@billcsho. And were the majority of other students able to easily walk to a movie or restaurant? Not to mention most classes? Cuz that’s the dichotomy that North vs Central/Hill sets up. +2/3 of the students on Hill or Central with easy access to everything and the others who have easy access to very little.
If a freshman assigned to housing on North Campus is unhappy, I have known students who were able to move to the Hill or Central at the start of winter semester. You likely cannot move with a roommate and do not have a choice of dorm, but it is possible to make a request through Housing, although there is no guarantee they can accommodate you.
@mays54 Think about the CoE freshmen that need to go between campus a couple times everyday and how often one go es to a movie or a restaurant (although some may choose to party everyday). For a school of this size, there is no way to make it fair. If you can afford it, there are some nice apartments in central campus.
Living on North Campus is not that bad. Yes, it is inconvenient to live on Central Campus as a freshman. However, if you are an engineering student in your junior/senior years, you will appreciate living on North. Most of your classes (if not all) will be on North. The corporate info sessions will be on North. The on campus interviews will probably be on North. For Juniors, Seniors, and Graduate students, living on North is a supreme convenience. There are also a lot of food options on Plymouth Road.
Where is the best place for freshmen in music to live?
@maya54 Your post #16 is spot on.
If one need to use the practice room at music school in the evening, then North Campus would be more convenient.
Thank you @billcsho – I just assumed she would be better off on north campus because of the proximity to the music building, but now I’m starting to wonder. I doubt she’ll be wanting to practice in the evening.
choirandstages, I’m wondering the same thing. North sounded perfect for a music student until I started reading this thread.
There are also practice rooms on the lower level of West Quad. Some have pianos in them.
Wouldn’t it make sense to just put the kids in the music and Coe in North? Or is that too few?
I don’t think that’s a good idea to segregate kids just from those two schools.
@choirsandstages - My D is in music and CoE (dual degree) finishing her second year. She is at the music building a ton in the evenings. Her studio class goes until 7PM one evening, rehearsals with accompanists are often at night (as late as midnight), there are quite a few required student recitals at night and weekends, and she practices some at odd times too. Living on North is quiet, but she loved being able to easily walk to the music building as a freshman. She now lives just off North campus and walks to music and CoE, buses to Central for one class, to meet friends, for some social activities, etc. She also finds Uber convenient to go straight home to her apartment from Central area on occasion. FYI, most of her music friends live on North or off campus. She has CoE friends on both North and Central.
My main issue is that since freshman are really given no choice the fact that a minority may have a decidedly worse experience (in the view of many many kids placed in North)than the vast majority of other freshman is an unfortunate and negative thing about Michigan. If there were an easy fix I believe Michigan would do it because they know being placed on north detracts from many kids freshman experience. There is however no easy fix so kids will have to live with it and it’s not the end of the world but it’s not a great situation either.
I’m surprised at the negativity about North Campus housing on here. North Campus has been in existence for fortyish years now, with thousands and thousands of students having somehow survived the experience. 
I was one of those thirty years ago and did not have a decidedly worse experience. Bursely is a huge dorm and cultivates a strong social connection between its residents. And while the bus was a bit of a pain, it really wasn’t that big of a deal. I never felt like it stifled my social life and I was not one to sit in my dorm room. There were positives to living on North Campus too; it was /is the only dorm you could have a car and a place to park! The surrounding area is very pretty and its was relaxing to study at my desk and look out the window at trees and grass. As a freshman I didn’t see the need to walk to restaurants/stores and whatnot because I ate in the dorms and didn’t have much money anyway! And I could certainly do those things while I was on Central Campus in between classes.
I did eventually move to Central Campus sophomore year and enjoyed that, but I wouldn’t characterize my freshman year as having been some “less than” experience. Plus, I met one of very best friends there, so I think it is important to embrace every new experience as one with possibilities, not focus on the perceived negatives. Just my thoughts.
I’ve lived in Bursley Freshman and Sophomore year. It’s fine.
Only downside is a 15 minute bus ride to class and the dining hall food is better on central.
If North were really no issue Michigan would have no problem honoring the requests of those who would rather be on central and the hill. They can’t do that because way more than the 2/3 of freshman that can be housed in those area request central or the hill. .
Once again, it is not only the location issue- the residence halls and dinings halls are almost objectively better on Central Campus. Your biggest dining hall of North Campus, Bursley, leaves a lot to be desired when comparing it to the big Central/Hill dining halls of South Quad and MoJo. Air conditioning is much more prevalent on Central Campus (and it came in very handy this year). The bathrooms in many Central Campus dorms seem newer or in better condition and residence hall common areas just seem to look cooler on Central Campus. We cannot ignore these differences. North Campus Residence Halls need more renovation to be brought up to par with their Central Campus counterparts.
I am not sure about Art/Architecture/SMTD students- but for freshmen in engineering, classes are likely to be almost evenly split between North and Central Campus- so living on North affords few location benefits for being close to classes. As for music practice rooms- some central campus residence halls have their own- so the need to even make the trek to the School of Music becomes less.
It is no wonder so many people try to “game” the system, by doing things like applying for certain Living Learning Communities.
Are there types of rooms only available on North or Central besides LLCs that people ask for?
@hrsmom. It’s my understanding that there aren’t any type of rooms that one can ask for that would mean you get Central/ Hill. There are two dozen kids from my kids school at Michigan as freshman this year and every one of them managed to game the system without asking for an LLC by having a doctors or Rabbis note or choosing a roomate who did. My daughter didn’t expressly choose a roomate with a doctors note but she was certainly very pleased when the girl she was talking to in a FB roomate Finder group mentioned that she had one.