Really struggling to decide here. I love the aesthetic quality of North (and hate Max’s exterior, though I haven’t been inside). But I’m worried that North may not provide the strongest house culture. What are the pros and cons of living in North vs. Max? Can any first-years weigh in on this?
My kid is considering these dorms as well. Likewise dislikes the exterior of Max P. According to the UChicago housing website, Max P has air conditioning for part of the year, and is one of the few dorms to have it. The website does not mention whether North has air conditioning. This may be something to consider. Can anyone confirm whether North has A/C?
@Sam-I-Am North, South, and Max P all have AC and I think are the only ones on campus that have it.
@mylhu1011, thank you for confirming that North has AC…and you are correct about the other dorms. Here is the quote from the housing website which is correct except for the absence of North on the list:
“AIR CONDITIONING
Max Palevsky, Granville-Grossman and Stony Island have air conditioning in addition to heat.”
Max inside is dark and not very attractive. My son lives in North and loves it. It is much newer looking than Max. The dining hall is attached to his building and also offers late night eating. The good thing about North is that the students have some control over the heat and a/c in their rooms via thermostat. My son has lived in North for two years and will likely stay there next year too. I can’t vouch for the house culture differences.
@CTlawyer your son has lived in a one year old building for two years?
Sorry, my error. My son lives in South, which is a great dorm to live in. Everything I said relates to South.
Haha, that makes more sense. South is pretty good, it’s the happy medium of all the dorms - it gets all types of people in one big mix. The only big complaint I have is that South’s houses all blend into each other, so the house you’re in ends up being more of a formality than in other dorms.
My son did say he likes North but would not move there only because he would have much better room priority in South due to his having lived in South for about two years.
@mylhu1011 North does have heating and AC but you can’t control it as there’s no thermostat in the rooms so you’re at the whims of housing. During the summer our rooms got so cold some people started duct-taping their vents, despite it being 80 degrees outside. During the winter months rooms are a more comfortable temperature, though sometimes I bit too warm for my liking.
North has some really nice facilities and nice rooms as well. Baker is in many people’s opinion better than Bartlett (where max p kids eat) and is a lot more comfortable to eat at (Bartlett has a problem with the spacing between tables–it’s much too narrow). As for house culture, I think it varies by house. Mine isn’t doing too hot in this area and I will admit that I don’t have any close friends inside my house. My house is kinda cliquish where certain groups of people hang out together and lots of people enjoy partying/drinking (there ARE definitely ones that don’t) and we have a lot of athletes as well since we’re so close to Ratner and Crown. House meetings are sparsely attended and honestly there are some people in the house that I don’t think I’ve ever met–yesterday I met a kid from my house for the first time, never having seen him before. Most of our 2nd years are moving off and so are lots of 1st years, so we’re going to have a lot of new incoming students next year.
Probably the biggest difference between North and Max P is living quarters. In North we have a mix of singles, doubles, and apartments, while in Max P it’s suite-style with two, two-person bedrooms with a common bathroom (there are singles, but those are reserved for upper-classmen). Max P doubles are tiny–one double room is the same size as some of the bigger North singles, but you do get your own semi-private bathroom (which you do have to clean and re-stock on your own). In North we have communal bathrooms and at least 1 single-user, private bathroom in each house.
To be fairly honest, from Max P dorms that I’ve been in/have friends in, I definitely prefer the people/culture of some Max P houses, but North has better living/amenities. In Max P I’ve seen people just hanging out in the house lounge doing hw, playing video games, and just hanging out till early morning, while I rarely see that happen in North (and if it does it’s usually a friend group that’s doing their own thing).
Again this is just a comparison to my own house and max P houses that I have friends in, so maybe other houses are different. Max P in general is closer to a lot of things (practically in the center of everything): next to the Reg, Bartlett, the quad, crown, etc.
Also, the inside of Max P is pretty much the same as the exterior–Max P central for example has yellow hallways. But houses do a good job and put up decorations to match the house theme.
My kid has not paid the deposit yet but hopes to be in a position to do so before the next prospective student overnight on April 20-21. Any chance of getting into either North or Max P considering so many others have already committed and so have priority? Also, does anyone know whether housing fills the more desirable house locationa based upon first year priority? For instance, is it more desirable to be in a house on a high floor in North? And if so, do they fill that house first based upon priority? Are some houses in Max P better located than others…or is it all pretty much the same?
@Sam-I-Am I don’t think anyone really knows the exact details of how housing assigns people to houses…I’m guessing it’s based on a person’s preference of single/double, genedered/non-gendered floors, roommate preferences, etc and of course deposit payment first and then somehow they decide with that. I doubt they think about desirable floors/houses…imo living on a high floor seems to be kind a pain in north because when going up/down the elevator with other people you have to wait until it stops at all of their floors before yours (that said, you do get an awesome view!). If you live on a low floor you don’t even have to wait for the elevator and can just take the stairs, but the trade-off is the view. They might though fill more desirable rooms than others though (i.e. from people who want a single, the larger singles (i.e. “super singles” go to the earliest depoisters) but I may be totally wrong about that.
My kid lives in North and house culture seems alive and well. It’s something that has been really important for my kid this year. They hang out in the lounge, do things together, etc. The goal is to stay in North next year, in an apartment with friends from the same house.