<p>I know this topic has come up a bunch, but I still have a couple of questions regarding freshman housing and the questionnaire that I have to fill out by June 19th.</p>
<p>According to the website, the dorms for freshman are Appleton, Charles Pratt, James, Stearns, North, South and Williston.</p>
<p>I have heard that Pratt is the nicest, but is also a bit dispersed and cavernous, which doesn’t lend itself too well for a tight-knit social environment. James and Stearns, I have heard, are comfortable and beautiful, and foster a much closer community feeling than Pratt. The other dorms (North, South, Appleton, Williston) are less sociable than the other dorms and also less flashy and new.</p>
<p>On my housing questionnaire, I am thinking about saying in the “additional comments” section that I want to live in James or Stearns. My only concern is that I heard from one student that James and Stearns are mostly the ‘jock’ and party dorms, whereas Pratt is more balanced between athletes and bookworms. </p>
<p>I consider myself athletic and sociable, but I’m not sure if I want to live in a dorm where many of the students are ‘impact’ athletes (football players, basketball players, etc.) Any advice from current students on freshman dorming, and the stereotypes of these dorms would be greatly appreciated!</p>
<p>It’s not like the housing office sets up James as the athletes’ hall, and Pratt as 50/50, and Williston for the “less sociable.” One thing they do say, is that they like to mix up the students so that you’re living among people who might be more like you and also people who will be less like you.</p>
<p>If you think putting down a certain building might help you actually get placed in that building (and I’m not sure it would anyway), then pick a building for the room configurations, the layout, the location, or some other material property.</p>
<p>Some dorms become more party-centers because of the physical layout and size of the rooms (I have heard this mentioned about James, for example), but it doesn’t mean all the people at those parties actually live in that dorm.</p>
<p>My kid lived in North, and while the rooms tend to be smaller than in the newer dorms, the older dorms are also recently renovated and are very nice.</p>
<p>Charles Pratt is so “flashy” that its excess might be considered wasteful–all that vast open space, many of the study nooks, and all the electricity. I can say this as a former resident of the first floor. All the other dorms–especially James and Sterns–strike a reasonable balance between luxury and comfort.</p>
<p>Amherst prides itself on creating genuine diversity. You should arrive here with an open mind: all of your classmates will be nice and eager to make friends–even the “jocks.” You shouldn’t come with preconceived notions of how certain groups of people will behave and organize themselves. </p>
<p>Oftentimes, students complain about cliquishness, but they fail to realize how much they themselves contribute to this problem.</p>
<p>I went over to Stearns a couple of months ago to celebrate a friend’s birthday. Upon stepping out of the elevator, a flabbergasted “jock” approached me and asked me: “Do you know who lives in that room (where I was headed)? She (an ambitious, extracurricularly active bookworm) throws parties every week! How am I supposed to study?!”</p>
<p>That being said, all dorms are well-mixed and well-comprised. You’re going to have to deal with noise problems some time or the other, wherever you live, whether the drunken jocks, the jamming musicians, or the stoned hipsters are to blame.</p>
<p>Keep in mind that the “oldest” and least flashy freshman dorm (Appleton) was renovated in 2000 or so. There are no bad options. Now when the mods were freshman housing on the other hand…</p>
<p>My daughter lived in South as a first year student and before she arrived at Amherst was disappointed because she read about the newer dorms. But, she LOVED South. She said it was smaller and the students in the dorm bonded and had a wonderful year. As someone else said, there really aren’t any bad dorms. You’ll be fine wherever you end up. Congratulations on going to an extraordinary college.</p>