<p>I thought I'd jump ahead of myself by four or five months and start asking about housing. Can someone succinctly describe the different dorms, locations, housing options, rooming surveys, etc? I'll be a freshman in August (I was ED I). I've heard that it doesn't really matter what you request, you just get whatever they pick randomly for you, and that most of the housing is crap. Yes? No? Kind of?</p>
<p>Thanks.</p>
<p>You fill out a rooming survey before your freshman year. It's not that long, but it worked out really well for me and most of the people I know. Only one room on our floor had a problem, but it was because the two people had completely different sleep schedules, and I suspect they didn't fill out the surveys honestly.
It's nothing to worry about right now, really, since you don't get to choose where you live, but don't be so pessimistic about the housing. You could end up in Hill Hall, which has the biggest rooms on campus, or in South, which has the nicest bathrooms, or other places which all have their own pros and cons.</p>
<p>There are tons of options for freshman year, Tufts is all about specializing the dorms. Next year there will be three or four freshman dorms: Tilton, Hill and Houston. You have to indicate on the housing questionnaire that you want to live in a freshman dorm. Lot of people find fresman dorms amazing and really social, but they do tend to be a little rowdy. Next year, Haskell is being turned into an "Active Citizenship" dorm for freshmen, if there is enough interest. There will be residential leaders who facilitate discussions and projects etc. </p>
<p>About the randomness of the housing, I don't think it's that random, most of my friends got what they wanted. I live in Metcalf, which is one of the "special" dorms - we have a bi-weekly discussion program and I had requested it. The random factor comes in when you don't specifically request a program (healthy living, Metcalf, freshman housing, all-female housing) because then you will be stuck wherever, because usually, the not-so-nice dorms are left for freshmen, because the upperclassmen have their housing lottery this week and obviously have first pick. </p>
<p>All in all, all the dorms have their pros and cons, like sam927 said. I love Metcalf because I have a HUGE room, I'm in the heart of the campus but the walls are paperthin. Literally. I think people tend to adjust to the dorm they're put in, it's all about the people you live with.</p>
<p>If you apply for housing late - as in the day you arrive on campus - they probably wont put you in a dorm. I did that several times and they always put me in either a single or some speciality house.</p>
<p>South is where I'd want to be because as was already stated they have great bathrooms. A bathroom for every two rooms I think (might have been every 4 rooms though) and they're private as well. Great water pressure in those bathrooms. Watch out about putting food in the kitchen though because it's pretty much up for grabs.</p>
<p>South is great except for the location and room size. That's my opinion, at least. Oh, and the wind.
But unless you check the box for a special program, you don't get a choice. And even if you do apply for a special program, there's no guarantee you'll get placed there, and some of the special programs (like all-freshman housing) have multiple dorms anyway.</p>
<p>I'd agree with the assessment that each housing option has its pros and cons. I lived in what is undeniably the most bizarre dorm on-campus my freshman year -- Lewis Hall -- and you know what? It was fine. I got to live in the International House sophomore year, which was really fun. Junior year I was abroad in Paris, and now I live off-campus. I got to try absolutely everything, and I wouldn't change a thing. If, for whichever reason, your housing situation is not making you happy, ResLife is pretty good about accomodating moves.</p>
<p>Sam927 - It's funny you mention the wind. I was at South the other day and I couldn't believe how loud the wind was whistling through the windows in one of the dorm rooms. The bathroom privacy is nice in South, but I think the rooms are too small. The singles are like jail cells. I kind of like the rooms in Wren, exposed brick walls and window seats. I like the suite arrangement, although some people feel it limits the number of people that you get to know.
I like some of the older, funkier dorms like Metcalf and West. The room sizes are definitely bigger. Not too thrilled with Carmichael.</p>
<p>Lolabelle - Why did you think Lewis was bizarre?</p>
<p>I definitely get that vibe from Lewis, and I've never been inside.
As for South, the wind actually only howls on one side of the building. It's kind of odd.
