a guy, just like pants and a quality down jacket or warm jacket of some kind and you’re good to go. Some of the guys on my floor wear timbs and shoes like that as well, but a bunch just wear nikes.</p>
<p>Excuse my innocence of the winter, but honestly don’t know ANYTHING about snow… hehe</p>
<p>Wouldn’t the snow soak your pants if you wear jeans? Wouldn’t you have to wear the kind of pants used when skiing (the fatty overall-esque pants)?</p>
<p>No one wears snow pants… we do shovel, so you aren’t typically trudging through feet of snow, and people wear boots. the issue isn’t so much your pants getting wet, its your jeans and shoes being covered in salt! </p>
<p>Girls wear leggings and uggs no matter the weather. Yes, in freezing weather, you should theoretically wear pants, but pants involve buttons and zippers, and many of us are far too lazy for things like buttons and zippers.</p>
