<p>I am very social and enjoy partying/concerts/formals/etc, but I tend to get easily distracted when there are people around to talk to. Im an only child I dont mind sharing, but Im used to a quiet study area. I am preppy (sort of a jock) with a definite geeky streak though not that geeky by MIT standards. I want to major in course 2 or 6, maybe minor in 9. Within reason, Id be happier toughing out a poor work environment than I would be living in a really quiet/antisocial one. Anyway, Im think about Baker, BC, and MacGregor, but I have a few questions </p>
<p>Is MacGregor really as antisocial as it seems? Are there more social parts of it? I like the single idea, but Im not sure Id like the dorm in general.</p>
<p>Is Baker loud all the time, or is it relatively conducive to work? I know there are a lot of course 15ers (and a lot of people move out to Greek houses after first year) will I still be able to find upperclassmen doing 2 or 6 when I need help? </p>
<p>I assume it would be easier to readjust from Baker to BC than vice versa am I correct? In general, do you think I chose well? Thank you very much!!</p>
<p>I can help you out with some answers for Baker. It sounds like you would really enjoy it there since you want a social environment. As for the noise, it can get pretty loud, depending on the people in your hall, but it is a GREAT place to make friend freshman year. If you really do want to meet a lot of people this is a great place. As for finding course 2 and 6 people, there will be some everywhere, but for the most part, you will be in freshman classes (GIRs) so every freshmen is in the same boat and you will meet plenty of people who will be able to help you out so don't worry about people in your dorm being in your major.</p>
<p>I can't really help you out in answering the MacGregor questions, but I think you would like Baker a lot (and yes, it is normally easier to switch from Baker to BC than the other way around).</p>
<p>MacGregor does vary pretty significantly by entry -- A, D, and G Entries are usually considered the most social (and having lived in two out of those three, I'd say that's pretty accurate). If you end up in MacGregor after the final housing lottery, you'll go through an in-house rush process where you'll get to pick your final entry, so the quiet people go to the quiet entries and the social people go to the social entries.</p>
<p>The entries I've lived in have been very social, although in different ways -- one was more "sit out in the hallways and talk instead of doing work, then order food together and watch movies on the weekends" (ie social = together), while the other was more "hang out in the lounge and eat meals together instead of doing work, then party on the weekend" (social = parties).</p>
<p>LucyLu- the only dorm I know of (other than McCormick, obviously) to have specifically single-gendered floors is Random.</p>
<p>As for BC, it's very diverse in terms of the personalities of the people who live there as well as the atmospheres on each different floor. There are some floors that are very loud and rowdy, there are some that are very quiet and studious and geeky, and there are some in between. Just so you know. =)</p>
<p>MacGregor also has single-sex suites. I guess technically most are not single-sex floors, because there are two suites on a floor (although there are a few, just by happenstance), but that's really being nitpicky.</p>
<p>All of the suits in BC are technically allowed to be co-ed, but some end up single sex either just by chance or because a bunch of members of the same sex all decide to live together for whatever reason. So I live in a single-sex suite because...we're all girls, and that's why. And if there were a bunch of girls who wanted a single-sex suite for privacy reasons (i.e. not being weirded out by sharing a bathroom with guys), then they could probably arrange that, although it might get kinda tricky to avoid breaking any rooming rules. As a general rule though, the suites are all co-ed, so you shouldn't absolutely count on there being a single-sex suite on any given floor.</p>
<p>Also there's this rule in BC that says that there can't be freshmen of one gender in a suite unless there are upperclassmen of that same gender who live there too. So you can't have a six person suite with 4 guys in the singles and 2 freshmen girls in the double, or vice versa.</p>
<p>So far as I know Simmons is fully co-ed, but the bathrooms are semi-private, so I assume some/most of them are single-sex.</p>
<p>Is that good enough? I have to admit I don't understand the draw of a single-sex environment, but I assume the bathroom situation must have something to do with it. I believe all of the males at MIT have in fact received their cootie shots; that's an immunization required for matriculation.</p>
<p>I am thinking of East Campus or MacGregor because I want a single dorm. Are there any other dorms that offer singles to freshmen upon request? I am a social person who likes to have my own personal space and yet still be able to interact with the people in my dorm. Would MacGregor or EC fit me better? Is it true that EC kids are nerdy-crazy and do not do their hw? I also love to be organized and clean, so a clean dorm hall is nice.</p>
<p>I am thinking of East Campus or MacGregor because I want a single dorm. Are there any other dorms that offer singles to freshmen upon request? I am a social person who likes to have my own personal space and yet still be able to interact with the people in my dorm. Would MacGregor or EC fit me better? Is it true that EC kids are nerdy-crazy and do not do their hw? I also love to be organized and clean, so a clean dorm hall is nice.</p>
<p>I saw both, probably MacGregor would fit you better. EC is not clean, the people are nerdy-crazy, but I also heard somewhere that EC kids have the highest GPA (as a dorm). Whether this involves doing homework or not, I do not know, though I did see a lot of people doing psets over CPW, so to say they don't do their homework is not going to be generally true.</p>
<p>MacGregor has social entries where people talk to each other and hang out all the time, but you still have a single, and your own space. It was also pretty clean.</p>
<p>It's impossible to say for either -- it depends on the preferences of your entire class. You can only tell if you poll the whole class, or a decent percentage thereof.</p>
<p>Historically, neither MacGregor nor Simmons has been the most popular first choice in the dorm lottery, but I'm not sure where on the popularity list the two have historically fallen.</p>
<p>
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I am thinking of East Campus or MacGregor because I want a single dorm. Are there any other dorms that offer singles to freshmen upon request?
[/quote]
Senior Haus also has a very large percentage of singles, and has historically been under-requested. (I've PMed you.)</p>
<p>true, I have a friend there that's a freshman and has a single, and it wasn't hard for her to get it. Anyways, don't go there if you don't like the dorm enviroment (I love it), cause if you don't it will be hard for you to feel good in there, even if you have a single
I don't know you, but I would put more emphasis to where are the people I'd like to be with, than where I might get a single easier.</p>
<p>Haha, when I was a freshman I ranked Senior Haus under Chocolate City because their rush video scared me to death. (I was a somewhat sheltered child.) The dorm is actually very cool, but it certainly has a culture of its own which is not for everybody.</p>
<p>
[quote]
I would put more emphasis to where are the people I'd like to be with, than where I might get a single easier.
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Yes yes yes yes. It will not help you to have a single if you don't like the rest of the people around you. No MIT student is an island, et cetera.</p>
<p>^^ so true. I really think that the most important thing at MIT is how you feel about the people that surrounds you because it's such a challenging environment that you WILL need people that you like in order to relax during all those stressful events that are called psets, exams, etc. I've met people that try to do their path through MIT without socializing, and trust me, it's neither possible nor healthy. And well, dorms have their culture for a reason! :)</p>