And Hill has amazingly large rooms, people. It's like living in a mansion. Okay, it's not at all like living in a mansion, but the rooms are pretty spacious.</p>
<p>That's so true about the wind. I swear, I've never seen anything like you guys. There were nights where the wind was so ferocious that I wasn't sure if the building was going to make it through till morning. Although that's only if you live in the front of South I believe. I never heard that problem in any of the dorms that face college avenue.</p>
<p>Yeah, the singles are pretty small though, but I only lived there for one semester. Things might get a little dicey if I had to stay in that room for a full year, but then again it depends how much stuff you're bringing. I travel very light. Clothes and books is all I really bring.</p>
<p>Jacksonmom:</p>
<p>Lewis' bizarreness is due to the building itself. It is immense, so there is no real community. It was also built to be riot-proof, so it does not have a social flow as other dorms at Tufts do. Additionally, I was a freshman in a hall of transfer students (all transfer students are put in specific halls in either Carmichael or Lewis) and so it was a strange social vibe (more so than if I had been in a non-transfer hallway in Lewis). Whereas my friends in other dorms were surrounded by fellow freshmen, I was enveloped by the transfer scene which is quite different. In the end, I didn't do much socializing in Lewis; I would go to my other friends' dorms and then come back to sleep & shower, and that was about it. The pro? It was quiet, and I could get studying done.</p>
<p>I'd take quiet any day over people waking me up Thursday nights when I have Friday morning classes. Hence my excitement about not living in an all-freshman dorm next year.</p>
<p>What are the pros and cons to requesting an all-freshman dorm?</p>
<p>Freshman housing is usually more social, because no one knows each other yet so they're going out and meeting each other; the assumption is that if you live with a bunch of upperclassmen, they already have their own friends and won't be as outgoing. But I've lived in South both years and have made good friends with people from other classes. Con, as sam said, is that sometimes it's SO social that you can't get peace and quiet.</p>
<p>I am so glad someone mentioned the wind. I live on the side of South that faces Powderhouse, and holy JESUS, the other day, I literally woke up six times during the night because the wind was the loudest thing ever. However, when I lived on the inner hall of South I had no noise problems, esp. when they were doing construction on the tennis courts and parking lots, mwahaha!</p>
<p>Other reasons South is awesome: the bathrooms, naturally, as everyone has mentioned - it's not really "four people to a bathroom," though - if the bathroom next door to yours is occupies, you just walk down the hall until you find a free one. It's nice to just go inside, LOCK THE DOOR, and have your privacy. It's CLEAN, b/c it's the second-newest dorm to Sophia. We don't have any kind of rodents. Whenever someone is like "I AM NOT LIVING IN HERE I JUST SAW A MOUSE," they always get moved to South. We have an elevator, which makes move-in wayyyy easier. Some people don't like the narrow rooms, but I had a corner room both years, so, more space, lol. Also, whoever said the location sucks? What are you talking about? South isn't much farther from anything than is Latin Way, Haskell, Tilton and Lewis. It's, what, a minute's walk to Dewick and the campus center? Plus, it's actually CLOSEST to Davis, just like a 7 minute walk.</p>
<p>I find that people who don't live in South are all like "omg, kill me before I have to live in South, it's sooooo far away from everything", which is hilarious, because most people who live in South choose to live there the next year. I'll take purple and pink doors over brick walls in Wren/Haskell, the "lovely" brown-grey-tile walls of Tilton and Houston any day. Also, it's right behind Aidekman/Granoff, so it's soooo convenient for people who do theater/music. I walk 30 seconds through the parking lot to get to the practice rooms, music lessons and rehearsals.</p>
<p>Other things about Lewis being weird: same-sex wings, and each hallway has its own, nasty unique odor.</p>
<p>Lol, someone once referred to Hillsides as a Cingular commercial: spot on. I'd hate to trek up from Hillsides or Hill to get to the Academic Quad every day. I'd seriously take the Dowling elevator every day.</p>
<p>Carmichael: supposedly antisocial, but you don't have to get bundled up to go to dinner in the winter. Downside: the dinner is in Carmichael, which is the ****tier dining hall. I dare any uphillers to defend it. "It's more cozy, and people always sit in the same spots" - PLEASE. THE FOOD IS NASTY. lol. Dewick is delish.</p>
