I was just admitted for Early Decision II and I’m more excited than I’ve been in a long time.
I’m planning to select North Campus as my top choice for residence hall, preferably a single dorm. However, during high school I have found that I am not usually very social if given the opportunity to lock myself up in my room, and I’m afraid I’ll naturally gravitate to that and end up feeling a bit lonely.
I have been hearing a lot about North not having as close-knit of a house community. Do you think that this combined with what I described above will make it difficult for me to make friends in North, especially with a single room? I want to hang out/study with people, make friends, and maybe go to a party every couple of months (but parties really are not my main concern).
Is a double/another residence hall altogether a better option for me?
tbh it depends on the house you’re in. In general, they aren’t incredibly close-knit but they’re pretty close knit. There are a few that, if you get lucky, are really close-knit in North. In the end, nobody is going to force you to be social and you’re going to need to put yourself out there wherever you go. BJ would be more close-knit and north-ish but idk if you want that.
A double is very hit or miss. I love my roommate and being roommates has helped us develop the connection we have now, however I’ve heard of so many stories of bad roommates and such. If you do end up doing a double, I’d try to find somebody you like and think you’ll get along with, since that’ll probably be better than random.
Lots of discussion of these issues in this thread (about three threads down the page from yours): http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-chicago/1961392-question-concerning-dorm-assignments-p1.html
My kid is in a single in North, likes her House, enjoys the group events they organize, but does find herself alone a lot. So it’s a real risk. That said, many of the Houses in North are so Class of 2020-heavy that, as a first year, you may end up in a double even if you request a single. BJ sounds like it strikes the balance between sociability and privacy better, but North has been super-convenient for my daughter (two of her ECs meet in Crown) and she does use/appreciate all the amenities/common areas.
Like @exacademic said, your chances of getting a single in North next year is probably pretty slim. Look into BJ or I-House if you’re dead set on a single. Maybe add Snitchcock if your tolerance for the kind of people who post incessantly on the fb group is very high - though getting a single in Snell is not as easy as some people seem to assume.
If you aren’t dead-set on a single, every dorm has doubles so choose based on that. BJ, I-House, and Snitch have the closest knit houses. Max and South are the least, with very, very porous house borders (both physically and socially). North in somewhere in between - people seem mostly to interact within their houses, but the houses get a lot more clique-y and segmented within themselves because they’re bigger.
Stony is awesome and everyone ignores it. Best location in terms of everything but classes! You might get a balcony, and you get your own bathroom! Live the satellite life Zimmer loathes and stick it to the establishment!
As an alum, I suggest that you don’t follow that last line of advice from Hyde Snark and live in Stony, at least not as a first year. I lived in an off campus dorm as a first year (the Shoreland, which no longer is a dorm).
I found that it really made it difficult to feel like I was involved with university life. As an upperclassman, it was fine because I had social connections by then, but as a frosh it was extremely alienating at a time when I still was getting my feet wet. I wish I had been on campus at the start.
The Shoreland is literally twice as far from campus as Stony…it isn’t the same. And I didn’t mean OP should definitely live in Stony - it isn’t for everyone. OP just shouldn’t ignore it.
One of my kids lived in the Shoreland. He hated it because his room was literally falling apart and his roommate was a putz, but he learned that he actually liked a bit of separation between where he lived and where he “worked.” He also loved the eastern part of Hyde Park. His fiancee lived there too, and didn’t mind it. (They weren’t a couple then; his first-year girlfriend lived in Pierce.) Neither of them felt remotely like they weren’t involved in university life; quite the opposite, they were both immersed in it. My other kid wished she lived in the Shoreland – most of her friends lived there.
Having to walk a few blocks to get to classes or the library really isn’t a big deal, or even necessarily negative at all.
That said, it’s not really an issue or an opportunity any more for first-years.
After your freshman year, it isn’t a big deal to be off campus. During your freshman year, when everything is new and you are trying to feel like you really are a part of this strange new place and yes, you belong here, I think it makes a big difference for a lot of people.
In my opinion, of course.
Stony looks very spacious! Living in apt. housing might work very well for some first years - it really all depends on the kid. My kid is a bit picky about the bathroom situation. She would NOT like the group showers that we had in I-House once upon a time. Does anyone know how the community bathrooms work? For instance, have they installed private shower stalls in I-House sometime in the past 30 years, or have those in the new dorms, etc. Also, stupid question but for the co-ed floors how exactly do the bathrooms work (community style, not suite style for those dorms with that). Is there one bathroom for the gals and another one for the guys or are they too progressive for that?
Thanks in advance! My D was just admitted and probably won’t enroll till we view the fin. aid. package (expected in the next week or so). Not expecting her choices to be that numerous by the time she gets to specify her housing.
