<p>I will be enrolling in Tufts this year and was wondering which housing option I should apply for; I read the benefits of both programs- Tilton, Houston, Haskell, and Hill 2013 and The Bridge Program- but I cannot come to a conclusion.</p>
<p>It may be depend on one's preference, but should I go with the first one since it focuses more on helping freshmen adjust to the environment?</p>
<p>Any advice will be appreciated.</p>
<p>I chose the first one because I thought being in a building full of freshmen like me without having teachers ‘visit your lounge to challenge you in discussion’ seemed more fun and relaxed.</p>
<p>The only people I know who ever lived in Metcalf (the Bridge Program) claimed that unless you were personally engaged with the program, it was really just like living in any other dorm, except that Metcalf has possibly the best location of any dorm on campus. Nicely mid-hill.
People usually seem to have fun in the freshman-only dorms, though if you do select a freshman dorm you should make it a priority to join some extracurriculars that will introduce you to upperclassmen. I lived in a mixed-class dorm (Bush) my first year and found it really helpful to have sophomores and even the occasional junior on my floor to field questions and share the benefit of their experience. My second year I again lived in a mixed dorm (Hodgdon) and made several freshman friends who similarly peppered me with questions, which I was always glad to answer.
People who live in South always seem to love the crap out of it, and that’s a mixed dorm as well.</p>
<p>Thanks for the info.!</p>
<p>how much does it suck if you get forced into hill?</p>
<p>Hill kids love Hill. I can’t say that I necessarily understand why. I suppose the rooms are larger than normal. What usually ends up happening is that the kids in Hill all end up socializing primarily with each other, because the rooms are big enough to have small parties in, and everything else is just so friggin far away that once winter sets in, you have no desire to leave the dorm.
Hill kids also make much of the advantages of having the mail room in their building.</p>
<p>One of my close friends who lived in Hill absolutely hated it, but I think part of that was that he had some issues with his roommate and wasn’t too close with many others in the building. Each building has it’s pros and cons, but wherever you wind up you can be happy if you go in with an open mind.</p>
<p>I’m worried about the whole no alcohol thing. It didn’t seem to be too enforced (my host lived in Hill and had alcohol in his room). Are the penalties really harsh if you get caught?</p>
<p>Yeah I’ll second that question…I love my vodka…will my full financial aid be in danger if I’m caught drinking?..I didn’t apply for healthy living, but then alcohol isn’t supposed to be served under 21…</p>
<p>They’ll send you a surveyish thing for drinking education at the end of the summer and if you do it it’s like you get a “get out of jail free” card, with jail being whatever penalties you’d receive if you’re caught drinking. I don’t really know what sorts of repercussions there are otherwise, but I think it is fairly difficult to get caught drinking if you don’t do it in public and are mildly discreet.</p>
<p>Penalties are mild for first and even second offenders. They don’t really try to catch you, so if you get caught twice you need to reevaluate your behavior.</p>
<p>ok that sounds reasonable. I heard you signed some contract if you room in Hill that says if you get caught they suspend you or some craziness.</p>
<p>Well, the “healthy living” area seems to change every year - looks like its Carmichael this year. Just as well, Carmichael isn’t a place you’d ever want to be. If you live in “healthy living”, you are supposed to sign a contract opening yourself up to harsher penalties if you get caught with substances. You hear the occasional horror story about someone being assigned healthy living even though they didn’t register it (as I’ve mentioned before, the sinister Office of Residential Life and Learning and its capricious Witch-Master Yolanda King are by far the worst things about Tufts) but I imagine that you could simply choose to not sign the contract; and they’d either have to accept it or be forced to reassign you. My guess is that no newly-minted freshman has had the stones to just not sign a contract they were told to sign. They couldn’t MAKE you to sign the contract or else it would have no legal merit. They also couldn’t boot you out of the dorms entirely, as freshmen are required to live in campus. Their only remaining option would be to expel the student for not signing the contract, which would attract waaaaay more negative publicity than they could handle.</p>
<p>I chose freshman housing, but did not particularly enjoy it (Haskell). However, most of the people who lived in my dorm really liked it so all-freshman housing may be good for you.</p>
<p>if we get metcalf, is participating in the bridge program mandatory?</p>
<p>I think you’ll only get Metcalf if you indicate interest in the Bridge Program</p>
<p>A couple of my friends didn’t indicate interest in the Bridge program, got housed in Metcalf as freshmen, and didn’t participate in the Bridge activities.</p>