<p>Hey guys, I've heard great things about all of these colleges, and if anything--it's made things a lot more difficult to chose from...</p>
<p>I want to major in biochem/chem, but Im also pretty interested in poli sci; I'll have 10 Ap courses completed by high school so I want to clear some of my GEs.</p>
<p>Muir, Warren, Sixth and Marshall are my top choices atm, can anyone tell me the individual downsides to these four? </p>
<p>Thanks so much :D</p>
<p>Here are the downsides to Sixth:</p>
<ul>
<li>The dining hall is the rough equivalent of a small deli or a Subway. There is no indoor seating. Food choices are severely limited because of the lack of a proper kitchen.</li>
<li>The residential halls are ridiculous. You’ll see what I mean when you walk around the campus to the other reshalls. You basically live in a log cabin with bad lighting. The odds of you getting a double is 10:1. Everything else is a triple. Gets very cliquey because of the way the buildings are divided.</li>
<li>VERY far away from Social Science Building, which means that if you do pursue polisci, you’ll have to walk 1-2 miles just to go to office hours. Also far away from gym. </li>
<li>Depending on how your windows are positioned, you might get a weird orange glow from the lights in the parking lot that make you feel as if your room was a biohazard zone.</li>
</ul>
<p>Downsides to Muir
-Currently no dining hall and lots of construction noise, but will that be complete by fall 2010? not sure, someone can correct me
-Dorms old/contain asbestos that are supposedly still “safe” = sketch
-Muir writing program really hard, but at least it’s short</p>
<p>Downsides to Warren
-Far away from any humanities/social science buildings, far from the gym, far from the beach, etc.
-I hear CV food sucks, can anyone clarify?</p>
<p>Downsides to Marshall
-Dorms not the best - only singles and triples
-Have heard a lot of negative things about DOC (writing program) but at least it’s only a year.</p>
<p>I’m from Warren so I’ll give my take on it.
-If you’re in the res halls you either get a triple or single. The rooms aren’t big but the suites are nice.
-CV (the dining hall) has some really good food and some really nasty food. It’s a case by case thing, but overall I would say it’s pretty good.
-As far as being far away from thing, bring a bike, problem solved. If you can’t get a bike, it’s not like it’s THAT far away from everything and it’s closer to some things than the other colleges anyway.
-Here’s my suggestion. Pick the college that has the GEs you want to take so at some point you don’t say “I don’t want to take this ************* class!!! Why did I pick this college!!!”</p>
<p>Sixth Downsides:</p>
<p>–CAT</p>
<p>CAT is nothing compared to HUM or MMW.</p>
<p>CAT is pretty easy, your grade depends on your TA, so just tailor your essay to their specifications…simply by asking them after section or at their office hours. People get too shy and it can be the difference from a B to an A.</p>
<p>Anyways hope this helps:</p>
<p>Sixth
Pros: Nice apartments (available to freshmen the first year if you apply for them) with singles and doubles… full sized fridge, stove + oven, TV rooms (if you get the two story ones they’re really nice, it’s like a townhouse in those haha). Foodworx has great sandwiches, wraps, pizza, and breakfast burritos (waaaay better than OVT’s breakfast burritos), omelets, etc. GE’s are pretty easy. I believe polisci courses can take some of them up. The “community” is pretty good, you basically know everyone if you’re in the reshalls.</p>
<p>Cons: ugly res halls (though a lot of res halls suck more, like at Revelle haha). So don’t apply for the res halls, just hit up the apartments, especially if you want a single (non existent in the res halls), or a double (basically non-existent in the res halls). Other than random dinner arrangements which can be good or bad (sometimes they have sliders or steak which is great, turkey and potroast sometimes too) Foodworx is limited to what I mentioned in the pros haha.</p>
<p>Muir
Pros: Dorms are pretty nice, you can get an ocean view if you’re around the 5th floor up on Tioga. No food place atm, but you can go over to OVT and buy a lot of different kinds of food, but in honesty, most people just get either pizza, burgers, or pasta. (People also go to another close food place called Goodies (in the heart of Marshall kind of) an the burritos there are pretty good, not as good as chipotle, but it’s good still. Easy GE’s.</p>
<p>Cons: You don’t really talk to people unless they’re on your floor. You also must take GE’s in sequence (someone verify this?)</p>
<p>Warren
Pros: Right next to the Engineering school (not much help for you), Little writing, more science/math related GE’s (though most colleges have GE’s that lower-div major courses clear).</p>
<p>Cons: Reshalls are singles or triples only. </p>
<p>Marshall
Pros: Right near OVT and Goodies, pretty easy GE’s though I heard DOC can be difficult at times (though like any writing course putting effort into it will have results lol). I know a lot of polisci majors there (not like it matters though), it’s pretty close to RIMAC too (not as close as ERC, but still).</p>
<p>Cons: The reshalls are kind of basic, you don’t get a simplified kitchen Area like Sixth, and Muir get in their reshalls, and they’re only single/triples like Warren is. Also the “upper” apartments (if you’re thinking ahead 2 years) suck a lot. But the “lowers” are really nice.</p>
<p>Hope that helps. I have a brother in Marshall, my best friend in Muir, and I’m in Sixth, and we all are just fine with our choices, so all in all as long as you don’t pick ERC and Revelle (lame GE’s) you should be just fine. Though, the best thing you can do, is to dive into their websites and compare GE’s for interests etc (spend a long day on this if you really care).</p>
<p>I’m in Marshall:</p>
<p>Marshall has GE’s which are not in sequence. Meaning, you have to take one quarter each of chem, bio, and physics, but since you propose to be a biochem major, this isn’t important. If you’re not a science major, taking 3 courses out of sequence is useless. However, Marshall does require 2 humanities and 1 art class, which contributes little, if anything, towards many majors. DOC 1 isn’t too bad right now–2-page papers about every other week.</p>
<p>The dorms are extremely basic–no microwave, no common fridge, so you have to bring those. And the triples are really cramped. The lighting is pretty bad sometimes–the rooms can be dark. Solution: get a single.</p>
<p>ERC has really nice dorms–huge living area, large rooms. But MMW is more than a year long.</p>
<p>I recommend picking for GE’s.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>Muir
Pros: Building layout makes it very easy to meet people. HAs arrange get togethers and outings for your house. Easiest GEs. Hard writing sequence, but it’s only for 2 quarters. Good central location. Never really had to walk too far to get to classes. Microwave provided for each suite.</p>
<p>Cons: Missing a dining hall this year. Should be built by the time next year’s frosh come in.
