<p>Hey everyone!</p>
<p>If you get into McGill, where do you all hope to reside?</p>
<p>I think I'll have to rent an apartment by campus, since I hear sophomores rarely get the privilege of on-campus residence.</p>
<p>greenbiar or solin. i like the independence of apartment style living.</p>
<p>coopertemplegrl:</p>
<p>i live in greenbriar this year, and i love it, but i'd say that its worth it to also check out the MORE houses. theyre really quite awesome</p>
<p>I feel oddly attracted to Douglas. I mean, I don't mind walking (and exercize is good. Really!!), I looked at the pictures online, and the room doesn't seem that small, and I really really like the sense of community. I'm not the best at making friends in huge groups. :-</p>
<p>Do you guys want a rundown of all the rez's?</p>
<p>because i can tell you the pro's and con's of just about all of them</p>
<p>(and since finals are over, its not like i have anything better to do)</p>
<p>Hahahahaha, finals being over rocks.</p>
<p>Yes please!</p>
<p>Ill post them one by one.</p>
<p>First, since this is the community I live in:</p>
<p>MORE!!</p>
<p>MORE is split up into two apartment buildings, Greenbriar (on University) and Westside Terrace (on Hutchison). These apartments are both close to campus and provide the ability to cook for yourself.</p>
<p>Pro's: Kitchens! Provides the ability to get used to living in an apartment while still living in rez. </p>
<p>Con's: No meal plan (this can be annoying, even though sometimes it is great! and meal plans can be purchased for use in other cafs). Not a traditional rez experience.</p>
<p>The other way MORE manifests itself is in the houses. there are 7 houses (4 on Pins, One on Peel, Two on University) These houses provide a shared kitchen for the residents, while having the comfort of private (or nearly private) bedrooms. Most rooms are singles, some are doubles.
These houses are actually really cool, and i sometimes wish i lived in one. The people in the houses usually are very close, and it provides a really great atmosphere.</p>
<p>New Rez:</p>
<p>New Rez used to be a 4 star hotel. THere are a lot of stereotypes about new rez. its generally stereotyped as where the toronto girls live, but don't be too quick to judge this rez. 1) they have the best meal plan. its a declining dollar plan and their meal card can be used in a lot of the cafs on campus. and the food is better than upper rez or RVC. i actually spend a lot of time in new rez. the rooms are nice, but somewhat impersonal. its kinda hard to make a hotel look like home. its a very typical dorm experience (or at least what i'd think of as a typical dorm experience). it is one of the most expensive rez's, but i think its pretty cool.</p>
<p>RVC:</p>
<p>RVC is an all girls dorm. so if you're a guy, just skip this one. k.
so many people first think that theyd hate to live in an all girl rez, but i know a bunch of people in RVC, and most of them love it. they have a 7 day meal plan, 3 meals a day, whcih is nice because they never have to worry about food. RVC is pretty chill about having guests, unlike new rez which makes you sign in guests everytime the leave or enter (this includes mcgill students who dont live at newrez).
RVC is a pretty dorm.
and there are two sections, the tower and the west wing. i havent been in the west wing yet, but i've heard the rooms are pretty big. in the tower, theyre small, but live-able. theres a shared bathroom per floor, which means that a cleaning crew takes care of the bathrooms (this is very nice).</p>
<p>Solin:</p>
<p>Solin is another apartment style rez. the apartments are a lot nicer than greenbriar or hutchison. but the problem with solin is that its far. its about a 10 minute metro ride and its in a pretty sketchy place. one benefit to this is that it encourages you to explore the city a bit more. its right next to the atwater market, which is also nice. but one thing that isnt nice is having to wake up 30 minutes earlier to get to class on time. especially when your class is at 8:30 in the morning.</p>
<p>douglas:</p>
<p>douglas is half way up the hill. the hill sucks. dont listen to anyone that tells you that it isnt that bad. it sucks.
douglas is a beautiful rez. it looks kinda like hogwarts. the caf is set up hogwarts style. and a benefit to douglas is that it has its own caf. its on a 5 day meal plan, so on the weekends, youre on your own. there are kitchenettes per house (there are 6 houses, i think). douglas seems to be a pretty popular choice.</p>
<p>upper rez, theres three of them.
the only difference between the three of them is that mcconnel is co-ed by wings. so the other two (gardner and molson), are fully co-ed (yes, that also means co-ed bathrooms.) upper rez is all the way up the hill. yes thats the same hill as before. it still sucks. but anyways. upper rez houses about 700 kids. and they all share the BMH caf (but the meal plan can be used at RVC on weekdays). the rooms are all singles, and kinda small. but its really very much like what you'd expect.</p>
<p>keep in mind these explanations were written at 4 in the morning. </p>
<p>any questions, just ask.</p>
<p>Does McGill require first years to do a meal plan like other schools do?</p>
<p>it dependson where you live. everywhere other than MORE and Solin have mandatory meal plans.
new rez = 1600 per semester on a declining dollars plan (it comeso utof your rent)
rvc = 7 days a week at a typical caf
upper rez and douglas = 5 days a week</p>
<p>are these residences wireless?</p>
<p>no the residences are not wireless...u gotta pay 350 a year for internet </p>
<p>if u want my honesnt opinion....i lived in rez last year..i was in solin for a month then got moved to gardner..</p>
<p>dont think about all the physical stuff..like big rooms, food, etc..u wont even wont even notice after the first 2 weeks...the most important thing u will learn, remember and cherish are the people u lived with during ur first year...</p>
<p>so take my advice pick upper rez (or douglas) and pray to god u get a good lottery number...because these kids have by far the most fun, university experience and make the closest friends in first year..i am not kidding u..i been there done that..lived in solin for a month had good friends in every rez and whether u like it or not at the end of the day ur not gonna remember the steak you at new rez caf for dinner sunday, but the good times u had at the kegger party on ur floor in gardner or molson..</p>
<p>the reason the upper rez is so social is because ur forced to spend time with the people on ur floor and rez..u become like family...u have to share the bathroom, small rooms, cooking on weekends, small floors (30 ppl), lots of floor and rez events, fixed meal times where which u eat with ur floor (not by urself like new rez)...</p>
<p>anyway i hope u got my point...do not pick anything other than upper rez (1. molson single, 2.gardner single, 3. mcconnel single) that should be ur first 3 choices....the hill, the BMH food, all the cons about the upper rez are worth memories and friends....</p>
<p>other residences...
RVC - all girls..put it as last choice (unless ur parents force u)
New rez - anti social, closed doors, but u get all the luxuries..
solin - too far, too isolated
greenbrier - nice place, not social tho..closed doors
MORE houses - u live too close to everyone else (high tensions), only like 9 people to talk to...pretty lame, bed bugs too..</p>
<p>the people in solin dont develop relationships or have fun? but its my first choice :(</p>
<p>question: the studio apartment in solin, is it big/hard to get?</p>