<p>Housing was so weird this year - I'm glad I didn't have to deal, I'm off-campus. Tilton, Houston and Hill are still all-freshman, but now Haskell is off the list, too; as a result, all those people who wanted suites claimed Wren FIRST! Wren is like, the nastiest dorm, and yet it went long before places like Bush. Stratton is apparently all singles now? And plus, the class of 09 is way too large, so they must have allotted more singles to on-campus juniors, and now there are no singles at all for sophomores. Also there are juniors in living in West next year. Anyway, to sum up, housing? weird this year.</p>
<p>Thing is, it doesn't really matter. People usually end up happy in their dorms, make friends on their hall, and make their rooms nice by adding rugs and posters and christmas lights and things. And if they don't, they just go hang out in their friends' dorms.</p>
<p>for the record, I've heard Richardson (all-female) rooms are nice and huge, and the location is pretty great, like Metcalf's (really central on campus).</p>
<p>The rooms in Stratton are beautiful -- alcoves, walk-in closets, etc. It's not all singles yet, but will be next year, as Tufts is trying to build a "senior corridor". So a good percentage of seniors will be living in nice singles in Stratton & Sophia Gordon. Anyway, the doubles in Stratton now will be singles, and I'm guessing those will be the first to go in the housing lottery -- they will be palatial!</p>
<p>PS: Bluirinka, The halls in Lewis are not stringently single-sex. In my hall, we were an array of boys and girls.</p>
<p>I love Carmichael's stirfry. Oh, and the "lazy lasagna" they sometimes have for lunch. There's also less pressure at Carmichael to go with a group of friends. If I were to go to dinner at Dewick alone, I'd feel weird and antisocial, whereas Carmi has some nice nooks to hide in.
As someone who lives in Hill, it's actually way more inconvenient to take the Dowling elevator. If I were to live at the bottom of Hillsides, maybe I'd do it, but the hill from the front of Hill is such a non-issue. People complain, but it's usually just as an addendum to the "Hill is far away from everything" argument. And it is! Well, okay, it's far away from everything but Lane and Olin. And Nick's Pizza.</p>
<p>There may not be mice in South, but there are definitely rats frolicking around outside. I've seen them many times. They are probably attracted by the dumpsters. I'm wondering if the rats' homes were disturbed by the parking garage construction.</p>
<p>Medford/Somerville is a fairly urban environment. You're going to see rats on the steets and sidewalks in any environment where there are hundreds of thousands and indeed millions of people living in a compact area. Doesn't have anything to do with the upkeep of the campus. I mean, c'mon, Tufts campus is spotless man. That's the way it is in cities though. </p>
<p>As long as they're not in the building there's no need to worry ;)</p>
<p>Yeah, I should add my 2-cents regarding rodents: four years here and I have never seen one! Just squirrels and a few skunks in the greener areas of campus (quad, etc.). But that's makes me feel woodsy, so it's a good thing!</p>
<p>Yeah, I never saw a single rat at Tufts either. Northeastern on the other hand, wow, walking around at night there is pide piper status.</p>
<p>It wouldn't suprise me though. You look at all the duplex homes that surround the campus and it does indeed give the impression that one is in a suburban environment. It really isn't suburban at all though, well, actually it is, but it borders an intensely urban area for certain. You've got I-93 a few blocks away, you got public housing a few blocks away and when you get over that little hill at PowderHouse and onto Broadway you're immediately in Somerville which is very urban, very working class area.</p>
<p>Tufts is right on the cusp of both suburbia and urban Boston. Needless to say if there are rats it certainly can't be much of a problem. But then again, why am I talking about this?</p>
<p>I never saw a single rat when I lived on campus in the 1970's. I also owned a house a couple of blocks from Tufts for five years and I never saw any rats then either. But I have seen rats at least three times running around the foundation of South and near the dumpster that is across the street from South. I think that the construction probably disturbed their nests. If you haven't seen them, then you might have just assumed that the cute furry creatures that you see out of the corner of your eye are squirrels. Some are squirrels, but there are a few rats too. They are not the big ones that you see in Boston, but a smaller, cuter variety. :-) My daughter has seen them also, so it's not like I'm hallucinating or anything. Might be worth a call to maintenance.</p>