<p>Mhmm. So 3 Bedroom for four people. Two of them get their own and the other two get to share the same room?</p>
<p>Spouse was a resident of Hill during the 70's--when we visited Penn with our own student during Fall of '05, spouse commented that it didn't look like anything had changed (updating or remodelling). Can't imagine living there...</p>
<p>yeah one double, two singles</p>
<p>often the roommates agree to swap between semesters so that it's fair (double people get singles, the single people go to the double)</p>
<p>Hill is quite ugly, but it has a number of sizable advantages:
1) residential dining - no need to walk anywhere for your meals
2) very close to all of your classes, especially anything math/science oriented. Perfect for engineers.
3) air-conditioned.</p>
<p>unfortunately hill is not air conditioned... I would know I'm living here atm : / we do have heating but some problems have arisen with that as well. Overall I would say though that hill is a very community-based building where u'll know almost everyone on your floor. The quad does have more freshman, but the bathrooms desperately need to be rennovated. The only other negative aspect of hill is that most of the parties are a good 6-8 blocks away which becomes troublesome during extremly cold days but overall i wud rate hill a solid B+</p>
<p>what do you think the BEST dorm building is?
and why
(that houses freshman)</p>
<p>my ? is similar except which is the best dorm [in general] and why</p>
<p>I wud say Hill is the best if your looking for the best freshman experience while the Quad is better for people more concerned about AC, room size, and proximity to frat row</p>
<p>The best dorms in general would probably be any 3 of the high rises IF you have a tight group of friends to go and stay up there with. It can be lonely place if u dont have any buds to chill with especially for freshman (its why highly recommend that freshman avoid the high rises since its mostly upperclassmen) Unless ur an engineer, the high rise buildings are close enough for all of your classes, great room sizes, AC, and great proximity to the frat parties and bars. The only other negative aspect of the high rises are that you'll have to leave the building for food, which can become trouble during cold winter months, but the walk isnt too far to the 1920 commons. </p>
<p>In conclusion for freshman I would rank the dorms as follows:
Hill, Quad (very close second; consists of Fisher, Reipe, & Ware), Dubois, High Rises (Harrisson, Harnwell, Rodin), Stouffer, Kings Court</p>
<p>I'll create a more in depth view on each college house in a few days but i hope this helps</p>
<p>Mayer Hall easily has the best rooms on campus (I live there, currently, as a senior). The rooms are <em>huge</em>, and they have AC, carpet, kitchens, bathrooms, furniture, etc. Our elevator is also crazy fast, and seeing as we only have like 7 floors, it's great. The building is also located near frat row/the High Rises/Stouffer/the Quad/Huntsman/the restaurants on 40th/Frogro/etc, so it's a really great place to be. It's also really hard to get a room here because priority is given to the Stouffer Hall residents. Stouffer is where I lived for my soph/junior years. Anyways, if you're a freshman, getting a room in Mayer is difficult, but not impossible. Regardless, Mayer is mostly full of upperclassmen anyway, so you're probably better off elsewhere.</p>
<p>I also lived in the High Rises during my summer stays -- both Rodin and Harnwell. They're both pretty comparable in quality to one another. They're not as social as the other dorms because floors don't "hang out" with one another, unlike Hill where you can basically see all other floors from the lounges, haha. Some rooms have carpet, and others tile. The closets are pretty sub-par, but I believe most (if not all) rooms have a kitchen and bathroom. The elevators are fairly annoying and like to break down often, so be wary of this. On the good side, though, I've been to a lot of really fun social get-togethers/parties in the High Rise rooms. The view you get from the higher rooms is pretty much unmatched, as well. I wouldn't advise freshman to live here, since it's mostly full of upperclassmen.</p>
<p>For freshmen, Hill is probably good if you're either an engineer and/or wanting a good social experience. I lived there freshman year. Hill is pretty bustling, although the rooms are basically jail cells. Hard tile floor, mad dust accumulations, no AC, fairly shabby communal bathrooms, poor lighting, etc. However, you have your own dining hall, which is quite convenient... until you get a bit tired of eating the food there. It's also located near DRL, which is great for engineers. But, in general, people are always spending their time jumping in and out of each other's rooms/the lounges/the hallways, so it's really easy to get involved in Hill.</p>
<p>I never lived in the Quad, so I don't know too much, there, but they are a popular freshman choice, and they're located very close to many buildings where freshmen typically take their first courses.</p>
<p>As for Stouffer, it's a mixed bag. There are a TON of single-rooms in Stouffer, but unfortunately it tends to promote antisocialism if you're not careful. My group of friends always got out and chilled in the lounges/ventured off into the city/hung out on campus, but sometimes we'd come across people we had never seen before, and later find that they lived in our sections, but just never left their rooms. Other than that, though, the rooms are decent. Carpeted, air-conditioned, and with reasonably good communal bathrooms/showers only shared between like 4-5 people (since each pod, or cluster of rooms, gets access to its own bathroom). Each room also has a pretty good closet system. Stouffer also has a huge community-oriented feel, but you can be as involved or detached as you want to be. There are many, many events held frequently, which are always announced through the Stouffer listserve. Stouffer is also located above Wawa/the barber shop/Gia Pronto/Beijing/The UPS Store/Savory, which is very convenient. Stouffer's a good place to live as a freshman, especially if you want a leg up when it comes to getting into Mayer later.</p>
<p>Gregory is just kinda... weird. The halls are dark and depressing. Gregory sucks. Don't live in Gregory.</p>
<p>hahah the elevators break down?? with people in them?!</p>
<p>I've never heard of that happening in the High Rises, ALTHOUGH</p>
<p>I got trapped in the Mayer elevator (the old one) when it was shut off for the last time before it was replaced with the new elevator. I had to pry the doors open with my hands, lol. You'd think they'd check to make sure it was empty first before shutting it down for removal.</p>
<p>So technically speaking, I am the last one to use the old Mayer elevator, as well as one of the few to have probably ever been stuck in an elevator.</p>
<p>Regarding the High Rises, as far as I know, usually it's just some issue where the elevator does wonky things, so they shut it down for repairs. It's been that way for years now.</p>
<p>lol how did u pry open the door? their made out of like steel.....</p>
<p>The only time the elevators really broke down on me in the highrises is when a group of 10 of us all jumped at the same time to see what would happen. It was hey day, it was 10 am, we were already started.</p>
<p>Ny0rker, most elevator doors will roll open if you pull on them. You don't really have to <em>pry</em> them like superman or anything.</p>
<p>It's really easy to pry the doors open -- just stick your hands in and pull.</p>
<p>The only time the elevators really broke down on me in the highrises is when a group of 10 of us all jumped at the same time to see what would happen. It was hey day, it was 10 am, we were already started.</p>
<p>(how do you put something in a quote box?)</p>
<p>HAHAHAHA.</p>
<p>bumpp 10 char</p>
<p>what about king's court? aren't all the huntsmen pple supposed to stay there? how are their toilets?</p>
<p>Which one of the Quad is the best for engineers?</p>
<p>which has the most single rooms?
i'm gonna be a freshman next year and really want to be social but also MUST have a single....is this possible?</p>
<p>If you want a good single-room, Stouffer is your best bet if you're after room quality. Hill has singles but the rooms aren't that great.</p>
<p>If you absolutely want to be guaranteed a single, though, you should definitely hit up Stouffer Hall.</p>