Housing Help Please!

<p>So I'm trying to figure out what housing I should request next year at UB. I've been leaning towards Governors because of the honors housing but I'm not sure. What are the benefits/downfalls of Ellicot, Governors, and/or Goodyear? Any info would be greatly appreciated!</p>

<p>i recently visited the school again to make a decision on the dorm rooms, unfortunately i wasn’t able to go into Goodyear, but i can tell you my views on governors and ellicott.</p>

<p>Governors in my opinion was small, i saw a double and the dorms felt a little cramped. Of course governors is more intended for those who are studious, so if you like a quiet place to study hard than governors might be more of your type.</p>

<p>I personally am choosing an Ellicot double, its more roomy than the governors double, and I’m not sure if there is one for governors but at the bottom floor there is a whole wide array of places you can eat and drink. There is one coffee place that the tour guide mentioned had an open mic night, which I am really looking forward too and there seemed to be a wide array of activities that the staff puts on throughout the year, like for example the tour guide mentioned that towards the start of the year there is a buffalo day where everything will be decked out in buffalo, meaning the food, the sports teams, anything buffalo will be celebrated. Its just one i remember out of the few she told us about. The building i visited in Ellicot was Spaulding and i saw outside the window that there was a fitness center where you can get your cardio and weights done in Ellicott. Although there is a gym on the North Campus i like the fact you dont have to go far for a workout. I also liked the fact that there were tables set up around that you could just chill and do your homework at. The lounge room had a stove and microwave, so if your into cooking its easily accessible down the hall. Im not sure about any other room sizes unfortunately. As for safety, the tour guide told us that the doors (except your room) are never locked during the weekdays because there are some classes held inside Ellicot. To access your room you receive an individual key that only you and your roomates can have. As for Bathrooms, although i wasnt able to go inside one, the bathrooms in Ellicot is shared by quite a few people (I think she said it was no more than 6 people? dont trust me entirely on that one). it has a button pushing password and she told us there is a standing shower inside and a few toilets, im not sure about a tub.</p>

<p>I hope this helps!</p>

<p>-Dave</p>

<p>Thanks so much! This was super helpful. I only saw a dorm room at ellicot, not all the extra stuff so this will definitely help with my decision!</p>

<p>Is there any benefit to a Large Double in Ellicot? I only saw a Large Double with a Large Double (meaning connected) for online housing options?</p>

<p>@MCB8831 i asked the same question to my tour guide and she told me that it was basically a double with another room meaning a triple? She didn’t really clarify it for me.</p>

<p>Maybe it has the ‘foyer’ area when you walk in, which is seperate from the sleeping area. If all the double rooms are the same size, this would give you a lot more room in a large double, since the dresser in not in thier, etc…</p>

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<p>Ellicott Food Court…yeah, that place is really nice. Governors has “The Cellar” which is a small place open only a few hours a day. Ellicott Food Court has a bunch of places and is open 24 hours (and has some good food). I make the trip from Gov to Ellicott many weekend nights to get food.</p>

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<p>These are generally RA or hall-sponsored events, they have them in both Governors and Ellicott. Of course, Governors doesn’t have a coffee shop, so open mic nights are held in a lounge.</p>

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<p>Governors has a gym as well.</p>

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<p>Governors has a larger amount of common work areas. Every hall of 8 people has a large common area with table/chairs, plus there are many on the first floor of each building.</p>

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<p>Governors has kitchens too - sink, microwave, stove. Most have a toaster/coffeepot that someone has left out for people to use during the year.</p>

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<p>This isn’t exactly true. Classes are held in Fillmore, which is never locked. The individual buildings (Porter, Spaulding, Richmond, etc) that are residential-only have card-swipe access.</p>

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<p>Ellicott bathrooms are shared by an entire hall, sometimes 10-15 people, but it depends on the size of the hall and bathroom - no two places in Ellicott are built the same. In Governors, you share with 7 other people and get two toilets, a walk-in shower, and a combination tub/shower.</p>

<p>Some bathrooms have passwords, others don’t…for both Ellicott and Governors. I believe all women’s rooms do, and random men’s ones.</p>

