So I have been looking at dorms, and I can’t decide between Madison and Potomac. I am leaning towards Madison, but I wanted to know about the atmosphere of the dorm.
My sister goes to GW. I think she picked Madison as her first choice, but ended up in Potomac. She loves Potomac- it’s got carpets, a shared bathroom for every two rooms, and she met many of her friends there. The rooms are somewhat small, and there is no communal space whatsoever (except for a basement kitchen), but she’s really happy in it. I don’t know how it compares to Madison, but I hope this helps!
I have lived in neither, so I’ll caveat my following statement:
The two are quite different, and what it comes down to is age of the building and location on campus.
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Potomac is quite a bit newer while Madison is now one of the older dorms on campus.
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Madison is much more centrally located on campus while Potomac is more towards the south end. Madison is close to most academic halls, is a block away from the Marvin Center and J Street (where you’ll be eating a lot), across the street from the Gelman library (where you might spend a lot of time studying) and 2 blocks from the gym/fitness center.
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Even though Potomac is near the outer bounds of campus it’s right across the street from Thurston, the largest population of freshmen on campus.
I think that a person that’s more into socializing with other students would choose Potomac due to its proximity to the rest of the freshmen body. If someone wants to spend less time walking to and from classes and meals they’d probably prefer Madison.
Hope this helps!