Living Learning Communities

Hello, so I know that some UW dorms have living learning communities that are specific to certain majors, does anyone know more about these? For example, the pros and cons, is it worth it, etc.

I am a UW freshman. I did not participate in an LLC. What I’ve heard is the only reason to join an LLC is to guarantee yourself a spot in a certain dorm that will fill up quickly (eg, the engineering LLC gives you easy access to Maple). By choosing not to live in an LLC, you aren’t going to be missing out on tons of cool events or anything. RAs and residence halls will organize lots of fun events for you regardless; you just have to choose to participate in them! For example, my RA organized a one-shot-night for people like me who had never played Dungeons and Dragons before to get an introduction.

Certain small LLCs, specifically the global experience one, are basically friend groups and have a very distinct culture; I don’t recommend joining that one specifically unless you already know people in it and know it’s the sort of culture you want (lots of drinking and melodrama, and surprisingly not any more diverse than the overall UW population).

@w00pw00p My son will be coming from NY and doesn’t know anyone else going to UW. Is there a dorm you would recommend that is better for newcomers and meeting people. He has been on Yammer and a lot of guys don’t post for roommates so he was going to go with a random school assignment. Because of that, we want to find a dorm that is best for a freshman. I appreciate any input! Thanks

@2024gradmom and @maeday23, by now you have applied for a dorm room because freshman priority housing selection ends tonight. My understanding from current freshmen is that students who were living on West Campus really like it there, and students on North Campus wish they had been on West Campus. Students I know did not participate in LLCs and seem to be pretty socially active nonetheless. Good luck!