On the i3 videos

<p>Seriously, I think it's a good idea to not pick a favorite right now.</p>

<p>You never know what you're going to get in the lottery, and it's better to be flexible and be happy with your first, second, and third choices. More importantly, the lottery result is not your final choice -- you should visit your other possible dorms and make your decision based on the people there and the feeling you get rather than on the i3 videos.</p>

<p>I mean, what's the rush? If you can't decide which of two or three dorms you like best right now, flip a coin or roll a die and explore further during orientation.</p>

<p>My NBM just arrived today, and I just had a flip thru the videos and to be honest, I really don't have a favourite. I used to really really really like Baker, but after watching the videos, I think there are about 7 i would be equally happy in (im not sure whether thats a good thing or a bad thing, I should probs narrow them down a bit). And though I'll porbably still put Baker down as number 1, i don't think ill be too bothered if i get 2nd, 3rd, 4th choice (whatever they end up being).</p>

<p>so, freshmen, sophomore, junior, and seniors can all live in the same dorm? same floor?</p>

<p>Yes. All of MIT's dorms contain people from all four years.</p>

<p>I liked: </p>

<p>Baker, because it's social... but I also like sleep, and I've heard it's really loud
Simmons, because the people seem cool.... but it's kind of far away, and doesn't really have a "culture" cause it's new.
BC, I like the suite set-up, but it doesn't have a dining hall.
Next, but it's REALLY far away. And I'm really not that energetic first thing in the morning. </p>

<p>I definately couldn't see myself in Senior Haus, not really in EC either. They seem cool (and, uh, the videos were awesome!) but not for me. </p>

<p>And I can't live in MacGregor cause I don't want a single. </p>

<p>I totally get a kick out of Bexley too, but I suppose they're not too frosh friendly. </p>

<p>So I dunno. I liked a lot of the dorms, they all seem awesome. Making choices is hard!</p>

<p>P.S. Tell me if I'm completely wrong about my impressions of dorms... :) Thanks :)</p>

<p>no, your impressions are actually quite accurate.</p>

<p>just remember this though... life is better not on a dining plan :)</p>

<p>I want to know more about East Campus different halls, I mean, I read what it says on the WebSite, but that doesn't seems like a real good explanation.</p>

<p><a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showpost.php?p=2039839&postcount=27%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showpost.php?p=2039839&postcount=27&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>I wrote that a while back. not very detailed but here.</p>

<p>1e- lively hall. throws a lot of parties, plays a lot of music, there are always kids wandering around the hall with guitars and singing at the top of their lungs. good cooks, too. has built a lot of electronic gadgets and dance floors and such :P just all in all the best hall in east campus. also there are cats.</p>

<p>2e- a lot quieter. cleaner. hall members are really tight-knit, a lot of everyone-all-together-now activities. huge projector screen in one of the lounges and kids always parked in front of it. doesn't build very much, throws a few parties (but they're generally pretty good), mostly keeps to themselves. no cats</p>

<p>3e- the pyromaniacs hall. breathe fire, spin fire, love fire. intense kind of place, always blowing something up or coming up with a new way to put the flame retardant carpets to use. hackers. generally the most popular hall on east campus (for prefrosh) and hard to get on to. I think kids are attracted to the energy. but there's a very VERY established culture already and all prefrosh can do is assimilate into it and I have heard complaints that it's impossible to study in your room. there are cats.</p>

<p>4e- one of the quietest halls. quieter than 2e. it's really quiet. well-located though in case you want some excitement but not all the time. there are really very rarely people in the halls, but the lounges are used quite often. they have cocoa parties where everyone gets together and drinks cocoa. they have a lot of eecs majors. they have a lot of hallcest. they have no cats. their residents are in bed by 12am.</p>

<p>5e- generally when you hear people say ec is filled with a bunch of social-deviants they're thinking of this place. 5e is a smoking hall and it smells like it. there's a screw everything attitude. there's a segment of the hall that is covered in black paint and lit by red lights. the hacking community is huge here. some hall members try to be dark and intimidating but really they're friendly people. prefrosh are generally scared of 5e so it is one of the least popular halls by hallrush but it's one of the most prominent in east campus. there are cats. lots of them. they're really pretty. hallcest galore.</p>

<p>1w- not much to say. they don't have enough of a hall culture and being half the size as all the other halls (~20 people) they're easy to overlook. especially when not a peep of noise eminates from it. </p>

<p>2w- builds a lot. is loud. is lively. over the years have accumulated lots of interesting new (mostly electronic) features. messy hall. fun-loving and social. I don't thnk they allow cats.</p>

<p>3w- I don't know very much about them except what other people say. I don't think I've ever been on hall for more than 15 seconds. But what I hear kind of places 3w as one of those quiet halls that don't really have a culture who really really wants to establish a culture of being social and cool. so they'll do a lot of that stuff. I hear stuff about hot guys? Not from the 3w-ers I've seen but maybe they're secret weapons.</p>

<p>4w- is nuts. off their rocker. because of the fact that they embrace the whole fresh-out-of-a-mental-institution vibe they will do a lot of nutty things. some of them will be really cool nutty things... some... not so cool. like very loud music all hours of the day/night. like a lot of people wandering around or breaking things or dropping things off of high places. like blacklight everything. but also like an entire wall covered in **** from over the years. keep an eye out for that one. just warnin' ya. prefrosh have made the unfortunate blunder of casually leaning on it. this is the other smoking hall in EC. so it smokes. I think there are cats as well.</p>

