<p>I gotta send in a housing deposit soon, and gotta pick thre dorms (in preference). I was wondering is anyone could tell what's good about each, etc.? These are the choices:</p>
<p>Burge Hall
Currier Hall
Daum Hall (honors, i think)
Hillcrest Hall
Mayflower Hall
Parklawn Hall
Quadrangle Hall
Rienow Hall
Slater Hall
Stanley Hall</p>
<p>My son is a freshman there, so I'll give you what I know from doing this research last year. </p>
<p>East of the river:</p>
<p>Burge is large and has a great many freshman, and is known for being fairly raucus. One of the 2 main dining halls is there (the other is in Hillcrest). Currier has more upperclassmen, and is therefore reputed to be a bit more "civilized." It has a fitness center. Stanley is popular, as it has many singles, and is hard for freshmen to get into (it was my son's first choice, and he didn't get it....he's going to try for a single for next year). Daum is honors, as you noted, and is a Quiet House. Mayflower is at least a half mile from the main campus, and all rooms are apartments with kitchens. It's not a location or setup I think most freshman would be comfortable with.</p>
<p>West of the River:</p>
<p>Parklawn is small, and also suites/apartments like Mayflower. Hillcrest is the largest and most popular dorm on this side, as it has a dining hall and fitness center. It's also older, so some of the rooms are more quaint in layout, i.e. not as boxy as the newer dorms. Quadrangle - don't know anything about. Slater (where my son is) and Rienow are identical high rises. My son's been OK with Slater, but as a music major it's not as convenient for him as Stanley and Currier.</p>
<p>The East side of the river puts you closer to the downtown and all it offers (which is a lot). The West side is closer to the athletic facilities. According to the Iowa Housing website, Quiet Floors will be available in Stanley, Burge, Hillcrest and Slater. </p>
<p>Current students are now selecting rooms for next year, and then new freshmen will be assigned based on when they sent in their deposits. I don't remember when we sent in my son's deposit, but it was fairly late. He was going to be assigned to either Mayflower or Parklawn, which he really didn't want. He agreed to go to Slater on the Healthy Lifestyles floor. From what he tells me, this has not cramped his style socially, if you know what I mean, as virtually no one takes the "rules" for the floor seriously. Oh well!</p>
<p>Good luck! My son loves Iowa, and couldn't imagine being anywhere else - and he's from New Jersey!</p>
<p>Many thanks jkazoo, that was very helpful.</p>
<p>Karl - you may want to call the Housing Office and see if they'll tell you which dorms are "immune" from tripling. Last year, and probably most years, Iowa has had to create a number of triples in double rooms. We were told last year that Burge does triple, but Slater (and I assume Rienow) does not. As someone who spent several months in a triple at Michigan State many, many years ago, I can attest that this is something you want to avoid at all costs!</p>
<p>Two questions:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>is a deposit on a residence hall for an undergrad new freshman, fall 2008, refundable is the student decides not to attend Iowa?</p></li>
<li><p>I saw a ref to a Quiet dorm. What is meant by that? does that mean substance free?</p></li>
</ol>
<ol>
<li><p>The money is partially refundable, in that 100 out of the 120 dollars will be refunded.</p></li>
<li><p>Quiet dorms mean from about 7pm to about 10am there is to be no excessive or loud noise in the dorms, such as loud music.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>thanks. what about 'substance free' dorms? Are there any dorms so desginated at Iowa? </p>
<p>hmmm, thinking some more, what does it mean 'to party in college'? Conjugate 'To party in college' ! :)</p>
<p>*loud music
*beer
*hard liquor
*drugs
*etc</p>
<p>What about the last declination, 'etc'? Three letters that round out a college party given the other items in the above list.</p>
<p>Is etc all over Iowa res dorms, or are some designated the monastic dorms, for want of a better term right now?</p>
<p>I believe all dorms on campus are substance free. I suppose a 'typical' college party would consist of a mix of the things that you've mentioned above. I don't think that any dorm is monastic, etc happens wherever.</p>
<p>Iowa designates one floor per gender in one dorm (Slater) as a "Healthy Living" floor. As I posted above a year ago, my son was on that floor his freshman year. Everyone signs an agreement to not bring alcohol or drugs to the floor, and to refrain from coming back to the dorm rip-roaring drunk or stoned. It's an honor system, and from what I could gather, some didn't take it seriously (my son included), but were discreet.</p>
<p>To answer the dorms questions... I speak from recent experience, but I'm not familiar with the West side dorms.</p>
<p>TRADITIONAL DORMS
Burge - Dining hall is here, but the place is a maze if you get stuck in certain sections
Daum - Honors students, connected to the Blank Honors Center. Honestly, it has a nauseating smell most of the time. Also, think computer nerds and you have the Daum theme.
Stanley/Currier - Commonly known as Sturrier. It's pretty standard, there are more upperclassmen. BEWARE: some rooms don't have AC, and it gets unbearable hot.</p>
<p>SUITE/APARTMENT STYLE
Mayflower - Biggest dorm on campus with over 1,000 residents. It's not traditional dorm style so it comes with the up of semiprivate bath and kitchen, but none of the cozyness and hall interactions of normal dorms. Seriously, most floors aren't cohesive to building bonds at first, but it gets better as time goes on. And yes, it is half a mile or so offcampus, but there are many buses that service it, so there's no worries about missing out from classes or downtown.</p>
<p>Parklawn - built like Mayflower but with only 100 residents. It's in the boondocks, not most people's cup of tea.</p>
<p>As for quiet dorms, it depends on the RAs enforcement of quiet rules mostly. All dorms are substance-free, so if you caught with drugs or alcohol its a hefty fine. Typically, most students would pre-game in their dormroom before heading downtown to the bars or going to a houseparty. However in the first few weeks there's a surge of freshmen throwing parties in their room with no good results forthcoming.</p>