<p>I've accepted my offer of admission for the College of Engineering for the fall of 2011. Now, I'm having trouble deciding which housing would be the best option for me. I've been looking through the different SLOs for choices as well. I just have a few questions about East Halls and Pollock Halls. If you have had experience with this, I'd appreciate some help.</p>
<p>-How good would my chances be of being accepted to the FISE SLO if I decided soon?
-Do SLOs cost more money than regular housing?
-East is said to be crazy. Does the FISE Pennypacker SLO reflect this? Or is it far enough away to not be too disrupted by the partying?
-Would the Engineering House (West) and Engineering and Applied Sciences Interest House (Pollock) also be options for me? How do they compare to FISE? Do freshmen often choose either of these?
-East is said to be far away from everything. How far would it actually be from many of the classes I would take as a freshman, if it's possible to guess? How far is it from the HUB and the central parts of campus?</p>
<p>-I think if you put it as your first choice you’ll have a pretty good chance of getting in there. Just make sure to put Pollock (or something else) as your second choice if you don’t want to be in a non-SLO East room.
-I don’t think so, they’re just organizational. I’d email them just in case though.
-I have a friend in FISE in Pennypacker, and he said that’s it’s a lot of “foreign and weird kids”, which ironically made it easier for him to make friends with the normal people there. It’s generally known as the weird dorm.
-<a href=“Home Page | LiveOn”>Home Page | LiveOn;
FISE encompasses three different colleges, whereas the other two are just Engineering majors. From what I know, there are a decent amount of freshmen there: you won’t be the only one, but by no means is it all freshmen.
-<a href=“http://www.campusmaps.psu.edu/print/pdf/main_color.pdf”>http://www.campusmaps.psu.edu/print/pdf/main_color.pdf</a>
You’re right, East is far far away from where most of your classes will be (unless you’re a business major). I’d get to know the bus system (CATA) as those can be your best friend. Also consider bringing a bike, though there are pros and cons to that too. And it’s probably a fifteen minute walk to the HUB from East.</p>
<p>Thanks a lot for all that information! Do you think SLOs have that great of an advantage over regular housing? And I’m guessing your friend that lives in FISE isn’t one of the “foreign and weird kids”. Do you know if he regrets choosing FISE, or is he at least content there? </p>
<p>And I guess I could ask this too: Do you know anyone with a four-person suite in the North Halls? Is it not very common for freshmen to live there?</p>
<p>I think it really depends on the person (to answer the advantage question). Personally, I regret not choosing to live in an SLO and instead rooming with my friend, because I go there and see the camaraderie between everyone because of their shared interests. That’s just one example and obviously all of them aren’t going to be like that, especially the broader ones (I assume). Haha no he’s one of the normal kids, and I’m pretty sure he doesn’t regret living there at all because that’s where he met his closest friends so far. Like I said, it seems as if the normal kids banded together quite nicely. </p>
<p>Yea I know someone who lives in one of those suites in North. I’m pretty sure it’s mostly for kids who requested to live there (because of its solidarity/close proximity to stuff), so it seems as if most of the kids there are secluded and cliqued off. All in all, it just doesn’t seem worth it, though the hallways there are super nice, hotel-esque.</p>
<p>Once again, thanks for your time, you’ve cleared up a lot for me! I’ll probably decide very soon because I don’t want to miss any chances at the SLOs.</p>