<p>Hi! Grinnell is my top choice right now so I'm reading all about housing options.</p>
<ul>
<li><p>I like the Air Conditioned + Substance-Free Hannibal Kershaw; how hard is it to get a room in there?</p></li>
<li><p>How good are the people that match roomates? I know first years will have roomates so... just wondering.</p></li>
<li><p>Which house is your favourite? Why?</p></li>
<li><p>Deadline for substance-free sign-ups is April 9 (Friday), does that apply to first-years too?</p></li>
<li><p>Do you always get singles in Junior and Senior Years?</p></li>
</ul>
<p>Three years ago, when my son was filling out his housing form, he wasn’t given a choice of dorms. They just asked questions about things like his preferred sleeping schedule. BTW, be TOTALLY honest about this. My son and the roomie they gave him are both total night owls and that worked out very well. </p>
<p>He asked for sub-free and didn’t get it because those dorms were full, but they grouped all the overflow of sub-free requesters together on one floor of another dorm and that worked out great. He was put in Norris which some say is the worst dorm on campus, but he and all his floormates loved it. He did get AC without asking for it, so that was nice. Second year he and his roomie lucked out and got a co-op room. It was like a big efficiency apartment with its own kitchen and bathroom. This year, he studied abroad first semester, so he got a single vacated by someone who’s studying abroad now. I imagine he’ll get a single next year if he wants it, but I don’t know if it’s guaranteed. He really enjoyed Cleveland last year and I think that’s where he is again. I hope your roommate is as good a match as my son’s was!</p>
<p>As to the question of whether you always get a single junior and senior year, I can only say that when I was on campus this weekend, I read a notice to rising juniors that said “due to the fact that you are such a large class, not all of you will get a single room next year…” or words to that effect. It was urging those with higher room draw numbers to think about who they would want to room with, assuming all the singles were taken. </p>
<p>The Class of 2012 is extraordinarily large, so the college balanced that the next year by decreasing class size in the Class of 2013. The good news for you is that, as a member of the Class of 2014, you stand a pretty good chance of getting a single, because there will be fewer seniors in front of you at room draw time when you are a rising junior. </p>
<p>In addition to singles, there are many triples and it is not uncommon for sophomores to get these. In these units at least one and often two of the residents get their own room.</p>
<p>For those thinking about sub-free housing, S says it really is pretty much as advertised. That doesn’t mean anyone polices you, and you can imbibe/inhale intoxicants at parties held elsewhere, but if you are walking around with alcohol or pot, or acting loud and intoxicated in the dorm, it will be brought up. He says it haven’t been any issues during the two years that he’s lived in sub-free and most people (and their guests) are pretty respectful of the rules.</p>
<p>I hope they don’t overyield again this year. There’s only so much they can control it. I believe they also have some apartments on campus, larger than the efficiency my son had, that might be desirable for seniors.</p>
<p>Seniors pretty much always get a single, if your room draw number as a Junior sucks, you might still be living in a double. because of the size of class 2012 they are encouraging a lot of Juniors and Seniors to move off-campus though, so no idea how that is going to turn out. </p>
<p>In generally the housing office does a fairly good job with matching people as roommates, but I know a few people, who do not get along with their roommates at all, so you should better be honest on that housing form. </p>
<p>As for sub-free housing, they reserve a certain number of rooms for first-years, this however does not mean, that you will get it(even though most people do). If you request sub-free you could also end up living in Smith or James(I think). The latter is officially sub-free but due to its location most people living there are not. The deadline only applies for returning students. Kershaw shouldn’t be too hard to get, because it is East Campus, but as others have mentioned first-years don’t get to pick their dorm.</p>
<p>My favorite hall, is Loose. I really like South Campus in general, and I feel like I lucked out being placed on my floor in my dorm. Loose is close to pretty much everything, my floor is fairly quiet(even though there are tons of parties in Loose), I live on a gender-neutral floor(I did not request this) which enabled me to have my 2nd roommate move in with me.</p>
<p>^ Nope you’re right. Osgood is not the most popular president. While a lot of people do not oppose him per se, many are glad that we will have a new president next year. He didn’t seem to have listened to student input too much.</p>
<p>Kuhlman’s letter is from 2007 so it is a bit dated. Here’s a link to the student newspaper (S and B) 2007 publication with an article addressing Kuhlmann’s letter and Grinnell’s mental health policies. </p>
<p>Grinnell has reorganized its mental health services for next year and will have on campus fulltime psychologists available exclusively to the college community. I think you can find info about this change on the college website.</p>
<p>Thanks for the uber-quick answers! Nothing beats personal experiences.</p>
<p>I still have much to learn about Grinnell… and I thought the website covered most of it. There are just so many things to read. The S&B and The B&S are pretty interesting. I’ll be pretty busy reading those these days.</p>
<p>Hope nobody will mind if I ask one more question: what is the residential life like in general? Comfortable, prison-like,…? Two big bathrooms for the whole floor: yay or nay? The coop-rooms and apartments bethievet mentioned seems nice too… I suck at deciding. </p>
<p>Mmm… Last one, I promise! How far is the closest Wal-Mart-like… Mart? (Sorry for torturing and stomping on your language, English is not my forte D=)</p>
<p>There is a Walmart in Grinnell, although not within walking distance-maybe a mile down the road? We ordered a lot of bulky and small things online in advance, and then picked them up at the Walmart when we arrived on campus to drop S off as a freshman. That seemed to be what a lot of others did as well. There are also regular runs to Walmart during the school year, should you need something-and trips to the mall near Iowa City, so you don’t have to drag everything you need with you.</p>
<p>Of course, you can shop in town too for certain kinds of things. And that is walking distance to the campus.</p>
<p>The residential life depends a lot on where you live. For example if you end up being the only non-athlete on your floor no matter where you live, your experience might not be the best.
