<p>Does anyone have any experience with the College Houses or ICC co-ops? My son is interested in either Seneca or 21st Street.</p>
<p>21st Street is known as a party house, so I'm concerned because he is straightedge. He is extremely strong in his convictions (nothing moralistic; he just prefers to be in control of his faculties and thinks getting wasted is really stupid) so I'm not at all concerned about peer pressure or anything like that. But if EVERYONE get wasted all the time, he might not fit in.</p>
<p>So, is it true that 21st Street is just totally a party house, or are there some people who like to party (socialize) without getting wasted?</p>
<p>He really does want to make lots of new friends, so 21st Street is appealing for that reason.</p>
<p>If anyone knows anything about any of the other houses, please tell me anything and everything! </p>
<p>He is also vegetarian, a gamer/geek, and a long-haired metalhead.</p>
<p>21st is quite the party house. I would suggest campus living for the first year, until he has found a base of friends - maybe in the FIGS? The FIGS(Freshman Interest Groups) are housed in a small community of 5 or 6 buildings, with only about 40 students in each, and get a lot of support through the fig program. More expensive than the coops, but better for the first year, I think. If he is religious, I know that there is a lovely house close to campus that runs as a kind of Christian coop.</p>
<p>We had pretty much decided against the dorms because he spent 4 nights in a dorm last summer when he went to the UT Engineering Colloquium, and he hated all the noise and chaos. Also from what I understand it is very hard to get one's first choice of dorm, and he won't even know if he's accepted for at least another month, as he is applying as a transfer.</p>
<p>He's a very sociable person but prefers his privacy too, so what appealed to us about the co-ops is that he can get a private room as part of a suite with 3-4 other private or shared rooms, opening out into a shared kitchenette & living room (21 St.) or a private room in a large house shared by about 20-30 other people (Seneca, Royal). So it's the best of both worlds: a private room but being part of a group of people at the same time. Also, the ICC houses have some that are all vegetarian, which is nice because he will get some freshly cooked veggie meals instead of the usual pizza, pasta and salads. The meals are included, including free access to the kitchen, and even with a private room it is much less expensive than a shared room in a dorm. The catch is that each student has to donate about 4-5 hours per week towards household chores, which isn't too much (less than a part-time job) and usually the chores are done together so even that is a social thing. Overall, the co-ops provide a rich social environment at a lower cost, and the different co-ops have different personalities (some noisier than others, some party houses, some more studious, some vegetarian, some allow pets, etc. oh yeah and he can take his beloved cat!)</p>
<p>For these reasons, we have narrowed it down to a co-op, for sure. We've visited the houses and ruled out some of them, so now mainly would like to get some feedback from people who have lived there to see what the day-to-day details are like.</p>
<p>Thanks for your suggestion about the Christian co-op - I did not know about that. But no, he is not religious. </p>
<p>He will undoubtedly join some clubs, probably for some political activism or something. Agewise he'd be a freshman but he was homeschooled and has college credit from the cc (SAC) so he'll actually be applying as a transfer and will end up with sophomore status due to having over 30 hours. Are you saying that students who enroll in FIGS are housed together in the same dorms? I assume, by their name, that the Figs are only for freshmen?</p>
<p>Yes, figs are for freshman. :)</p>