<p>5w- thought of as the jock hall. thought of as the people in east campus who sustain a west campus culture. they don't really socialize much with the rest of east campus. they kinda wish they lived in baker instead.</p>

<p>once you get into EC in the housing lottery, we'll hold a huge hall-rush that is just 10 huge parties going on at the same time and you get to do some party-hopping. it's really a lot of fun. hall-rush is great. that's when you get to explore the halls a bit more, too. </p>

<p>but the run-down I gave is basically the most honest you'll hear anywhere on the internet so do a little soul-searching. do you want your room to be a playpen or a workzone? do you like to sleep at night? what time would you like to sleep at night? (take into account the shift in schedule that occurs inevitably as you step into MIT) (**I went from 2am bedtime to 6-ish) do you see yourself doing a lot of hacking (tunnel-exploring, pranking, etc)? do you want your dorm to be a home or just a place to sleep? do you want your hallmates to be your best friends or just getting in the way of you using the bathroom? how well do you tolerate entirely different views from your own? are you afraid of noise (not 4w)? are you afraid of fire (not 3e)? are you epileptic (not 1e)? do you mind if your lounges smell like smoke? are you allergic to cats? </p>

<p>etc etc.</p>

<p>
[quote]

just remember this though... life is better not on a dining plan

[/quote]

I completely agree with this. It perplexes me somewhat that there are people who want to eat dining hall food every night. I mean, it's okay, but every night?</p>

<p>Thanks Pebbles for your entry :)</p>

<p>In mollie's</a> blog, she stated</p>

<p>
[quote]
It's up to each entry how they allocate suites -- some entries have primarily single-sex suites (although all the entries are co-ed overall), and some are all co-ed. I've always lived in a co-ed suite, and I don't find anything sketchy about it whatsoever. I mean, you don't see people naked or anything. But if brushing your teeth next to a guy creeps you out, there are single-sex suites and you can request to live in one.

[/quote]

So, is it possible: in the same bathroom of a suite, a guy is brushing his teeth, while a girl taking a shower? Will the girl feel uncomfortable?</p>

<p>Also, will the hot water (in the shower) be provided for 24/7?</p>

<p>Yes, that's possible, if the suite is coed. But why would the girl feel uncomfortable? There's a shower curtain and about five feet between her and the person who's brushing his teeth. (Actually, there are two shower curtains.)</p>

<p>Coed suites tend to lay out ground rules at the beginning of the year. In some of them, the bathroom door being closed is a request for privacy, or it's understood that only one person is in the bathroom at one time. There's also a changing area in the shower (like a bathroom at camp?), so if someone doesn't want to walk around in a towel, he/she can fully change back into clothes before coming out of the shower. </p>

<p>My suites have never been like that, but we were all good friends and didn't get weirded out by being in the bathroom together. I've seen the guys in my suite without their shirts on and I've seen everybody with towels wrapped around them. That's about as scintillating as it gets.</p>

<p>And yes, the hot water is on 24/7. Except when there's a water main break in the city of Cambridge, which happens more often than you'd sort of suspect. :P</p>

<p>Thank you so much!</p>

<p>Does anyone here know anything about the different floors (on both the East and West penhouse sides) in McCormick?
I was housed there for CPW and loved it. ^_^</p>

<p>Hey! I resent the statement that 2E is quiet. We're certainly quieter than 5E, Tetazoo, and 41West, but for the most part, people on hall are quite active and social at all hours of the day and night. </p>

<p>We don't have a historically well-defined culture, so it's sometimes difficult to describe what the hall is like.</p>

<p>That being said, you prefrosh shouldn't really be worrying about the culture of individual halls/floors yet. Go ahead and watch the i3 videos and read dorm websites, but what you really want to do when you get to campus in August is visit the dorms and talk to a bunch of people. You'll get to worry about what hall you want once you get a final dorm assignment.</p>

<p>lolllz.</p>

<p>:)</p>

<p>Almost everybody's first choice seems to be either Baker or EC! Mine is Baker, and I was wondering what other dorms could be considered most "similar" to it (socially) since I understand it's difficult to get into.</p>

<p>"Bexley is just scary and cultish."</p>

<p>If you want a single, don't come here.
If you want a best-friend roomy, don't come here.
If you're looking for an unforgiving, acidic environment where your roommate will most likely be the antithesis of everything you believe in and stand for (and trust us we will try to make that happen) with your comments and opinions be treated worse than yesterday's garbage...then you're probably disturbed and should consider West campus.</p>

<p>Unlike other dorms, Bexley believes in "tough love." This is for your own good. Don't expect to be welcomed. In fact, expect to find your suitcases and belongings in the alley behind the dorm. Expect to be detested and offended. We don't take kindly to freshmen. Especially those who are high maintanence that need to be taken care of. "Can you give me a tour?" "Can you show me where laundry is?" "Can you let me in because there's a rabid squirrel chasing me?" The answer to all of these is "no." </p>

<p>You need to learn that the world is tough, that MIT is tough. Deal with it.</p>

<p>heh, baker and EC are my top two for now i believe, too</p>

<p>I was thinking today that Next seems to have a similar crowd to Baker (at least, both have high percentages of people who pledge fraternities or sororities), although of course then you have to deal with the RBA thing.</p>