<p>Hey guys,
I've been reading about housing options on the admitted students page...what is your preference? I prefer the set-up of North Quad, but I'd prefer a quieter dorm. I'm sorta interested in sub-free housing, but I've heard it's a pretty anti-social dorm. Any thoughts? I just want to be able to study <em>and</em> be sociable!</p>
<p>I'm definitely going to substance free. They are the nicer dorms there, really big and tons of stuff in the lobby. I haven't actually stayed in them while school is in session but I was talking to someone who did and he said that they still did some pretty crazy stuff. He said that they had an Oreo eat off contest, so it doesn't sound to me like it's anti-social.</p>
<p>hey - i spent like 5-days at cmc when they flew me over there and basically, north quad is crazzzy and whatnot but only on thursday, fri and saturday ... everyone studies during the week and on sunnday when they need to and you can always go to another dorm or the library. the sub free dorm is pretty quiet (esp. on party night because everyone either goes to another or are all studying) but its not like they have no life - the new quake (i think) had just come out so for that entire weekend they played that, which is fun. but if youre going for just the nicer tv then even if youre living in another dorm, you can always go to subfree and mooch off their goodies. </p>
<p>im leaning towards a mid-quad or south-quad dorm cuz i wanna be able to study and be sociable too ...</p>
<p>Stark's substance free housing is incredibly, incredibly lame. It's not so much that the absence of alchohol makes them lame; it's that people who never want to ever, potentially be faced with a rambunctious time in their own dorm often have a carousel of associated anti-social tendencies. My friend staying in their freshman year, was harassed by his floormates for playing his stereo too loud. When, you ask? At 3 in the afternoon. There's plenty of more interesting people in other dorms.
I recommend two options:
A) Fawcett or Auen, the other south quad dorms. These are just as nice as the tower, except the people there are much better. The problem is that all three south quad towers are segregated by floor-you only really get to know and hang out with 12 people. This is a real gamble if you don't know anybody on campus yet, or who's living on the floor with you.
B) Mid-quad. I lived in one my freshman and sophomore years. This is really ideal, IMO. The dorms are two or three floors and big, long hallways so you get to see and interact with a lot more people. It also takes a lot less initiative to leave the building and thusly interact with people at other dorms/colleges. Benson has air-conditioning, also a plus for second semester.</p>
<p>my last name is marks and i just learned that theres a marks dorm and because im a dork i think that would be wicked cool if i stayed there, so how is the marks dorm?</p>
<p>Pretty much wherever you get placed at cmc isn't going to make a huge difference, the farthest dorms are MAYBE a 6 minute walk from eachother, so its not like you'll be far from your friends wherever you are. Basically the stereotypes do apply, north quad is a lot louder and crazier on weekends (mostly only thursday and saturday...friday isnt a big party night) and midquad and southquad tend to be quieter but its not like the people are freaks and never come out. people also tend to think that stark is like this cave of subfree people, but i am friends with some people that live there on the coed floor, and literally 9 of the 13 people that live on the floor drink and are only in stark because they like the HUGE rooms and nice ammenities. and as for using starks tv and niceties....they really don't appreciate you mooching off them, so most likely they'll have priority over you for tv and stuff. All the dorms have their advantages and disadvantages. auen and fawcett have a good lounge setup, but they both smell like a mix of laundry detergent and b.o. and are old and gross. Midquad is good if you like the typical "dorm", but im not a fan of the huge mass bathrooms. north quad is fun, and the new pods are really nice, but they get hot as hell in the summer cause they dont have airconditioning, and its really loud there if you ever try to study. Don't worry though, no matter where you get placed, you can always walk 5 minutes to a party or 5 minutes to the reading room or library.</p>
<p>So does Stark have coed floors or single sex floors or both?</p>
<p>I was totally leaning towards Stark but I'm concerned about what I've heard about the people there being anti-social. Is this just less social than North Quad or seriously anti-social? Or is it that the single sex floors are anti-social and the coed floor isn't, for the most part at least? Thanks!</p>
<p>Question about set-up of the dorms...
North is a few rooms around a bathroom, no interior hallway, all rooms have doors that open straight outside
Mid & South have a hallway of rooms, with a bathroom or 2 on each floor.
Am i wrong about this?</p>
<p>What is it like to be without air conditioning at CMC? Do people buy window air conditioners or just suffer? Any idea why a school that charges $41,000 a year can't afford a/c?
Also is it true that in Fawcett and Auen as a freshman, you may feel isolated if you don't know anyone on your floor when you move in given that there are only 12 people? Or do people basically get to know everyone in such a small school.
Hard decisions--any info from current students would be much appreciated</p>
<p>Some dorms don't have A/C because it would be nearly impossible to retrofit them with it. It's really not that bad without a/c. You never really hear Northquadders complain about the lack of a/c. Just get a fan and you'll be fine. There is a good chance that I will live in NQ next year.</p>
<p>No one if Fawcett or Auen feels isolated that I know of. They have close friends on their own floors, but they branch out too.</p>
<p>The only advice I can give to freshman is don't live in Stark. There may be a few good floors of people, but other than that it's an anti-social, uptight hellhole. Many of my friends are sophomores who had the misfortune of living in Stark their freshman year when they didn't know any better. Stark may not be bad for upperclassmen who already have a good social network established, but living with introversts is not in the best interests of sociable freshmen. </p>
<p>As long as you're not in Stark, true happines at CMC will not evade you. Good luck with your room selections!</p>
<p>Brandon
CMC '08</p>
<p>Oops. Sorry, yeah. Brandon is entirely right. What I meant to say is this: I would recommend living in Mid-quad your first year, because you get exposed to everyone living in your dorm much easier. Dean of Students does a very good job of matching roommates and floor-mates (several floors stay together over the years), but it's still a crap-shoot as to if you'll hit it off with the people you're sharing the floor with. I lived in fawcett this year before going abroad and loved it, but if I didn't like the people around me, it would have been a whole lot less fun.
-drew</p>
<p>There are both coed and single sex. The first two floors are coed and the rest are alternating boys and girls. Really the stereotype is totally not based in truth. A lot of cool kids I know live in stark purely for the great ammenities and the air conditioning. And most of them drink too...just not in their rooms.</p>
<p>IF you are the type of person that wants to be sub free and surrounded by sub free people i would say live on a single sex floor towards the top. Can't get farther away from the booze than that.</p>