@JBStillFlying In North there are 2 multi-stall bathrooms and one smaller one (may even be single) per floor, not counting apartments. The way it went in my daughter’ house is they all voted whether the multi-stall bathrooms should be gendered or not, and even one vote against co-ed would make them gendered. I think it was a secret vote. In the multi-stall bathrooms there are dividers between stalls, and curtains. I know this from when I visited her. There are also floor plans online that you can spend lots of time looking at over the next couple of months as you dream about the place (that’s what we did last year, in any case), see for example this one for North: http://d3qi0qp55mx5f5.■■■■■■■■■■■■■■/housing/docs/Campus_North_1.pdf
Thanks @MindLife. So it probably comes down to a house choice and must be unanimous. Interesting. I’ll need to let my daughter know that co-ed is a possibility. She can always default to I-House because they have single-gender floors according to the website.
I appreciate the link to the floor plans! Saw those a few days ago but the link wasn’t working properly so I couldn’t zoom in and get an idea. Now I see how the floorpan is including bathroom layout. Very helpful!
Another factor a student needs to consider. There are only three dining halls on campus: close to South and BJ; close to Max and Snell, close to North. For I-House and further Stony students they need to walk a long way to find food. Does a student like to walk 5 or 10 minutes on a cold weekend a few times to just eat?
@eddi137 was thinking through this as well. House Dinners for I-House and Stony I think are over in Cathy on the other side of the Midway. Do they walk or take a shuttle or CTA? You have to pay for a meal plan so you might as well be near the food. Something to consider.
Believe me, though, it’s for the best that they shut down I-House Dining. I hated it. Spent all my eating time at Reynolds (is that still there or did they turn it into undergrad dining? The big hall with the pictures of past presidents and dignitaries. So like Hogwarts - my kid will love attending here!
Since this thread has digressed to other dorms:
DD is first year in a double in South. Loves her house and housemates. Has a large house and I think some kids don’t participate but plenty do so that she feels it’s a cohesive unit. They have fair number of house activities and kids hang out in the lounge quite a bit. Most of her friends are from her house. Plans to stay next year but she will try for an apartment at the dorm–does not expect to get it though.
Each floor has a communal bathroom and her house voted, much to her annoyance, to have gender specific bathrooms. She, therefore, has to go down a floor to get to the women’s room. There is also a single private BR with shower on each floor for those who want that.
South floor plans: https://summerconferences.uchicago.edu/page/south-campus-floor-plans
Looks like bit of a hike from the far reaches of the upper floors to the entrance to the building. DD is not far from the entrance so pretty convenient.
I lived in Woodward Court in the past (now razed) and used to think having to cross the Midway multiple times/day would have been a terrible fate but the kids in BJ/South don’t seem to care. Of course, the Midway is much more hospitable appearing these days compared to the barren fields of yore.
I have a friend who has a kid living in I House and apparently he really likes it. DD says they tend to come as a group to eat at Cathey.
There are shuttle stops at I-House and Stony I think. But you have to wait for the buses. For dinning purpose only the bus is not the most convenient way. Some dinning hall offers the fourth deal at late time close to it will be the most convenient and cozy way.
https://dining.uchicago.edu/page/locations-hours
The Hutchinson Commons is a campus cafe students have to pay unlike meal plan at dinning halls.
Midway Pl. may look nicer now but it’s still harsh in winter. They don’t call it The Windy City for nothing. However, D17 is from MN and is used to crossing the Hennepin Ave. Bridge every day which is about the same distance and wind gusts but a worse windchill. She’ll have no problem with the Midway.
@ihs76 I was wondering why the house would vote for anything other than gender-specific bathrooms just due to privacy concerns but now I get it - convenience. With one community bathroom on the floor, that might make sense. But how does that work, do you know? Would there be enough privacy in the shower or bathroom stalls, etc?
I-House had group showers in my day as a grad student. I was on a single-sex floor but still found that to be a bit too cozy. Pretty sure the newer dorms offer more privacy than that!
@JBStillFlying Yes the stalls have doors and showers are single and each closed off including a dressing area. We had coed bathrooms (that was what we called it before ‘gender neutral’ was coined) at Woodward Court when I lived there and it was really a non issue. We were supposed to vote on it but the first years were basically told ‘this is how it is.’ There were no complaints. We had one guy who used to walk from shower to his room au natural. I wonder if they would allow that these days.
Bathroom arrangements seem like much more of a big deal in anticipation than they turn out to be in reality. Human beings are very good at adapting themselves to all sorts of bathroom arrangements, including a small group of men and women living in close proximity to one another sharing a bathroom. Of course, it’s actually the way lots of young people live with their families. “House” members on the same floor/corridor are not quite a family, but quickly develop some sibling-like characteristics.
@JHS I would tend to agree with you for the most part. We do have a friend who attended Yale at a time when bathrooms were “co-ed” and he related stories about how the guys would harass the female students in there. Yes, it does happen - even at Yale 
Or did, once upon a time.
Things have probably changed a bit since those days (Yale was one of the first to institute this practice, if I recall, and it was a different generation). My daughter also realizes that if there is any inappropriate or harassing behavior she can take it right to the proper parties to get it resolved. Also, in our home we obviously don’t have “gendered” bathrooms LOL. As a parent, I just feel that sometimes it’s smart not to provide a means for temptation into obnoxious outcomes, and this is one area where, historically at least, there is a risk of that.
Corrections / reassurances welcome!