Incoming Freshmen and Housing Decisions

Colleges and Universities A-Z Stanford University
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<p>Since there have been several incoming freshmen asking similar questions about making housing choices for the fall, I thought I would offer some input in one place in the interest of efficiency, for those who are interested.</p>

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<li><p>Looking at the big picture, the main decision you have is SLE vs. Not SLE. If you choose SLE, you'll be in FloMo, a large complex with both all-freshman and four-class dorms. There's not really much difference in feel between the various dorms in FloMo, and besides, what may be a fairly quiet, or fairly rowdy, dorm one year may be different the next, since the atmosphere of a dorm is almost entirely a function of the personalities and preferences of those who are living there that year. (During my freshman year, one of the four-class dorms in FloMo was way more of a party spot than the all-freshman dorms there, for example.) FloMo has a great location near both the main quad and the Row, and has one of the better dining halls IMO.</p></li>
<li><p>The next decision is FroSoCo vs. Not FroSoCo. FroSoCo is on the quiet side, but most people totally exaggerate the extent of it. There are some relatively introverted people who choose to live there, but definitely not everyone. There is less partying of the rowdy type, but there's still plenty of social activity going on. FroSoCo has some programming just for residents (both academic and social), and is a bit removed from the main quad, but maybe only five minutes further by bike. It is next to Ricker dining, which I think is probably the best dining hall on campus.</p></li>
<li><p>So after those decisions are made, let's say you are not choosing either SLE or FroSoCo. That leaves only deciding between all-freshmen and four-class dorms. In my experience and observation, there is pretty little difference between these overall. For example, if you are in Roble (a really nice, very big four-class dorm), all the freshmen are placed together within it anyway, so you'd have at least as many freshmen in your dorm as you would in Stern or Wilbur dorms. There are lots of bonding activities for freshmen in all the dorms during NSO, so you won't miss out on that stuff no matter where you wind up. (You also won't miss out on seeing signs of overindulgence by your classmates from time to time in any dorm, but I think there may be a little more of that in the all-freshmen dorms.)</p></li>
<li><p>The most important thing to focus on at this point is filling out your Roommate Questionnaire as accurately and completely as you can. The quality of your freshman rooming experience depends way, way more on having (and being) a compatible roommate than on what dorm you're in. Stanford does a great job matching roommates, using both a special algorithm for the initial sort, and then a hand-picking process to refine the actual matches, but it can only be as good as the data you provide. So I suggest focusing your attention of that part.</p></li>
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<p>Great thread! Very informative.</p>

<p>I was also just wondering if you had any opinion on coed floors vs. single-gender floors? Also, what would you say about the cross-cultural theme houses for freshmen?</p>

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<p>fleurdelis, I can’t think of much real difference between single-gender vs. coed floors, except that the bathrooms on the single-gender floors are typically (though not always) used mainly by the corresponding gender. If that is something that makes you more comfortable, then you might want to take it into account. But people circulate very freely around all the floors in all the dorms, so.</p>

<p>IMO, the cross-cultural theme houses are an amazing choice for freshmen, and kind of a well-kept secret. Some (most, actually) of the theme houses are way nicer than the freshman dorms. For example, you can take a look at the really nice Native American theme house on Stanford’s housing site. One thing many incoming freshmen don’t realize is that the ethnic theme houses aren’t at all limited to residents of that particular ethnicity–often it’s about 50%, with the rest being people of all ethnicities. So a freshman living in a theme house would meet a wide sampling of students from all four classes, and also get to explore the culture of a particular ethnicity that he or she may not be familiar with.</p>