<p>I will be attending UW next fall (freshman) and I'm trying to decide where to apply to live and I have a few questions: [TL;DR at bottom]</p>
<p>1) Would you recommend living in the Engineering Community (I'm enrolled as pre-engineering)? I like the idea of living with people who are in the "same boat" - so to speak - as me, but I also like the idea of living in a First Year Experience community in that it's entirely freshman (in the "same boat" in that sense) and it's people involved in all different things. Do you think it's particularly beneficial to live in an engineering community?</p>
<p>2) What percentage would you say of the Engineering Communities are freshman? I don't want to live on a floor with a ton of sophomores/upperclassmen</p>
<p>3) If I do apply for an engineering community, my choices for dorms are either McCarty or Elm. I've heard good things about both (well, about Poplar, but it's essentially the same as elm, right?), but I'm wondering if McCarty is much more quiet than the dorms on the West Campus, as far as social/parties go? I like North Campus a lot with all the trees, but I also want a fun, typical college-y dorm. Also, the fact that there will construction going on at Lander-Terry for what sounds like the whole year turns me off of West Campus, along with the buses/cars driving around all the time.</p>
<p>4) As a clarification: I'm not one to blow off my studies, but I'd like a fun place to live and then utilize study rooms/libraries for when I need to get away.</p>
<p>TL;DR
1) Thoughts on engineering community vs first year experience for pre-engineering freshman?
2) Are the engineering communities mostly freshman, or...?
3) McCarty vs Elm for engineering community & social/fun vs quite?</p>
<p>Thank you!</p>
<p>I don’t really know, but I’m always hearing positive things on McCarty from those I knew that lived there.</p>
<p>1) Thoughts on engineering community vs first year experience for pre-engineering freshman?</p>
<p>Engineering community is pretty social and active but I would say first year experience is more active. First year is ALL freshman so everyone is getting used to the whole college thing wheras in McCarty you do have some random sophs, juniors, and sometimes (but rarely) seniors. However, having upperclassmen in your dorm is a good thing because they can give you a lot of tips on school, etc. </p>
<p>2) Are the engineering communities mostly freshman, or…?</p>
<p>There are still a lot of freshman but definitely not as many as first-year experience. A majority of the high upperclassmen move off campus so they can cook on their own and not pay dining but there are still a decent amount of sophomores and even juniors who like to live in the dorms. Like I said though, it isn’t a bad thing because they can tell you what’s up for school and which professors are good, bad, etc.</p>
<p>3) McCarty vs Elm for engineering community & social/fun vs quite?</p>
<p>Yeah the construction will be a bummer. I can’t give you ideas on what Elm is like because it hasn’t been fully made yet. Actually Poplar was only finished last year and this is the first year anyone is using it. Elm looks really similar to Poplar so all I’m gonna say is Poplar is REALLY nice in terms of dorms. You are literally spoiled with the nicest facilities because they are brand spanking new and their study rooms are really nice because they even have whiteboards. In terms of community, McCarty you’ll definitely have access to fun – Ian’s Domain has some of the sickest computers with a bunch of games uploaded to their own Steam accounts. They also have a Wii and Xbox available to play on their big screens. Furthermore, you’re really close to Greek Row so if you ever wanted to, you could always head up a block and hit up some parties with friends. I’m not sure what Elm would be like in terms of community but its pretty far from Greek Row if you like to go to frat parties and such.</p>
<p>Hope this helps. Can’t give much info on Elm because it isn’t made yet. If you have more questions, just post.</p>
<p>Thank you for such a detailed reply? I’ve looking into it some more and I’ve seen the phrase “no party mccarty” tossed around a few times. Do you think this holds true?</p>