<p>I am more than likely attending TCU, but I have a few questions and would love input from former or current students. </p>
<p>I have basically narrowed down my housing preference to Moncrief, Foster, and Sherley. Can I have some input on these dorms? I understand moncrief is the athlete dorm, and I'm okay with this. I'm a very social person and am looking to have a good time, meet fun people, but I'm still very concerned with academics. </p>
<p>Also, I'm very interested in going Greek, but my parents are suggesting I wait until my sophomore year to rush. Would this be uncommon and/or unwise to do?</p>
<p>I am a current sophomore male TCU and I am glad that you are heavily considering attending this coming fall! </p>
<p>Housing-I can say with 100% confidence all of the residence halls at TCU are nicer than most hotels. And, each kind of has their own stereotypical personality. Moncrief is, like you mentioned, the athlete dorm. But, due to NCAA and TCU guidelines, a good portion of the dorm is non-atheletes. It is moderate-high in terms of noise level. Facilities are nice and recently redone, and the suite style rooms with shared bathrooms are nice if you can snag one. People here tend to be friendly and nice, but less noisy compared to Sherley.
Foster is a little lower on the noise scale. It tends to draw a more diverse crowd with no one type/group of people dominating. The lobby is cozy and Foster generally hosts some of the better residence halls programs on campus. The bathrooms are either suite style or public but shared by fewer people than in other halls. This hall and Clark generally have the strongest communities (rightly nicknamed "Foster Family) and residents tend to be closer to each other.
Sherley is the loudest of the 3 halls you listed. Most of the people that live in Sherley are on the more outgoing side and there’s always something happening here. The hall is also very nice in terms of facilities. The common areas are shiny and new with a movie theater in the basement. The super suites are very popular b/c you get your own room and a common room to hang out in. </p>
<p>Greek life question–This is a case by case question. Though it is a popular activity and boasts just around half the campus, it is not everyone’s thing. I am involved in a social fraternity and I really enjoy it. Some of my best friends are my brothers. But, some of my best friends are in other organizations or not a part of any organization. My opinion is that if you have any inclination to try it at all you should. Even if you don’t find one that works for you, at least you 1) tried 2) met a lot of people that could be your friends in the future. Sophomore rush is definitely an option. It isn’t as common as freshman rush, as most guys have become involved with something other than Greek life by the time sophomore year comes around. It’s hard to give advice on whether or not to wait because of the personal nature of each situation. Don’t worry too much about it. </p>
<p>Long story short–all 3 dorms are great and you will be fine in any of them or others. Greek life is great, but not for everyone. If you want to do it and your parents are ok with it, do it. Worst case it doesn’t work and you try again sophomore year. If you don’t want to do it, there’s tons of stuff to get involved with. Go Frogs.</p>
<p>TCUstudent15, thanks a lot, that really helps. </p>
<p>I want to go Greek but I am just having a tough time convincing my parents to let me rush my freshman year instead of my sophomore year…
It should all work out though.</p>
<p>Clark is one of the newer dorms. It’s a little off the beaten path – which as TCUstuden15 mentions – is why they have such a close community. Sherley always tends to be popular, but Sherley, Foster, Watts and the all girls dorm are all right by each other with lawns between them. It’s a great freshmen community. Milton Daniel is amazing! It’s the honors dorm and only for honors students, but if you get the opportunity to live there – I would go for it! Josephc – as far as Greek Life goes… my advice is to register for recruitment early, go onto the individual fraternity websites and fill out the form that says you’re interested and go through as a freshman. Greek Life in big schools tends to attract freshmen, sophomores and juniors, but TCU is relatively small and it’s a big freshmen thing. Life TCU student15 said, if you or your parents don’t love the impact it’s having on you, you can drop it. But most fraternities have mandatory study hall, community service and designated driver duty for pledges… they keep you on the right track.</p>
<p>Rice1961 is right. Sherley is always the most popular. I think it’s a great option, however I think the other dorms are just as nice and sometimes don’t get the same attention due to lack of exposure. Clark is unique. They call themselves the “Clark Sharks” and the community is consistently the best on campus. All of the dorms have pluses and minuses. The negative for Clark is it is the furthest from the BLUU and other dorms. Likewise on the Greek life question. I was so unsure of it my first year, but looking back it taught me so much about time management and smoothed the transition from high school to college. Again, no pressure though. There is so much to get involved with. It’s one of the perks of a small/medium school.</p>
<p>Roommate question–TCU handles it 2 ways–You can request a roommate and if they request you too, most of the time housing makes it happen. People who know people coming into school do this, but it is becoming more common for people who don’t know each other meet via Facebook and going from there. I did potluck and yes there is a survey. Honestly, it wasn’t super comprehensive and was mostly surface level. That being said, most of the time (~95%) things work out. My roommate wasn’t great, but we made things work. Plus if it’s absolutely terrible, housing usually works with the student and can change assignments.</p>
<p>My experience was that the new students who took the survey and let the TCU Housing System pair up roommates were the happiest. There were no expectations that way and TCU matches kids up really well. Be honest in your survey. there is nothing like your freshman year of college… meeting and living with kids you don’t know from all over the country. You are all in the same boat. TCU does an amazing job with Freshmen Orientation, and you will have a hall full of friends before Week 1 is over. :)</p>
<p>Does anyone know anything about Waits? I’ve heard different things about it. Someone said it was quiet and boring and someone else said it was filled with mainly music students? Are either of these things accurate?</p>
<p>Do you know if the Fraternities rush is in the fall and/or spring semesters? I know many schools have Soroity rush in the fall and Fraternity rush beginning of spring semester?</p>
<p>Formal rush is fall, it’s the most important one fraternities. There is spring rush, but it’s very informal, only a few fraternities participate and even fewer bids are given out. I would stick to summer / fall rush.</p>