<p>Could current/former students who have lived in these dorms or are familiar with them share their impressions? I've been searching CC but I couldn't find any information about their culture/living conditions. Thanks!</p>
<p>My D lives in IHO , and she loves it. The rooms are all singles , very nice. IHO is very unique and exquisite.It is also a hotel, with a beautiful lobby with a piano, and a small library. It is a grand beautiful building , with a cafe and its patio A big industrial kitchen downstairs.In the hall you have music concerts, festival, seminars, international speakers , etc. It is indeed an international center right in the lobby of your house. The Houses are small and new, but very tight and creating their news traditions. She is in her first year , and it is going to stay there next year too, as most of her friends.Next year the hotel part will close , it will be all dorms rooms.</p>
<p>Thanks for the input! Could anyone share anything about New Grad?</p>
<p>I house is an old but well kept building. So don’t look for ultra modern stuff. The rooms are small too. But for undergrads its enough. It’s small and it houses a small close knit community.</p>
<p>NEW GRAD: [url=<a href=“http://rp.uchicago.edu/graduate_housing/new_grad_residence_hall.shtml]New”>http://rp.uchicago.edu/graduate_housing/new_grad_residence_hall.shtml]New</a> Graduate Residence Hall 1307 E. 60th Street<a href=“it’s%20apartment%20style%20living,%20which%20is%20nice”>/url</a></p>
<p>IHOUSE: [url=<a href=“http://ihouse.uchicago.edu/]International”>http://ihouse.uchicago.edu/]International</a> House at the University of Chicago<a href=“though%20this%20might%20be%20outdated,%20it%20references%20a%20time%20when%20people%20still%20had%20to%20apply%20to%20get%20in,%20rather%20than%20be%20placed%20there%20as%20domestic%20American%20students%20rather%20than%20their%201st/2nd%20choices%20because%20of%20overflow”>/url</a></p>
<p>dynamicsemantics. since you can obviously can read, the link that you provided is for 2013-2014, so it is not outdated. Second, I really do not like the tone of your description , and the subtle real meaning of your post. IHOUSE is a wonderful place to live , and many of the ACTUAL domestic American students as you call them, are CHOOSING to stay there next year too.Since you seem to know so much, you forget to mentioned that next year it will an all dorm Building. As to be old, it was recently renovated, and the rooms are all singles, and not that small either. The students living there are very happy , with an incredible cultural background full of music concerts, jazz festival, multiple seminars and domestic/international speakers. All in the lobby of your house. Not bad at all for a college residence.</p>
<p>I am a current first year who is living in IHouse right now - dynamicsemantics is right. As a class of students, we were originally put there because of overflow and an unexpectedly large class size. Ironically now, though, people who requested Pierce are being “placed” into IHouse while we (Booth and Phoenix House - the two houses already in IHouse) are still on our own turf. But anyway, I’ll give you a bit of what living in IHouse is like.</p>
<p>For one thing, it’s entirely singles. The singles range from extra broom closet size to the size of a full South double. As a first year, it’s likely that you won’t get the latter, but since going through the housing lottery on Tuesday, there are still quite a few of larger singles available. I think it’s hard to emphasize how convenient a single can be and why I like it so much. It’s your own space that you can come home to every night, even for just a second. I used to be incredibly gung ho about having a roommate, but with all the horror stories that I, hear from other colleges and to some extent ours, I’m now glad that I got a single. </p>
<p>On top of that, the list of IHouse amenities is great. You can read the link that dynamicsemantics provided or do some research - suffice it to say, you will have access to a lot (they actually just put a new Steinway piano in the lobby). There are industrial size kitchens for making your own food, a cafe in the building (maybe a little too convenient - I keep spending all my flex dollars), a gym in the building (Ratner is a long way away in the winter), laundry machines, and a small library. The kitchen is absolutely modern, as is the gym. I definitely would not complain about modernity being an issue.</p>
<p>We also have access to a bevy of speakers that speak exclusively at IHouse. They range from 2 time Pulitzer Prize winning authors to professors from other universities. People come to IHouse from all over campus to hear these speakers. Living at Ihouse means you’re at ground zero.</p>