<p>Thanks for the info! Do you know if the governors halls of 8 are coed?</p>

<p>We visited UB on Saturday. Part of the tour included Governor’s. The tour guide indicated that within the hall of 4 rooms or 8 people, it same sex. There are apparently 4 of those sets of 4 rooms on each floor. Two sets are girls and two are guys.</p>

<p>That’s mostly correct. There’s four of each of the hallways of 8 around each stairway. Each building has three stairways…so there’s 3 sets on each floor of a single building.</p>

<p>However, in the halls that connect the “stairway” areas, it’s essentially two of these halls joined end-to-end, so you can have a long hallway with guys in one half and girls in the other. The rest of the hallways are dead-end.</p>

<p>Reminded me of a “funny” story - one of my kids is attending UB now, and another kid went there for a year. The kid who went there for a year was in Ellicott in a single, on a floor that was 1/2 guys and 1/2 girls. The guys’ bathroom didn’t have a lock, but the girl’s bathroom had a passcode lock. In DS’s packet when he checked in, was the passcode for the girl’s bathroom…yes, we did give it back to them.</p>

<p>My D had a large double with attached single in Ellicott last year. There was a foyer area with the 3 closets, which made the large double seem even bigger as all the walls were free. There was enough room in the foyer for a comfy chair and extra supplies (vac/mop/cases of water, etc.). One of the closets was a wardrobe. Highly recommended! Btw, she has never had to share the bath with more than 4 rooms…there are multiple baths on each floor. It is possible to get into the lower level of Ellicott with out card swipe, but not to the residential portions. So, anyone can get to both dining halls, the Blake center, food courts, etc. but there won’t be random people just wandering the halls outside your room.</p>

<p>Sk8rmom - do the Large Doubles vary then? The only choice Online when selecting housing was a Large Double/Large Double option? I gathered this was the only option to get a large double, but you indicated it was with a single? </p>

<p>Is what she had truly a “Large Double” option, or the 'Double with Single" ?? Thanks for all the info you share…</p>

<p>This might be a really stupid question, but when I was looking at the layout of governors I didn’t see a single for an RA…are they in a double on the floor as well or are they somewhere else?</p>

<p>Yeah, RA’s in Governors get regular double-sized rooms (but they have it as a single). They are the A rooms of some of the long hallways. Definitely 204, and I believe 208 and 209…can’t exactly picture it. Can confirm after spring break.</p>

<p>What about the social life in each dorm? I was accepted into the honors college and, after visiting the campus today for open house and attending the honors college presentation, it seemed like a lot of the honors kids are… weirdos. I called my sister (who is also in the honors college and lives in a suite in governors right now) and she told me that a minority of the kids in governors are really “normal” (I would use better terminology if I had it) but that I should dorm there anyways.</p>

<p>As someone who will be attending UB as an honors college engineer in the fall, I’m wondering whether it would be better to just dorm in Ellicott, where some of the dorms are more spacious and the facilities are comparatively nicer, or Governors, where my sister recommended anyways and has been branded as a more quiet place to study.</p>

<p>To be honest, I’m just afraid of having to live with strange, nerdy kids like the ones that currently are in my classes at school (I take mostly APs) in Governors as opposed to living with rowdier ones in Ellicott. I’m sure all this is exaggerated stereotyping, so please correct me.</p>

<p>Thanks in advance.</p>

<p>Same concern… but I did put down for Governers Honors housing… I figured housing is risky anywhere, and if I want to party I can visit friends in Ellicott, but in Governers I can get some better study time and I am closer to the spine (classes). Also Engineering. In my HS, most of the kids in my AP classes are also on my varsity sports teams. Might just be my school…</p>

<p>^ same. I also asked someone who’s at UB about the dorming situation and they told me that you meet tons of people outside of the dorms (actually, they said they were barely in their dorms unless it was to sleep/study). There are going to be a mix of people in any dorming situation. After visiting campus I personally liked the set-up of the governors dorms and the proximity to campus.</p>

<p>Same…Where were you guys yesterday when I was looking around!?</p>

<p>Maybe we should all live in a suite together at Governors!</p>

<p>The suites in Governors are great (way bigger than standard doubles) but unfortunately there are only 2 available for freshman, and they’re first-come-first-serve. They’re probably already filled up.</p>

<p>But anyways, I guess I’ll see you guys next year.</p>