<p>I'm a freshman about to enroll into WashU, and I was wondering if housing is on a first-come, first-serve basis? And do all the modern buildings [and the traditional ones] look the same inside- the way the rooms/bathrooms are arranged, common rom, study room, etc.</p>
<p>I'm a prospective freshman too, actually, but I just toured the campus and here's what I got... There is no 'first-come, first-serve' basis, as long as your housing registration and deposit are in by May 1, you're level with everyone else. The Residential Life Office said they didn't even see housing forms until May 7th or so. Since all on-time housing applications are unranked by the date they are received, there is a "lottery" system in place, though - your odds at better housing (however you define it) may be hurt or helped by the luck of the draw, but that's just internal workings that are out of student's control, at least for your first year (sophie year you can do block registration, that's complicated)... The building layouts are, as far as i know, the same from one modern dorm to the next, or from one traditional dorm to the next (at least essentially)</p>
<p>The difference between modern and traditional is, in layout, this:
Modern dorms are set up in single-sex units - two dorm rooms are connected together and the four occupants share one bathroom... the traditional dorms are in a hallway setup - pretty much every floor is coed and there are two bathrooms on each floor. I guess there may be more layout options for upperclassmen, but as far as i know that's the gist of it for us freshman. Hope to see you there next year!</p>
<p>The traditional dorms are really, really bad.</p>
<p>^^^ really? have you visited? a lot of WashU students claimed they really weren't so bad.</p>
<p>kindofblue-</p>
<p>About 90% of prefrosh indicate they want a modern dorm and the handful of them that end up with traditional dorms are disappointed at first, but they end up LOVING the dorms they're in.</p>
<p>At WashU...there really is no "bad" dorm. They're all really quite nice and spacious.</p>
<p>Disclaimer: I kinda pulled 90% out of my butt to get my point across.</p>
<p>I love the old dorms, and lived in them for 2 years, by choice. You mentioned the same complaint in <a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/washington-university-st-louis/491644-modern-v-traditional-dorm.html#post1060170368%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/washington-university-st-louis/491644-modern-v-traditional-dorm.html#post1060170368</a> , but haven't backed up your point at all.</p>
<p>I live in a new dorm this year, and would actually prefer an old dorm that's built solidly (with cement walls) so that I don't hear people running in the hallways, or the such. Older dorms are built a lot more solidly, and you'll be better insulated from noisy neighbors.</p>
<p>
[quote]
I was wondering if housing is on a first-come, first-serve basis?
[/quote]
No, it's a lottery (I called and asked)</p>