<p>I'm looking into housing for next year and the one that stands out the most to me is Middlebrook. I don't like to party or anything like that, and I'm considered pretty studious. I'll be at Carlson. Opinions on whether or not it would be a good fit are greatly appreciated!</p>
<p>Lindseyk724…Just my opinion, but I think Middlebrook would be a good fit for you. The Honors housing is all within Middlebrook (I believe you’re guaranteed a spot there if you’re accepted into Honors) so the consensus opinion is that Middlebrook is a little more “serious” or “studious” than the Superblock dorms in general. I think you’ll find party areas in Middlebrook and studious areas in the Superblock, but overall I think Middlebrook might suit you better. Being in Carlson, you’ll attend the majority (I suspect) of your classes on the West Bank so that should work well also. Some folks worry about the “isolation” of Middlebrook if your classes are on the East Bank, but it’s only a 15 minute walk or 5 minute bus ride across the river. D1 plans to live in Honors housing in Middlebrook (she’s been accepted into CBS) and we’ll be on campus this weekend for her to walk around a little and see the dorm as well. Good Luck at Carlson. Go Gophers!!</p>
<p>Thank you so much Wolverine86! That advice is greatly appreciated. Do you happen to know anything about the honors college? Do they automatically review you upon your admittance to the school or is there a separate application?</p>
<p>Lindsey - Getting into honors it is an additional step in the process. Most of the kids who were accepted this fall found out about 2 weeks after their regular acceptance. It shows up on the application tracker and also in the mail. Good luck</p>
<p>My son just sent in his housing app for Middlebrook. I have a niece who lived there a couple years ago and she said it is the best place for freshman honors kids. Basically she said it was sometimes a pain in the butt to go to the east bank, but at the end of the day it is a great place eat, study and hang out.</p>
<p>^Ditto to everything Kajon said. No seperate application, and D1 only got her Honors acceptance via snail mail. Some others got both online notification via Application Tracker and snail mail, but I think it varies by college. Several folks have told us Middlebrook has the best dining hall out of the 6 (I think??) on campus. Nearly all of Middlebrook is either doubles or suites also, and the semi-private bathrooms with those room types is a big plus in D1’s mind.</p>
<p>My brother lived in Middlebrook his freshman year and is at Carlson. He liked it, as it is among the nicer dorms on campus. There are a lot of music kids that live there as well as honors students, but it is in a nice location in relation to where most of your classes will be.</p>
<p>My youngest son is currently a freshman at the U and living in Middlebrook. Middlebrook “generally” designates floors as “Honors Floors”, Music Student Floors, Theater student floors, “Crossing borders” floor (opportunity to live with a student form another country) etc.</p>
<p>The best and the brightest seem to have gathered at Middlebrook. Certainly studious but also kind. Generally 4 students share one bathroom. My son’s experience has been very, very positive. Minimal partying in this dorm. Involved floor activities. Free laundry.</p>
<p>Limitations on room arrangements. Beds can only be arranged in one way. One on each side of the room in the same direction. They can be lofted. East side rooms have a beautiful view of the river. Middlebrook is close to a “shady” part of Minneapolis, but students generally do not venture off in that direction. West bank is overall safe with use of Common Sense. My son is definitely planning on living in Middlebrook next year.</p>
<p>I would definitely suggest Middlebrook. I live in the superblock now, and I can tell you it is nothing special. I am actually going to move to middlebrook next semester because of its location and that it looks much nicer. I like that it is easier to stay indoors over there too. Here we have to cross over to the gopher way which is honestly pretty confusing. Over the buidlings are all connected so you won’t need to go outside much, unless you are going to the east bank. Not to mention the fact that there is no grocery store over here anymore. Your only option is to travel to dinkytown, west bank, or Centenial Hall(Which is really, really expensive).</p>
<p>What about Frontier? it has the engineering boys and girls like living experience thing. Middlebrook sounds nice but it is kind of isolated looking and the music/drama kids are generally (no offense to anyone) the weirdest kids ever.</p>
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<p>They keep them on a different floor :p</p>
<p>I am living in Fronteir now. You would think it is in a great location, but in a way, I would argue the opposite. My main complaint is that there are no more grocery stores here. The closest one just went out of business last Monday lol. In order to get my half a gallon of milk I am going to have to choose between spending a lot at the school convenience store, or going to the West Bank to get it. </p>
<p>If you are living on the West Bank, you can be in heated areas longer than people living in the superblock. A quick walk across the street from Middlebrook and you can take the gopher way all the way to your shuttle stop. You can actually stay inside while waiting for it by the way. Then you can get dropped off closer to your classes than the people in the superblock are. </p>
<p>The only thing I would hate is that you do not live close to the recreation center compared to the superblock. Unfortunately, my good friend (and hopefully future roommate) wants the experience of living on the West Bank so I will most likely not be in Middlebrook until my Junior year. </p>
<p>By the way, the science/engineering floor in Fronteir has some weird kids there as well. I would know, I am one of them lol!</p>
<p>Any thoughts on doubles vs. suites in Middlebrook?</p>
<p>Do the kids in suites have to clean their own bathroom???</p>
<p>All bathrooms are maintained by students.</p>
<p>^^Wow, that’s almost scary! </p>
<p>Kajon, the kids who I’ve know who lived in suites have had to clean their bathrooms, but they have been in other schools, not UMinn.</p>
<p>Entomom, I completely agree lol. I could not imagine not having the bathroom I use cleaned by us. It would be horrible!</p>
<p>When D1 and I visited campus a few weeks ago, the student giving us a tour of Middlebrook said that the bathrooms were cleaned by the dorm staff. It kind of surprised me since when I lived in the suites at my university (back in the dark ages) we had to clean our own bathrooms. Only the community bathrooms were cleaned by the staff. I think the difference may be that the semi-private bathrooms are accessed from the main hallway with a key that only the 4 people who share that bathroom have. In many suite setups, the bathrooms adjoin the 2 respective rooms and staff members would have to enter a student’s room to get to the bathroom and I don’t think that’s allowed.</p>
<p>S1 is at Middlebrook in a double. The bathrooms are across the hall, 2 rooms to a bathroom. They are cleaned about every other day by staff. Thank goodness because is S1 had to do it they would be a pig-sty. I believe the suites in Middlebrook (where the bathroom is between the rooms) have to be maintained by the students. S1 loves the cafetaria there - says its the best at UMN (although he really has only eaten at Comstock and one of the dorms in the superblock so I don’t know if he can really compare.)</p>
<p>second year in middlebrook and i love it. I live on the student crossing borders floors. we have language clubs every day (if you speak a different language, you come and eat food and just talk in that language) the atmosphere is very relaxed and most of the people do study a lot and we do “party” in our rooms, just have to find them. </p>
<p>the bathroom is the main attraction, very private. the suite bathrooms you do have to clean by yourself, girls and guys with good aim should be fine in a suite. they are not much bigger. also consider the new addition, which is a lot nicer than the tower. don’t know if freshmen can get in there.</p>
<p>the bad part is the distance from the rec center, your freshmen 15 will be more noticeable. i usually use the neighboring Augsburg College rec center. jimmy johns is near by and a lot of different restaurants are also near by. it is a great place to live.</p>
<p>I visited and it seemed pretty nice. I still can’t choose between that and frontier though.</p>