<p>To be fair, there are some things that I don’t like. IHouse is, to be fair, a 10 minute walk to campus and a 15 minute walk to any dining hall (if you get a bike, they become negligible times). It’s much easier to either stay out the whole day and come home at night or to just stay in (classes excluded). While this creates for a much stronger house culture since people are usually around, it also makes it somewhat insular. The IHouse experience is probably more similar to a Breck, Stony, Broadview, or Maclean experience than to a South or Max P experience. I think that this will change next year with an inclusion of 2 more Pierce houses, but you never know. Also, since IHouse is a newer dorm, it has a much, much younger residency. Our house is approximately 60-70% first-years, and very few of the upperclassmen engage with the rest of our house. While I enjoy being around people my age, if a potential resident wanted a good mix of lower and upperclassmen, then IHouse may be a bit lacking (though a lot of people are staying for their second year at least, so it may not be much of a problem). </p>
<p>Overall, living in IHouse is what you make of it. If you never engage with your house, don’t take advantage of what’s provided, and try and just stay away the whole time, you’re going to hate it here. You’re going to wonder why you’re so far away from campus in a single and you’ll probably move out by the end of first quarter into South or Max. I personally love IHouse for what it is and what it has to offer.</p>
<p>If you have any more questions, feel free to ask me!</p>
<p>xp1123, Thanks for your great post !!</p>
<p>dynamicsemnatics, stop insulting me in private messages. It only speaks about you ignorance and insecurities. Intelligent people do not need to insult, attack or call somebody old because is a parent. Shame of you.</p>
<p>xp1123, thanks so much for your post. It was exactly what I was looking for.</p>
<p>Now, on to New Grad. Can anyone tell me/other incoming students about this dorm? It seems like few even know it exists… there’s so little information out there that any tidbit, any whatsoever, would be appreciated. Thank you!!</p>
<p>Realeducation, obviously I haven’t read dynamicsemantics’s private messages, but I think you overreacted to his/her first post on this forum. What dynamicsemantics pointed out is true-- most people that I know who are in IHouse (admittedly not many) did not have it as their top choice and were placed into it because UChicago overenrolled and didn’t have enough on-campus residence options. There was no need to be so harsh in your response. </p>
<p>That being said, it’s awesome that your daughter is enjoying her experience in IHouse. I’ve only been to IHouse once (to see Madeleine Albright and Henry Paulson) and it seems like a really pleasant place to live. Like xp1123 said, IHouse has singles (which is really convenient) and having so many world famous leaders and intellectuals basically coming to your house to speak must be amazing. My other IHouse memory however, was shuffling back to my dorm in the freezing sleet after the Sec. Albright talk. Chicago weather does not make walking around campus very pleasant, so one downside to IHouse (and New Grad) is its distance from the quad and dining halls. </p>
<p>I don’t know much about New Grad, but one of my friends who lives there likes it a lot and is planning on staying next year. The rooms are apparently very spacious, have private bathrooms, and will be mostly doubles with some singles. There is also an exercise room, game room, music room, lounge, etc. I know very little about the social atmosphere there currently but next year half of Pierce is going to be moving there so that might change things around a bit. Pierce is a pretty tight-knit dorm with lots of social people who hang out with others in their house.</p>
<p>Haroldschiken, but due respect this thread is about Ihouse as a dorm, its rooms, etc. Not how students end up living there, and his post in my opinion was sarcastic, and with bad intentions. Hence, my response. I do not find necessary the comment that it was not first, second or third choice. Nor the American domestic student reference,when you have international , and american students alike in every dorm. For his insulting private messages , there is not excuse to attack a parent posting here, just trying to help with experience and knowledge. XX1123 post is real good and accurate.</p>
<p>When I was at the U of C, International House was for grad students, largely international ones… The same is also true of the other J. D. Rockefeller funded I houses at Berkeley and at Columbia (near Riverside Church).</p>
<p>It is scandalous that the U. of C. now runs I House as a dormitory (especially as an undergrad one). It was never intended to be exclusively for U. of C. students.</p>