I have read some posts that described Kerr Hall which houses the music LLC as one of the biggest party dorms. How accurate is this assessment? Should a freshman that is very involved in music (jazz instrumentalist non music major) that is not interested in partying drinking etc choose a different LLC?
Hey! I actually lived in Kerr my first year!
I think overall, the assessment is fair - you have a lot of artistic people, and generally speaking, they usually tend to use more recreational drugs in the expected college format. To be fair, Kerr “parties” are 10-20 people in a dorm room doing anything from jamming to playing Catan to party games - they aren’t exactly go-crazy frat parties.
There were a decent number of people in Kerr that didn’t party at all or often, and people in Kerr are also very accepting of that. One thing the dorm did do well was accepting whatever people were comfortable with - I know people in Kerr who never drank and still are good friends with people after leaving the dorm, so much so as to room with them the following year.
Being sober when most others aren’t isn’t the most fun, but the musical inclination of the dorm is certainly there - I was a CS major who just loved listening but we had everything ranging from drummer to guitarist to music industry majors to classical flautists and cellists. You get both, not just the partying.
As far as people’s majors go, most are majoring in something completely not music - I wouldn’t worry there.
I don’t think it’s for everyone, but I was happy with the experience overall - I’m not against partying but I practice in moderation - I did the same while I was living there. Currently, I would say I party slightly less than when I was in Kerr, but that may just have been the excitement of freshman year.
If you don’t think Kerr is for you after reading that, I would suggest looking into “From Novel To Big Screen” - it’s usually housed near Kerr and will have many artistic and nerdy types - I still currently have some good friends that lived there freshman year. You can always visit and interact with Kerr, and being next door will make that possible without living there and worrying about any partying concerns.
You’re describing me as well - musician/non-partier going for Kerr. I’m sure that there’s got to be more of us out there…
@PengsPhils thanks for the information. @BobNotBob I hope so too thanks
I was definitely in a similar situation my freshman year in terms of not wanting to party. I lived in a different dorm, but I made friends in Kerr my first few weeks and ended up spending a lot of time there. It definitely lived up to its reputation as the party dorm. Like @PengsPhils said, there were definitely people who didn’t ‘party’ at all or often, and the parties were tame relative to the typical crazy college frat party. That being said, it wasn’t a great experience for me just because it was ALL of the time. It was a relief when I finally met some friends who at least wanted to be sober during the week.
On the music side, I’m certain you could find other people in Kerr who don’t party, or at least don’t party a lot, and that are non-music major instrumentalists. I’m pretty skewed on my view of Kerr because of the few people I did hang out with. In general, I’m sure you could find your niche of people there. The one real advantage you have in Kerr is it’s a small dorm. It won’t be hard to meet everyone. There are definitely more of you out there you just might need to look a little harder.