Buildings are pretty old, but the interior is fine.</p>
<p>I would much rather take HUM AND MMW than CAT. It depends on what you find interesting, I suppose, but even just in terms of Relevance to Self, CAT ranks pretty low.</p>
<p>Woah, this is a lot to take in–Thank you guys so much for responding, I have a lot to think about now hahaha</p>
<p>The Practicum from Sixth should also be a downside.
In regard to CAT, imagine a course that focuses on anthropology and combines snatches of philosophy with abstract prompts reminiscent of AP English. The class has no real long term benefits.</p>
<p>Yeah the practicum will suck, but HUM and MMW over CAT? Unless you love writing and/or you’re majoring in it, I don’t want to write for that long.</p>
<p>Also Carlisle’s prompts are the weird ones, Algaze’s prompts are as easy as:</p>
<p>"What is the author’s arguments? What’s is his/her evidence? " (That has been my last 3 essays.)</p>
<p>Whereas in Carlisle people are getting page-long prompts…</p>
<p>Back on subject.</p>
<p>Nervous Student, if you’re really nervous or worried (no pun intended) about much, Muir is definitely a solid choice, plus the the con of not having a food place might be solved by the time you get there. Moreover, the two “hard” writing sequences in Muir, or in ANY college can be made easier by speaking with your TA one on one (or your professor); they are there to help you! That’s why they have office hours.</p>
<p>I still recommend searching through GE’s though between the top 4. But for now, your list could resemble:</p>
<ol>
<li>Muir, Sixth/Marshall/Warren, ERC, Revelle</li>
</ol>
<p>Bump Sixth down to either 5 or 6.</p>
<p>^Lol, you must really despise Sixth huh. Is the CAT sequence really that lame?</p>
<p>pros/cons for muir </p>
<p>cons:</p>
<ul>
<li>NO WIFI in tioga. it’s freaking annoying that it has to be wired. especially if you’re rooming with other people, bring really really long internet wires</li>
<li>i know it was already mentioned but. muir writing sequence is the shortest. but it is hard. actually i don’t think any of the writing sequences are easy for any of the colleges, but b/c muir writing supposedly covers the same stuff as everyone else but in a shorter amount of time, i think it’s pretty stressful. for muir40, you have 3 papers, each worth like 20%,25% and then 45% of ur grade. the 10% is for participation. yeah… iono i’m the type of person who needs busy work grading to do ok in lit so mmm… </li>
<li>on-campus apartments are tiny… i’m living in a singles dorm right now and the singles room in the on-campus apartment is either smaller or the same size.
-construction currently, so it’s really loud and have to take longer paths to get to class. </li>
<li>no dining halls at least currently.
-you have to pay a little for the nearest atm, but the atm that’s free of charge is not too far off. </li>
<li>there is no convenience store that you can buy with dining dollars in the muir “quad” you have to go to marshall/goody’s for them. </li>
</ul>
<p>pro
-central location. less walking… seriously it’s a blessing compared to sixth/warren/erc.
-smallest number of ge’s. you can finish it within ur freshmen year if you tried. and if not, fsho by soph.
-oceanview for tioga’s upper floors
<p>here are some cons for sixth: (i’m not in it, but i’ve heard)
<p>iono i would pick muir/marshall/warren b/c honestly despite all the pro/cons. esp. if your greatest value is on ge credits… and it’s sooo nice that muir finishes them fast but the writing sequence is ultra stressful. iono anyone who isnt stressed out. they don’t give out A’s easily for muir40 (that’s the first one). i haven’t heard like horrid stuff about marshall’s writing requirement. and ge for marshall sounds all right. plus they have ovt/goody’s which are probably one of the better places to eat on campus compared to like plaza in revelle… lol. warren’s writing requiement/ge requirement i heard is all right. cv (their dining hall) is freaking in the middle of nowhere but hey whatever.</p>
<p>OMG Marshall reshalls have no wifi either!!! It’s soooo annoying sometimes, and the internet connection tends to break down a whole lot.</p>
<p>sixth! wireless internet everywhere!
mmm reshalls not too shady!
got new furniture.
bathrooms pretty big. cubbys are small…</p>
<p>i like it. </p>
<p>cat… not the worst.</p>
<p>people here are pretty chill</p>
<p>To save you from 4 years of regret, do NOT pick Sixth anywhere in the top 4 choices.
Yeah we have wifi everywhere. Yeah new furniture (though this really shouldn’t be a positive point because it looks about the same in all the other colleges as well). Bathrooms can’t be compared to colleges like ERC and even Marshall. </p>
<p>Don’t come here.</p>
<p>In Warren right now and it’s pretty awesome. One con is that the writing req is somewhat difficult (don’t know how it compares to the others but probably of equal difficulty but it might just be due to the fact that most people in Warren are engineering/science majors and not that proficient in writing essays.)</p>
<p>Also, CV has horrible food. As in, EXTREMELY horrible. The only things they seem to get right are the pasta and fries and even those are bad on occasion.</p>