<p>I received my Ohio State Housing application a week ago since I turned in my fee as late as possible. I am an Honors student. When I read my housing contract (before signing, of course!), I realized you agree to go into housing before you even know where you will be assigned, which gave me pause. I have a few questions about housing:</p>
<p>If I apply now, will all the honors housing be filled up and I won’t get any?</p>
<p>What is the experience of living in freshman Honors housing? Do you make friends or is it just a room you sleep in? Is it nice? loud? clean?</p>
<p>I am well within commuter radius (I can bike to OSU!) and the contract told me I should exhaust other options before seeking housing and they can reject people from housing if I live too close. Do people really get rejected for housing? Should I consider commuting and saving $10,000, or consider renting an apartment? (It’s probably cheaper than $10,000!)</p>
<p>Bet bet would be to call Housing with your questions. Conventional wisdom is that the room arrangement in Lincoln (on West) is conducive to meeting at least the 8-10 people in your suite and that any dorm on South has a pretty lively atmosphere compared to North or West. Taylor on North is most conveniently located for science classes and is quiet for studying but typically there are 4 kids sharing a small suite so it’s cramped. My son studied in his room and I can’t imagine how he did it. However he also studies in the lounges, libraries, and in his friends’ rooms/houses. I guess it just depends on your study style. I can tell you that the Honors housing does fill quickly but they seem to get most people into hosuing even if it’s not an honors dorm. If you do get closed out, you are lucky that commuting is an option. Quite of few of my son’s classmates do commute. As far as off campus apartments, it may be getting late to secure anything for the fall. I’d say most of the kids who were planning to move off-campus for this fall began looking and leasing back in Dec 2009. If you want to go that route, the Housing homepage has info on Off-Campus housing options- I am not sure how much of it is available to freshmen though.</p>
<p>Don’t know much about Baker East except that it’s on South and I think it has a bike room which is nice if you are bringing one. It is also closer to the stores/restaurants/banks on High Street than the West dorms. It is closer to the Medical Center and the new Student Union than the North dorms. Try the website at housing.osu.edu and click on Room Search to find out more about that dorm.</p>
<p>dd lives in Siebert…honors arts and science…sent stuff back fairly quickly but not immediately. Mostly freshman, quiet dorm (could study in room with door open). other south dorms more social.</p>
<p>dd’s friend turned honors housing in after orientation…still honors housing but quad in tower suite…total nightmare, no space and horrid roomie. She requested a transfer immediately and moved a month later to Stradley (has party reputation and supposedly the most turnover due to dropouts); but was very happy there and found somewhere else to study</p>
<p>Baker is a nice dorm, personally only have seen the lobby but dd has friends there and likes it</p>
<p>I live in Lincoln (west honors dorm), and most people, with the exception of people with very poor social skills, have made close friends with people in their suites and on their floors. I have really enjoyed living with other smart people, and I think living in the dorms is an excellent way to make friends. </p>
<p>I am living off campus next year, and I have to point out that almost all of the apartments close to campus were leased by the end of winter quarter. The ones left are overpriced or too far away from campus to walk, so living off campus this coming year may be less of an option than you think. </p>
<p>If you chose to commute from home, join clubs as soon as possible to make friends, as people tend to socialize more with people they live with or already know rather than people they meet in their classes.</p>