How should I rank my dorm community preferences?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Binghamton University - SUNY
1

I’m most likely attending Binghamton next fall and I’m having trouble deciding how I will rank my dorm preferences. The only dorm community I have seen is CIW. I know I want a suite with a common room… Unless you guys suggest something better. So I’ve got some questions:

Which building is the nicest? Which is the newest or prettiest? Which communities offer suites? Which communities are the most social? Which community has the nicest suites? Which have AC? Which do you consider to be the best community overall, and why? Also, if you could list off positives and negatives or compare the communities, that’d be awesome.

Sorry for the 20 questions. Thanks :slight_smile:

2

I’m a current freshman, so I was in your shoes last year.

Here’s the facts:

The newest, and nicest, communities are the ones that have been completely renovated - Newing, Dickinson, and Mountainview. Dickinson is the newest, so it is by far the nicest. That being said, CIW and Hinman aren’t bad. By and large, BU dorms are pretty alright compared to a lot of other colleges.

Every community except Newing offers suites. In CIW, buildings are a mix of suite and corridor style. In Mountainview it is mostly suites, but there are some triples. Hinman and Dickinson are basically all suites.

Honestly, how social your community is depends largely on your building and floor. Where I live right now in Newing, there isn’t a lot of social stuff, but a friend who also lives in Newing in a different building has stuff going on in her building all the time. You’re going to meet most of your friends through classes and clubs/teams/Greek life/activities, so while it’s nice to be somewhere very social, it probably won’t impact you much if you aren’t.

Newing, Dickinson, and Mountainview have AC. CIW and Hinman don’t. It’s nice to have in the first and last few weeks of the academic year, but honestly doesn’t matter beyond that. Also, the AC is set ridiculously high in those buildings, so if you are someone who really hates heat, like me, you’ll probably be running a fan 24/7 anyway. Also, the AC in Newing is infamous for being useless on the reg because of insulation problems and improper construction.

Here’s my opinion:

Personally, I live on Newing and hate it. I’m trying to get out of newing for next year. In my opinion, Dickinson is the best. With that being said, I have friends in Newing who love it, and the same goes for all the other communities. If I could do it all over again, I wouldn’t have put newing as my first choice but more than likely you’ll be alright wherever you end up and you’ll make friends anyway. Regardless of my dislike of my dorm, I still have tons of friends and an awesome college experience so far. Good luck, and I hope these answers help!

3

Dickinson and Newing were constructed at the same time. Dickinson is not by far the nicest. Dickinson and Newing are identical in terms of decor, except Newing is doubles and Dickinson is suites.

Walk through Dicksinson. Corridors are dead. Suite doors closed. Newing is more social on the whole.