<p>I was wondering if any current students could tell me about Random. Are the residents friendly? Do a lot of people smoke or party? (I know that students are allowed to smoke in their rooms) What are the rooms/bathrooms like? I'm pretty interested in staying there, and all I've really heard about it is that the kids are all nerds and play a lot of video games (which is not a problem for me). Thanks = )</p>
<p>in practice, almost all of random is completely smoke-free; the first floor is where i usually see smok(ers/ing). their fire detectors are obnoxiously sensitive. randomites are relatively friendly, i've found, tho it tends to be a slightly different form of sociability than other populations. the bathrooms are normal, i guess; coed, converted to single occupancy, on a server, la di da. the rooms are a bit special, being of 5 different types, one of which is a double, and being assigned by some combination of lottery, seniority, and black magic...one of my good friends is slumlord, i should ask her. for now, i'm short on details, sorry. in general, the rooms are nice, and often end up highly modified by their occupants, which often translates into handed-down mods, esp in the case of lofts and nifty paint jobs. a significant portion of the population enjoys partying, although events in random itself tend to be not-parties, or small floor-centered gatherings; hardcore partying tends to be in conjunction with like-minded cohorts at EC and senior haus. other nice bits are the slight distance from campus, which isn't prohibitively large, but enough that you feel like you're leaving MIT behind when you come home at night; the cheapest dorm laundry machines around; proximity to star market and central square; an ee lab, machine shop, and byop printer in the basement, besides the usual amenities (weight room, piano, pool table, etc etc blah); living in the world's smallest nuclear power; all sorts of other lovely things that i won't get into now.</p>
<p>i enjoy random, and randomites, even tho i don't live there...tho for a good part of my first year most people thought i did. note: ymmv; this is neither a complete nor totally accurate answer to your questions, but it's the best i can do. i suggest you also check out their</a> website if you're interested, and/or consider emailing their rush chairs with questions. alternatively, if you're particularly interested in something specific, i may know the best person to contact about that.</p>
<p>Random has an unusually high concentration of math majors. Many of them were involved in very high levels of math or science competitions in high school (like olympiads), or attended special math summer prgrams, and already know each other when they arrive. A number of freshmen choose Random every year specifically to be with other people they already know from those activities, which makes it kind of self-perpetuating. Obviously there are freshmen who choose Random for more general reasons, also (like rooms, location, etc.). But I know that at least some choose it for this particular reason (perhaps contributing to the "nerd" reputation). That is probably also a pretty straight crowd in terms of recreational substances (I'm guessing).</p>
<p>There's no food service there, which could be either a plus or a minus. There are kitchens on the floor, and Randomites do their own cooking.</p>
<p>Thanks for the information.</p>
<p>(trying to be entirely fair here)</p>
<p>I have a reputation for being particularly harsh on Random Hall and Randomites in general, but it's one of those "to each their own" situations. That said, I have several good friends there, whom I visit infrequently. It's a very, uh, unique social atmosphere, one I think that differs in several important ways from the other undergraduate dorms on campus. I think (and goddess[whatever that number was] can correct me here) that Randomites tend to be of the more brainy, laid-back, irreverent people who think a little differently about most things. They're not ashamed to participate in boffer combat on their roof, for example. But yes, there's differences across floors, too.</p>
<p><em>shrug</em> Check Random out during rush; you might like what you see. Or contact a current resident. I'm sure there are some that lurk around here.</p>
<p>(I hear their i3 video includes the idea "How many people can fit in a room wearing hats?" Hats? <em>Hats</em>? You've got to be kidding.)</p>