<p>My daughter was accepted to DUS UP Fall 2014. Yeah!! Trying to complete forms on-line. Need help selecting first choice for Halls. East is all freshman, should she go with that? Heard nice things about Pollack? She's looking to meet friends, she's not over the top party person but enjoys a good time, she's just a sweet and funny young lady.</p>
<p>This question comes up every year, so you may want to search for those threads. The housing office link:</p>
<p>[Penn</a> State University Park - Housing - Residence Areas](<a href=“LiveOn Housing | LiveOn”>LiveOn Housing | LiveOn)</p>
<p>will tell you the costs for each area (they aren’t all the same)</p>
<p>East halls is the furthest away from campus, closest to the stadium, Blue Band, IM fields. Almost entirely populated by freshmen. The saying is “At East, you don’t leave the party, you ARE the party”. it’s up to you to decide whether that’s a positive or negative. It’s the biggest college residence complex in the country, i believe.</p>
<p>West halls is lots of the sciences/engineering majors, very conveniently located, has what students often say is the best dining hall (but students can and do eat anywhere). </p>
<p>South are closest to town, where most of the sororities live , and is pretty much like Pollock, which is also a traditional cinder block room setting. We know students who have moved from south because they find the street noise annoying. We know people who have switched to be…closer to the street. go figure. Plenty of freshmen live here.</p>
<p>North Halls are all 2- and 4- person suites. They cost more, and all but one (there are only 4 buildings) are SLOs, related to arts/archictecture. Very conveniently located and very quiet. My son turned down an apartment to stay at North and loves it there. There are plenty of freshmen here, too, proportionally speaking. </p>
<p>Housing is about an attitude, not a latitude! “Freshman experience” with making friends is going to happen no matter where you live. If you want noisy parties and bazillions of people and elevators , waiting for an empty bus and the tundra, East would be fine. Also keep in mind that this isn’t high school — your “grade” is not all that important, and it is awfully handy to know some experienced students.</p>
<p>Granted, I was a student a very long time ago, but it seems the dorm areas still have the same “personality” they had then. I was in Pollock for freshman and sophmore years and it was a great choice. Lots of freshmen, but not all. Lots of parties, but you can get away from it if you want. Also a great location - close to town, closer to most classes than East Halls. </p>
<p>The main reason I didn’t want East was how far away it is from classes. That’s a long, cold walk in the winter, believe me. But the “all freshman” thing can be a big plus. Although I remember the rooms being a little smaller in East. Someone correct me if that has changed. </p>
<p>If she wants to meet a lot of other freshmen, West might not be the best choice. South always had a lot of sororities, and as I wasn’t interested in that, I stayed away. If several floors of your dorm are all in one sorority, you aren’t as likely to form friendships with them - it’s not that they aren’t friendly, but they are all involved with activities with each other already.</p>
<p>thank you!
I think we are leaning towards East or Pollack. Visiting 2/14 - hopefully visit will help.</p>
<p>She’s accepted her offer? The best-outcome choice would be to choose a dorm now, before the visit, and then she can go back in to eLiving and change her preference if she wants to. finishing your deposit, acceptance, housing choice puts you “in line” for housing…the sooner you get in line, the more likely you are to get your choice. Once you are in line, you can change your preferences until a certain date — eliving will have that info.</p>
<p>yes, East rooms are smaller, but not by much.</p>
<p>She accepted her offer and contract the day it was posted on mypennstate, so 1/03. We updated her preferences last nite to East first choice and Pollack second. Figured when we visit we can always switch her preferences.
Thank you, I know we needed to jump on housing very quickly. Figured no regrets living on East…lots of Freshman looking for new friends.</p>
<p>My D was in Pollock as a freshman. The whole building and, at least one other were all freshman. She loved it and had friends in South that were very happy. The sororities didn’t seem to be a problem as they have their own floors and aren’t mixed in with other students. I think Pollock and South are a little less wild than East. Also, they meet many people in their freshman classes.
My D is in one of the brand new dorms in South this year and it’s like a hotel. Large rooms plenty of storage and the bathrooms are set up with a common sink area, but private rooms for showers (and if I remember correctly - toilets). The girls each get a small locker for shower stuff so you don’t have to carry it back and forth from your room. Really beautiful buildings, inside and out - at least they were when they opened in September :)</p>
<p>Live in east now - contrary to what a lot of people seem to think, there aren’t really ‘partys’ in the dorms…people drink in their dorms sometimes but you can avoid it if you want to. Biggest disadvantage to east is by far the food and the walk. It’s out of the way of nearly all of the classes you’ll likely have freshman year minus maybe the business building if you manage to have a class there. However, it is extremely easy to meet people in east and the floors are way more social than anywhere else, in general. Would still recommend living in east as a freshman, however if I had to do it again and not choose east, I’d pick west. Much better food, bigger rooms, and much closer to most of the academic buildings.</p>
Would anyone recommend living in North as a freshman? My friend that goes to PSU lives in east and said “no one” lives in north or west, but the bigger rooms and private bathrooms sound way too good to me.
@Colombiangirl I have the same question…leaning towards north for 1st choice and west for 2nd. However, instead of west the newly renovated south is really attractive, although west is so close to the buildings (i am an engineering major)
any input would be appreciated!!
You should consider E-House, an engineering SLO in McKee Hall in West. Although they are older, the dorms in West are nicer than East and Pollock, you’d be close to the engineering buildings and Rec hall, not a bad walk to downtown and once you’re in an SLO you can stay if you want to and not worry about the housing lottery in subsequent years.
My S is a freshman living in E-House and he likes it. Very close to engineering classes. His dorm seems small to me but his Pollock friends like to visit as they say his dorm is bigger. He wrote a brief essay to be considered.
I have the same question as @Colombiangirl . My cousin says that the north hall should be the best since we get a private bathroom. They say those in north hall are mostly art students. Is it far from the college of science? I’m currently looking for a possible roommate right now, do you think there are people from the college of science residing there? Also, other than the north hall, I heard that the south hall has suite rooms too? If yes, which hall would most likely be a better choice for freshmans?