Housing, What are the Good Dorms?

<p>Hey, as an admitted student to Tulane just wondering what the Dorm's stereotypes are? like the party dorm, study dorm, etc. or just what are peoples favorite dorms?
Thanks</p>

<p>Hey, I toured a few weeks ago and spent a few night in different dorms with students, here's my (and their) impressions:</p>

<p>JL- All girls dorm, like a giant sorority but without the majority of the negative connotations. Tad quieter, nice because you dont have to freak out about putting on makeup to go take a shower in the morning. Mixed class. The boys do know where it is though lol. </p>

<p>Wall- Residential college, really nice, you have to write an essay to even try to get into it. Mixed class. By the way, only suite-style living dorm available to freshman. Some say that not having communal bathrooms makes it harder for introverted students to meet the same amount of people they'd be forced to living in another dorm. Recommended for more social people. </p>

<p>Butler- The honors dorm, a tad quieter. Also fairly small and a tad harder to socialize in. (A little...ugly on the outside, people are great though)</p>

<p>Monroe & Sharp- The all-freshman most stereotypical college dorms imaginable. Good for the "true college experience." You might not like them if you're a light sleeper. Best place to meet the most people, these two are right next to each other and large. </p>

<p>Patterson- The "wellness" dorm, offering free yoga and meditation classes. Its pretty tiny and might be considered the black sheep of the dorms, but its great for the chill person. Oh, and despite what the brochure may say, the wellness dorm is not the place to go to avoid alcohol, drugs and smoking. At all. </p>

<p>I think thats all the dorms open to freshmen.</p>

<p>You should note that JL is close to Newcomb (where the humanities are located), but it's physically separated from the other dorms.</p>

<p>The rest are clustered on McCalister and are close to the LBC quad and the dining hall, Bruff.</p>

<p>D is a freshman who lives in Sharp. She absolutely loves it there and would not consider living at any other dorm. She has told me about rumors that JL has a past history as an insane asylum, complete with ghosts. She also told me that Patterson has a reputation as the "rehab" dorm!</p>

<p>LOL, can't comment about Patterson these days, but the JL thing is funny, but alas, apparently not true. Maybe it somehow arose from the fact that the school was founded as a memorial to Josephine Louise (JL) Newcomb's daughter, Sophie, who drowned at 15 years old. That would still be odd since the school started elsewhere in New Orleans and didn't move to its current location until around 1918, so it is not like Sophie ever was there. As an aside, Newcomb College had a swimming requirement for most of its history and the rumor was it was because Sophie drowned. Could be, but Newcomb was extremely innovative in physical education for women from the start, so could just be that too.</p>

<p>Anyway, JL is unique in that many of the rooms are a bit different from each other, not cookie cutter, and a few even have private baths! (although I think these are now reserved for the RA's). It is quite historic, and as noted, a bit quieter because it is slightly separated from McAlister Dr. and the LBC, Bruff, etc. It is only the equivalent of a city block or so, but makes a pretty significant difference in the feel of the place.</p>

<p>Thanks guys, I applied for Monroe</p>

<p>

What the hell…they all must be girls</p>

<p>OP, my S was in Monroe his first year and really ended up enjoying it. It’s been renovated (although 4 years ago the bathrooms still hadn’t been) and seemed a little nicer than Sharp. He had friends in both and says he preferred Monroe. Didn’t seem like a big difference between them though. It’s always good to try and get above the 3rd floor–in case of flooding :)</p>

<p>Does anyone know if a Freshman can get a single room? If so, in what dorms? Thanks</p>

<p>I am 99.9% sure that a freshman getting a single room is impossible. I suppose if you could demonstrate to the school that there was some incontrovertable reason you had to have one they would comply, but I cannot even imagine what kind of reason that would be. I am assuming that you have no significant physical disability, and of course I could be completely wrong on that.</p>

<p>I know the roommate thing is a crapshoot unless you can meet someone at summer orientation (if you go) that you seem to get along with, and then you can request them as your roomie. And it is certainly true that the roommate from hell can make things miserable. But that is actually pretty rare and having a roommate is actually a big part of the freshman experience. Hard to imagine, I know, but try to embrace it.</p>

<p>I’m going to enroll at school of science and engineering, so which dorm is the most convenient for me? Also the price? Thanks for any answer!</p>

<p>Prices you can see on-line, although only for 2008-09 as far as I could find. But they shouldn’t change much:</p>

<p>[Arrive</a>! Residence Halls: Upcoming Rates](<a href=“http://housing.tulane.edu/arrive/uprates.html]Arrive”>http://housing.tulane.edu/arrive/uprates.html)</p>

<p>Science and engineering are on the south side of Freret. The way the dorms are arranged at Tulane, and being a relatively small campus, there really is extremely little difference between the dorm available to freshmen furthest away from that part of campus (Butler) and the closest (Monroe). Those 2 are about 3/4 of a city block apart. But if you think you will use the Reilly center (athletic complex), that is closer to Butler. So maybe you should pick based on price and the characteristics descibed above (post #2, which strikes me as pretty accurate).</p>

<p>Here is the link to the Campus map also:</p>

<p><a href=“http://tulane.edu/about/visiting/uptown-campus-map.cfm[/url]”>http://tulane.edu/about/visiting/uptown-campus-map.cfm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>The school you’re in really doesn’t matter. All dorms are centrally located, except JL.</p>

<p>Poli sci and English are located south of Freret as well as some other, smaller programs. You’ll probably have to go all around campus, so dorm location shouldn’t be too much of a factor, except in the case of JL, if you want to go around at night.</p>

<p>Most people won’t complain that they got a Wall room assignment…</p>

<p>The other dorms have very small preference differences.</p>

<p>09-10 rates
[Tulane</a> University : Housing & Residence Life : Undergraduate Housing : Rates and Amenities : Future Housing Rates](<a href=“http://housing.tulane.edu/futurerates_chart.html]Tulane”>http://housing.tulane.edu/futurerates_chart.html)</p>

<p>Can anybody talk a bit more about their experiences/thoughts about Monroe? I definitely want to be able to be in a social environment, but am a bit worried that being in a “party dorm” will affect my work in a negative manner (just speculation of course)… I have also been admitted to the Honors College, but am not interested in living in Butler. Thanks so much!</p>

<p>maddles - you should PM gabby. She is Honors (DHS even) and chose Monroe. She wrote about it on another thread (<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/tulane-university/1040260-message-current-student-about-tulane-party-scene.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/tulane-university/1040260-message-current-student-about-tulane-party-scene.html&lt;/a&gt; Post #9), but I am quite sure she would not mind you PMing her to get more detailed info. Keep in mind finals start Monday, so she might wait to write back until after they are over. Or she might post here, lol.</p>

<p>I will do that! Thanks so much.</p>

<p>I got my acceptance acknowledgment a few days ago. I am very excited and seriously considering attending in fall. Are any of the freshman dorms known to be more creative and less fratty?</p>

<p>More creative is a tough one. The dorms at Tulane are not split by interest (unless you count Paterson for wellness) so there is no “art dorm” or anything like that. Butler would be the least “fratty”, I imagine. Wall might be one you want to look into as well. Then Paterson. Free yoga classes, might open up your creative channels.</p>