Most floors have two big bathrooms for the whole floor, a lot of them are gender-neutral, although the floor decides at the beginning of the year. The bathrooms in east are really nice, the ones on south and north are a bit older, although it varies by dorm.
In general it depends on your floor. Some dorms are really nice with big rooms, while others are not really bigger than a closet.
You most likely won’t get the Coops or the apartment until at least Junior Year. Unless you are extremely lucky. </p>
<p>The Wal-Mart is on the edge of town, about a 50-minute walk. </p>
<p>Well, mile is a bit longer distance, but I definitely wouldnt consider it outside of waliking distance. I guess it’s true that people in the US don’t walk very often and go everywhere by car instead…</p>
<p>Edit:to the 2nd post - 50 minute is apparently not a walking distance, but one mile is definitely not 50 minutes…</p>
<p>Cermi–yes, you could easily walk to the Wal-Mart, but might not be able to carry large heavy items back to your dorm. Students help each other at Grinnell. Offer to pay for gas and you can get a ride. It’s a small campus and a small town. You can basically walk anywhere.</p>
<p>Min Pin–My son has loved residential life from the beginning. His floor had really nice bathrooms with very private stalls for showers and toilets. They were designated male and female. I think students vote on how to handle this, but because there were stalls with doors, it felt private enough. You will have a roommate the first two years at least and you might enjoy having one. My son was really lucky to get that co-op apartment, but by the second year, you are choosing your own roommate, so you will enjoy having a friend with you.</p>
<p>Again, be honest on your housing form. And think about who you will be without your parents telling you who you are. Like, would you always want to stay up until 2am if your parents weren’t on your case? (Sorry parents!) In college, your parents won’t be there. Think accordingly.</p>
<p>can you try to request to be on a specific campus/in a specific dorm? (obviously they have no obligation to meet this request, but would they maybe try to honor it?)</p>
<p>when they ask “do you smoke” and if you’d have a problem with a rooommate who smokes, do they strictly mean like…cigarettes or are they subtly including uh, herbal remedies in that? and by “mind” do they mean mind if they do it in the room or mind in general? because i do one but not the other and mind one but not the other…</p>
<p>also, IF i could attempt to request a dorm, which would be best? i’m more concerned with the overall vibe of the dorm than the location/quality of the facilities. i’d take an ugly fun dorm over a pretty boring one any day.</p>
<p>^ You want to request South I assume from your post? I don’t think you can request any Campus or Dorm at all for that matter. You could try to go for it, if you mention it, but I have no idea if it is going to help at all. </p>
<p>Officially they mean with do you smoke, if you smoke cigarettes. Anything else is up to your interpretation. As far as minding goes, you are officially not allowed to smoke anywhere but on the public sidewalks, so it shouldn’t really be your roommate’s concern if you smoke or not, unless he or she is really sensitive to your clothes smelling of smoke. </p>
<p>What dorm is best depends on what kind of person you are. In generally there is more going on, on South and North Campus than on East, but that doesn’t hold true for every dorm.</p>
<p>I usually stay around one-two hours in supermarkets (don’t judge me :P) so my ride will have to very patient. Haha. Or maybe I should start using those To-Buy lists… But I’m glad there are groceries stores nearby – you never know when you’ll need a cup of ramen at 3 AM.</p>
<p>Thanks for the advice, bethievt! Honesty is the best policy – always.</p>
<p>Thanks for the input, everyone! I learned tons of things these days I’m still deciding between schools that accepted me – so difficult! </p>
<p>How hard is the workload, anyway? I’ve heard lots about it. As an example: three essays, two exams, etc per week? </p>
Nothing beats personal experiences.</p>