<p>What are the best dorms for freshmen that are close to the college of liberal arts and sciences and the statistics department? How long does it take to walk from Broward to the CLAS? Is Weaver in a good location? The international student aspect of Weaver sounds cool (I am a Florida girl). From the map it's hard to tell if Weaver is in a good location.</p>
<p>My son is in Weaver and says its a great location and its been recently renovated so is pretty nice. You won’t get an international student as a roommate–the international students might only come for 6 weeks or a semester so housing puts them together but their rooms are intermingled with the non-International students. It’s right next to Gator dining, the Swamp and the O’Connell center. He says its about a 10 minute walk to his freshman classes. He actually chose it for its location near the engineering buildings and that’s handy for some of his classes but freshman don’t take many classes in their major. It’s fairly close to the CLAS.</p>
<p>He said (he’s right here-home for the weekend) that Broward is farther away and hasn’t been fully renovated yet so it’s iffy what type of room you’d get. The Murphree area is closest to freshman classes but the dorms aren’t as nice. He likes that Weaver isn’t smack in the middle of everything but its easy to get around and great for weekends. </p>
<p>He lived in Lakeside over summer and while he really liked the dorm and setup it was too far from everything and there aren’t any dining options out there.</p>
<p>Thank you so much for the detailed response. It was really helpful!</p>
<p>My son is in Broward and absolutely loves it. The east wing has been renovated and west will be done this summer. They did a great job and the rooms and bathrooms look really nice. It is all personal preference. He wanted to be in the big freshman dorm. He has made friends with many guys on his floor and the location is close to most of his classes. Good luck deciding.</p>
<p>My freshman son is in Springs and loves it. It is suite style and very clean and modern. It is a quieter dorm as many of the athletes stay here so it is more low key, but my son likes that aspect. It is located near all of the sports fields and gator corner dining. It really is about personal preference.:)</p>
<p>I am a current student, and I imagine that looking at the campus map doesn’t really give you an idea of how far the walk is. From Broward to Turlington(CLAS) is about 5 minutes. It’s not far at all. It’s one of the closest dorms to CLAS. Weaver is all the way on the other side of campus from Turlington. If you’re just wanting a distance comparison from Turlington, Broward is a lot closer. However, your freshmen classes might be closer to Warrington. I didn’t live in any dorms so I can’t speak to which is better as far as living conditions.</p>
<p>Turlington is barely farther from Weaver than to Broward… the extra distance is almost insignificant…</p>
<p>Remember we’re talking about 5-7 minute walks here; you should be far more worried about living conditions than distance to classes (unless you’re considering Lakeside-in which case location matters a lot)</p>
<p>Thank you for all of the amazing responses. I am assuming since Broward will be renovated by Fall 2014 it offers the best combo of good living conditions and proximity to classes. I believe most, if not all, of my classes will be in Turlington my freshman year because I will be coming in with enough college credits to have sophmore standing.</p>
<p>If most of your classes are in Turlington, I suggest Fletcher. It’s the second closest dorm to Turlington. Buckman is the closest, but I never recommend a dorm w/o AC. The Broward are & the rest of the Murphree area (except Thomas) are good as well. Weaver is in the Tolbert area, which, from experience, is a bit further from Turlington than the Broward area.</p>
<p>I live in Buckman now and not having AC isn’t a problem once you buy an AC unit. My room is sometimes too cold and I need to wear a sweater :p. Buckman also recently had their bathrooms and kitchen redone, and brand new windows. The rent is cheaper than the typical dorms and most rooms are much larger than other dorms on campus. Having a sink in my room is also a huge plus so all in all I think living in Buckman is an excellent deal. Library west is a 3 minute walk the business classes are a 5-7 minute walk, the hub and turlington plaza is about a 5 minute walk too. Buckman is also right in front of West University Ave. which gives you access to a lot of restaurants within walking distance. All that being said I don’t think Buckman is a very freshman oriented dorm. The way Buckman is divided there will be at most 6 people on each of the 3 floors. Regardless, there are still area events and if you prefer a quieter living area then I think this would still be a great place to live. :)</p>