<p>I personally don’t think that Allison would be the best place for you. The rooms are beautiful and huge, but there isn’t that much community. Also, it is nearly impossible to get into Allison unless you have an AMAZING priority number. In my opinion, Allison is a better place to live as a sophomore who already has good friends. There are a few dorms that I think you might like, so I’ll just list them out for you with their general vibe. Also, don’t worry about AC. You can always get a fan or just crack open a window, it isn’t a big deal.</p>
<p>Willard: I personally love Willard and, while I don’t live there, I spent a lot of my time there. The rooms are very nice, and there is such an insanely strong sense of community. Willard’s dining hall isn’t the greatest for regular food (probably the least healthy of all dining halls too because their theme is comfort food), and it isn’t open on the weekends either. However, Willard is also very close to Allison, which has the best food on campus IMO and is open on weekends, and Plex, which has two dining halls with okay food and is also open on the weekend. Willard has a C-Store, where you can use real money, points, or equivalency meals to buy grocery and snack items. I know you may not think this is super important now, but TRUST me, C-Stores are LIFE. Probably one of the best things about Willard (and a reason why its community is so strong) is the fact that the Willard dining hall turns into Fran’s Cafe after 7:30pm Sun-Thurs. You can order food (quesadillas, pizzas, etc. This food is amazing but mainly junky food) with real money, points, or equivalency meals and eat at Frans, or just walk in (you don’t have to swipe). You will always find people in Frans working or talking until 2am when it closes. The Willard dining hall has couches and a fire place, and it is a great place to hang out. Willard does mainly attract theatre/RTVF/journalism/artsy students, but a lot of people party and you will always find people going out on the weekend. It is a pretty decent walk to the frat quad, which can get annoying during the cold/if you aren’t sober, but that is about the only downside to location.</p>
<p>Elder: Elder is the all-freshman dorm and has an insane community. The rooms are nice enough, and although the Elder dining hall has the rep for being the worst on campus, Elder is really close to Sargent which gives Allison a run for its money for best dining hall on campus (I actually need to start eating at Sargent more often). Although it isn’t a Res College, the fact that all of the residents are freshmen really helps with the sense of community. Elder is right across the street from the frat quad, and people will always go out to party on the weekends, and go out on Thursday nights to places around Evanston and Chicago. Elder has a really great mix of people from all majors from theatre to engineering, and everyone is really social. The problem with Elder is that it is probably the first/second dorm to fill up (tied with or slightly after Allison), so you or your roommate need a great priority number to get into Elder.</p>
<p>Bobb-McCulloch (they are the same dorm but for some reason they are separate choices during registration): This is known as THE party dorm. People who sign up to live in this dorm are the ones who are of the work hard play hard mentality. The rooms aren’t the biggest, and it often smells of pot, and someone even took a dump on the floor there earlier this year, but Bobb is definitely the most fun dorm if you’re someone who wants to have people to go out with, play video games with, go Greek with, etc. Bobb is literally in the frat quad, and right near Sargent, Elder, and Lisa’s. Lisa’s is the North Campus version of Frans that is open 7-days a week and has more options, but you won’t find people hanging out here unless it is 1am on a weekend and they have drunchies. If you’re someone who wants to be really, really social, then Bobb is definitely the dorm for you.</p>