@eddi137 I agree. She wouldn’t be able to go inside any dorm not on a tour or included as part of her overnight. However, she would be able to walk around and see them and get a good idea of distance from dorm to classes.
Where do most of the first year classes take place? Harper Quad? I remember when Econ. and Booth (then called the GSB) used to be over there but it looks like it’s been totally taken over by undergrad administrative offices and classrooms now that Booth has its own building.
@JBStillFlying my son did an overnight in January and stayed in Max Palevsky. I told him to ask to see North’s rooms as the sponsor had friends there and they had the time. He also visited Stoney and a few off campus apartments, that were having parties 
They stayed out until about midnight and he had a blast. That’s where he really made his decision that UChicago was where he wanted to be.
@JBStillFlying classes are mostly in similar places. Hum/soc classes tend to be on south end of the Quad and math/sciences on north half of the quad. There is a new physics building west of quad across Ellis.
You can search for classes at https://coursesearch.uchicago.edu/psc/prdguest/EMPLOYEE/HRMS/c/UC_STUDENT_RECORDS_FL.UC_CLASS_SEARCH_FL.GBL and the location of the class is listed if you drill down into a given class itself.
My kid did overnight with someone in I-house, and had a great time. She was impressed with how large some of the rooms there were. She ended up signing up for North though, without ever seeing it (you couldn’t, of course, because it didn’t open until September). But it’s true you won’t see a lot of dorms during the overnight. The kids get a good idea from the website and all the FB interactions they have, anyway.
If a student wants to be near Ratner, what are the names of the nearby houses?
North Campus is near Ratner. You can look up the names of the eight Houses that comprise it (but since you can’t specify Houses anyway, there may not be much point in doing so).
@Sam-I-Am In North? Thangaraj, Rogers, Trott, Strongin, Yuen, Boyer, Dougan-Niklason, Behar.
In Max W - Rickert, Wallace, and (I think?) Alper
It doesn’t matter though, you can’t choose your house, you can only put down dorm preferences.
Oops, North is next to Crown – but near Ratner.
@exacademic, OK thanks. Are there any other dorms near Ratner to consider? And will the quality of the cafeterias be uniform?
HydeSnark mentioned them above (houses in Max Palevsky West). Don’t know how variable the cafeterias are. My (vegetarian) kid generally eats in and has been happy with Baker (North’s cafeteria), though there are things she likes about Bartlett (cafeteria for Max P et al.) – which is sometimes a more convenient location for lunch. Taco bar maybe?
the Bartlett taco bar is incredible but in general people consider dining hall food quality to be Barlett (Taco bar) > South (Cathey) > North (Baker) > Barlett (everything else)
Also Snell Hitchcock is very close.
Thanks for the info @exacademic, @HydeSnark, and @kaukauna!