-If you’ve applied for housing, where have you done so (community names/building names).
-Did you choose north or south campus and why?
corridor style vs suite style discussion…?
So I’d like to hear your guys’ views on all of the following that a) was your decision or b) is going to be your decision.
So far, here’s what I’ve been able to gather from research online:
North Campus (NC) and South Campus (SC) seem pretty much equal location wise. SC has a better claim to proximity to sporting stadiums/events while NC can claim the more historic/older locations and hang out spots.
NC Residence halls info:
a) smaller rooms
b) older buildings (most built in the 1920s-30s and have no remodel date)
c) lack nicer amenities
d) lack elevators
e) are where majority of returning upperclassmen look to come back to.
f) corridor styles
SC Residence halls info:
a) Buildings either built pre-2000 but remodeled in 12/13. Or straight up built in 2002.
b) average room size a bit bigger
c) suite style
What I’m looking to find out is if NC is really worth it for it’s location or if it really doesn’t make a big difference and people living on SC won’t feel excluded etc.
Don’t forget about Granville Towers also. About 3,000 or so students live there which is technically off campus, but are still dorm like and Freshman can live there. They are suite style, on North Campus next to Franklin street, has its own cafeteria and is closer to many of the frats if you are looking at that. Just keep it in mind in your analysis. You won’t feel excluded on SC as most incoming freshmen live there. You shouldn’t feel excluded in Granville as lots of freshmen live there also. I would be asking if you will feel excluded in NC dorms as there are many fewer freshmen there and the dorms are smaller.
NC dorms are a lot closer to most classes but farther from Rams Head dining hall where most freshman will be eating. NC dorms are closer to Lenior dining hall.
I don’t know what dorms are used for freshman this year. However the dorms I am familiar with (mainly Conner community) are well maintained and clean. They have been renoviated. I would not ne too concerned about age. I and sure that dorms built in 1920 have been updated.
Some NC campus dorms (not necessary this year’s freshman dorms) have elevators. Although it seems most students use the stairs since its faster.
Living on SC will not make you feel excluded. It is where a large majority of the freshman live. Upperclassman tend to live mid campus and NC since it is a closer to classes and Franklin street.
The real qusetion is which option gives you the freshman experience that you want. There will be far fewer freshman living on NC. If you live on NC and have a meal plan most of your meals will probally be eaten in Lenior. While on SC you will eat mainly at Rams Head.
Hinton James and Craige are suite style and they are all freshman dorms. My son lived in both and ended up getting a bike as Hinton James is far. Good thing about that is you won’t gain the freshman 15 because you will do a lot of walking.
My son is going to a Resident Advisor in Craige this coming fall if anyone gets into that dorm.
Hinton James, Craige, and E-Haus appear to be the most popular halls for freshmen. They are all smaller than others, though, no central a/c (an issue if you have allergies), and lesser storage, when compared to the others. But they are the most popular ones, I can only suppose it’s because of the social life or something!
A parent of a current undergraduate here. A couple of comments about residence halls:
(1) The South Campus residence halls are farther away from the academic quad and Franklin Street (although closer to the Dean Dome, it’s a question of priorities). It can be a bit of a hike, but the easy remedies to this are (A) get a bicycle, and/or (B) use the P2P buses (they are free and pretty frequent), here, https://move.unc.edu/p2p/.
(2) My daughter, a current undergraduate, lived in Hinton James (a/k/a “HoJo”) during her first year. Her observation was that the South Campus residence halls have a good bit of esprit de corps; and if you live on South Campus you will typically eat most of your meals with other first-year students, whereas if you live on North Campus, there will likely be many more upperclass students where you eat (although that may or may not be important to you). Another poster once referred to living on South Campus as a “rite of passage”; at times living there isn’t great, but it’s not as bad as many people say. (You don’t go to Carolina for the quality of the residence halls, anyway.)
(3) Some of the residence halls DO NOT have university cleaning services for the restrooms. If the bathroom can only be accessed through a student room – as opposed to access from a common area or hallway – then the university cleaning staff will not clean the restrooms. I think this applies to a couple of residence halls on the South Campus – Manning East/West, and maybe some in Morrison. So depending on whether you want to rely on your self and/or your roommates/suitemates for clean restrooms, that is something to be aware of.
(4) If you did not attend an Admitted Students Day, there will be an opportunity to tour a “model” room at a South Campus residence hall when you attend a first-year orientation session in the summer, so you can see what it looks like. However, I don’t know what the deadlines are for housing requests; perhaps your summer orientation may be too late for you.
The Housing assignments are out! DS applied to room with someone, they’ve been talking since April, and he was assigned with someone else. Anyone know if he can request to be housed with his choice of roommate? Less of an issue is that he applied to Horton and Koury (He is Honors), but was assigned to Graham!
My daughter will be in Craige. She just didn’t want to clean the bathrooms, so she’s happy with the assignment. Hope it looks better than it does online