Housing--the thing on everyone's mind

<p>Alright, I know there's another thread titled "dorms," but rather than hijack that one I made this. The last thing I need right now is for someone to post the north by northwestern housing guide because frankly, it isn't helpful at all. Other than the basic information of where the buildings are and whether or not they have air conditioning, the link offers no real information.</p>

<p>This is why I'm reaching out to all of you who have been at NU in recent years, are currently there, or are newcomers who have already cracked the housing dilemma. There are a few dorms I'm interested in hearing about, but I want to keep this open to any dorm and just a discussion about the best fits. Honestly what really holds weight is first hand experience rather than a couple quotes on a website.</p>

<p>I'll start off the list, anyone got info on:</p>

<p>Sargent
Elder
Hinman-lincoln
Ayers
(any other good north dorms? not looking for bobb but not looking for too quite either)
Hinman</p>

<p>The link to the housing prices:</p>

<p>[Rates:</a> Northwestern University](<a href=“http://www.northwestern.edu/living/options/rates.html]Rates:”>http://www.northwestern.edu/living/options/rates.html)</p>

<p>This pretty much decided my choices, so…</p>

<p>The prices decided it? Really? Because the cost differences are negligible, and the differences in culture, location, convenience, and amenities are HUGE.</p>

<p>A $300 difference isn’t negligible, and the amenities aren’t that different.</p>

<p>I’d say Elder. People still go out a lot and its all freshmen which makes for a better community vs Bobb, Ayers, Hinman which include sophomores. A lot of people have told me its a great community.</p>

<p>$300/$52,000 = .57% the single year cost of attendance.</p>

<p>back to the general housing discussion…</p>

<p>how big of a deal is it REALLY to live on north campus when the majority of your classes are on south campus (or vice versa)?</p>

<p>@arbiter213= I don’t pay $52000. And a small percentage doesn’t mean it isn’t a huge amount. Your inability to comprehend that every dollar is a big deal to some people says quite a lot about you. And while I won’t generalize that every NU student is like you, it does make your many posts on the NU forum of a dubious objectivity.</p>

<p>No, I recognize and understand it completely- in addition to being on substantial scholarships and working part time my entire undergraduate career, I’m also about to take out over $150,000 in loans to finance my graduate education. </p>

<p>My point was more don’t be shortsighted, since your freshman dorm is going to have a tremendous impact on your time at NU. Aggregated over the course of the school year, $300 comes to roughly $1.11 a day over the course of the year. I recognize that even this can be a hardship for some families, and yours could very well be one, but I was trying to put this in perspective of the greater financial undertaking of college, choosing your dorm on what is, overall, a small expense may be penny-wise, pound foolish. I’m advocating that you pick dorms using that as a factor, but if necessary you cut costs other ways. </p>

<p>As for “Your inability to comprehend that every dollar is a big deal to some people says quite a lot about you. And while I won’t generalize that every NU student is like you, it does make your many posts on the NU forum of a dubious objectivity.”</p>

<ol>
<li>Your assumption that I can’t grasp that rather than that I was making my above point says a great deal about *you[/you].</li>
<li>You have no idea what I’m like or who I am, so generalizing that every NU student is like me would be especially foolish. For the record, I’m atypical, but part of the atypicality is that I am on substantial scholarship.</li>
<li>I have no idea how my having many posts plus your seeming to think I’m an elitist privileged snob who’s out of touch with fiscal difficulties could even begin to compromise objectivity, but I challenge you to find fault with my posts about NU. You’re in high school- you should perhaps get some perspective before choosing to be so judgmental.</li>
</ol>

<p>Since you asked about Sargent:</p>

<p>I live in Sarge now and it’s okay. People have pretty mixed opinions of it, essentially because no one chooses to live there (except a few engineers, I guess). It was not one of the dorms I listed on my housing application. Because it is not desirable to upperclassmen, the building is essentially all freshmen except for a few sophomores.</p>

<p>Sargent has single-sex floors, which some people like and some hate. There are two guys floors and one floor for girls. The rooms are comparable to other dorms and have ample storage space (more space than other dorms, I’d say), which is nice. There is no A/C, but that’s not a big issue for 90% of the time you’re at school. The building is fairly quiet but definitely social.</p>

<p>It’s nice having a dining hall in the building and, if you’re a math/science/engineering person, you can’t beat Sargent’s location since it’s literally a 30-second walk from Tech. Because most people get “stuck” in Sarge, it’s a good mix of all kinds of NU kids.</p>

<p>Literally every single one of my classes has been on south campus this year, and the walk is not as bad as people say it is. It does feel pretty brutal in the winter, though.</p>

<p>Sorry for the long post, but hopefully this helps.</p>

<p>If it will help…DD lived in North Campus her Sophomore yr-and most of her classes were South Campus-friends she made in her North Campus dorm became room-mates off campus Jr/Sr year.</p>

<p>My freshman S is an Integrated Science Program major, so spends a lot of time in Tech. He wanted a N side residence hall and only applied to them. Well, he got assigned to Hinman in the south. Once he got a bicycle, his attitude about that arrangement changed a lot. He now sees the advantages of being south and closer to the commercial areas. So guess what? He and his roommate for next year (another ISPer) wanted and got a S side residence hall.</p>

<p>Now, note that he’s a SoCal native and had to go through one of the worst winter storms in reent memory this year, having to make his way to classes. Clearly, for him, the distances didn’t appear as large as they did when he was a wide eyed freshman, applying for housing after having seen the campus only once.</p>

<p>Thanks for the input guys. haha no offense but sarget seems a bit less appealing now :p. I mean a dorm that nobody wants shouldn’t really be on the upper part of my list.</p>

<p>And idk, the distance seems pretty big. I want to be able to wake up and be in class within like 10 min, and im pretty sure most of my classes will be in Tech. What kind of classes are in the south anyway?</p>

<p>Oh and is hinman-lincoln basically the same as Elder?</p>

<p>Hinman-Lincoln and Elder combined this year.</p>

<p>As for distance, it’s about a ten-minute walk from Tech on north campus to Kresge on south campus – some would say even shorter. Generally, humanities classes are south. However, it is likely that you’ll have classes on both ends of campus.</p>

<p>Also, just a general note re: dorms…there are basically only three dorms that incoming freshmen want, and those are Allison, Bobb, and Elder. Naturally, not all incoming freshmen can be placed in those dorms. There is a very real possibility that you will be placed in a dorm/res college that you did not list on your housing application. I guess it’s just important to keep an open mind about dorms in general. Don’t place too much stock in what anyone (including the NBN housing guide) tells you about where to live. :)</p>

<p>^Great advice.</p>

<p>Slowly becoming more open to living in the south seeing as how only Elder and partly Sargent appeal to me in the North.</p>

<p>Anyone have some insider info on Hinman 1835, Willard or Allison. This is helping me out a ton.</p>

<p>And btw Hinman-lincoln isnt on the Housing app anymore, I was planning on putting that 1, 2 with elder, but they’re considered one dorm now.</p>

<p>I’ve heard Allison is a fun one.
Whether you live on north or south campus doesn’t make as big of a difference as you think it does. After all, the campus isn’t even a mile in it’s longest measure (north to south).</p>

<p>Is that true about the scale? I thought I was told the sororities are one mile from the fraternities by design…from the olden days.</p>

<p>That’s a myth, but the campus IS longer than a mile, if you measure from Willard to lincoln.</p>

<p>is it true that if both you and your requested roommate request the same dorm, you are more likely to get it?
and is green house a fairly social dorm- a good place for freshmen to meet new people?</p>