<p>I'm going to be attending MIT in the fall as a freshmen, and after CPW, I've been thinking a lot about the housing options! Right now, Maseeh is my top pick, with either BC or Simmons next, and MacGregor after that.</p>
<p>I have a few questions:
1) I've heard that Simmons and MacGregor can be antisocial. To what extent is this true? Do the people in Simmons and MacGregor hardly go to parties? Or do they just go in moderation? I guess I'm just kind of confused about the stereotype.
2) I've heard a lot of people say that Maseeh has little culture. Is that a major negative point? Or will it still be easy to become very close knit with the people living around and near you?
3) Could someone please tell me a little about Next? I didn't have the chance to visit during CPW, so I don't know anything about its culture or anything.
4) I know that BC has very floor-based culture, so I was wondering if someone could please summarize the culture of each floor?</p>
<p>Sorry, a lot of questions, but I'm having a hard time choosing!
Thanks!</p>
<p>
For MacGregor, it’s just that a dorm whose major selling point is that it’s all singles tends to attract mostly introverts. “Introverted”, of course, doesn’t mean “antisocial”, but a lot of people assume it does.</p>
<p>When I lived in MacGregor (full disclosure: 6-10 years ago), I lived in a fairly “social” entry that went out together on the weekends (to parties/dinner/shopping). People kept their room doors open any time they were in their rooms, and you could generally find people in the main lounge hanging out on weekday evenings. But if you needed to work, or just wanted some time to yourself, it was easy to go to your room and shut the door.</p>
<p>Simmons is developing a culture nowadays - I have a few pretty cool friends who are in a neat pocket of it 
I’m not going to venture in trying to explain the dorms, just take rush/orientation seriously.</p>
<p>When I lived in Maseeh, there wasn’t much culture at all. Note, if you get into Maseeh, you can’t change dorms in the fall. I personally would not rank it highly.</p>
<p>I’m a current resident in Macgregor. My entry is one of the quieter/less social ones. Our entry sometimes does things together but not going to parties. I think the average resident of my entry parties rarely if ever. That being said I do really like the people in my entry even if we aren’t super close. As molliebatmit said though other entries are more social.</p>
<p>thanks for the info, everyone! :)</p>
<p>What interests you in Maseeh?</p>
<p>Here’s the Simmons i3 video. My son’s in Simmons and loves, loves, loves it!</p>
<p>[Simmons</a> Hall i3 2013 - YouTube](<a href=“Simmons Hall i3 2013 - YouTube”>Simmons Hall i3 2013 - YouTube)</p>
<p>I just want to address part of a post that was made and deleted by the author (because I am a mod and I see with all-seeing eyes) – that being in a “nice” dorm helps make freshman year a little less hard. To be honest, I think that what makes freshman year less hard, in a significant way, is being part of a dorm community that you love and which is full of your closest friends. Speaking for myself personally, I had a pretty rough first semester (academically and also in terms of long-distance-relationship drama), and my suitemates and entrymates were the reason I made it though.</p>
<p>Any dorm that you choose will be home to you in a few months, and you won’t notice whether it’s “nice” or has the latest amenities.</p>
<p>Don’t worry about choosing a dorm “with culture” and then not fitting in – you’ll have enough information and time to make a decision, and you’ll be able to suss out relatively quickly where you’ll fit in for a particular dorm. Most people have the problem that there are several places they could see themselves, not that there’s only one place and they’re not sure they’re right for it.</p>
<p>thanks, mollie! your advice helps a lot what you said about the people rather than the amenities making freshmen year easier makes a lot of sense.
after thinking about it more and considering everyone’s advice, i’m not leaning toward maseeh as my first choice anymore.</p>
<p>Happy to help. (I’m just glad you don’t think I’m nuts for responding to a deleted post.)</p>
<p>@UMTYMP Are there any entries in MacGregor that are very social (e.g. most people partying every weekend), and would it be pretty easy to make sure I’m in one of these during REX, or is it much more likely that I would be in a quieter, less social entry? The singles aspect appeals to me because I like my own space, but as a more social person, I’m a bit concerned about choosing MacGregor…</p>
<p>I think there are some pretty social entries in Macgregor but I’m not entirely sure as I rarely interact with people outside my entry. You may want to spend some time during REX checking out the cultures of various Macgregor entries to see if there are several that you would like to live in.</p>