<p>I was accepted, and I'm wondering if there is a dorm that I should apply for?</p>
<p>If you do a Search This Forum for “dorm” or similar you will see a lot of past discussion on this.</p>
<p>I am a parent of a sophomore so I’ll give you my point of view but I don’t think I’m out in left field.</p>
<p>If you’re accepted into Honors Program, I strongly suggest you opt for Daum as you will meet a great bunch of reasonably motivated students. While there were some on my son’s floor who never emerged from their rooms and studies, the majority were very social. The Honors Program at Iowa is not a snobby intellectual group.</p>
<p>If not, I suggest you stay close to the Pentacrest rather than across the river. Burge is a huge first year choice and has the food court within the building. I think it has a bit of a party rep.</p>
<p>Check out the Living Learning Communities, which enable you to share a floor with others in your major. Very helpful for studying. My son continues to rely on his floormates for help with math, his tough subject. Also look for “quiet house” or “quiet floor” which maintain rules of quiet after 10pm.</p>
<p>Also close to Burge are Stanley and Currier. All the options I’ve mentioned will keep you within a 15min walk of all classes you’re likely to have as a freshman.</p>
<p>Hey Beast, Burge has had a party rep for 35+ years. They didn’t call it ‘The Zoo’ for nothing!</p>
<p>When my D was looking, I was definitely impressed with the Honors Program at Daum. Still right in the middle of everything (on that side of the river anyway) but a good place to hermitize yourself if need be.</p>
<p>Bryanwalt,</p>
<p>My daughter lived in Burge and said it was much louder than Currier, Daum, and Stanley. She had friends in all of those dorms and spent enough time visiting to know the culture of each dorm. Burge also had a problem with the fire alarm being pulled in the middle of the night. Not fun if you have an early class, exam, or it’s freezing outside.</p>
<p>I agree with beastman and jnm, if you qualify for the honors dorm try and get in. Otherwise, Currier and Stanley are nice dorms that are close to most of the freshman classes. LLCs are also a good option, although I couldn’t convince my daughter to apply for one. </p>
<p>The most important thing is to get your housing contract in ASAP. It’s first come-first serve and if you don’t want to end up on the other side of the river then apply today!</p>
<p>Best laid plans…a few years ago, my D decided at the last minute to apply & then attend Iowa, after months of saying no way was she going to go to school where her parents did! Because of this (applying in late March) there were no dorm spots left & she ended up with temp housing in the 8th floor lounge in Rienow with 12 other girls, where she resided for most of the fall semester. At winter break she was able to get into a double in Slater (across the street) & all was well, but it was a tough way to start a college career!</p>
<p>Actually, the west side (is that right, I get mixed up!) isn’t bad, esp. in the fall, with Kinnick & Hawkeye football close. I remember some students preferring that side. But I suppose it would be a long walk from Hillcrest to Van Allen (formerly the Physics building). Cambus runs pretty regularly though.</p>
<p>Bottom line, as lovemykids has said, is get that housing contract in now to make sure you get at least one of your top three.</p>
<p>Go Hawks!</p>