<p>First of all, I don’t see Ridgecrest North on the Bama housing website. Is it the same as Ridgecrest South? I needed to know the differences in these honors dorms. Here’s what I’ve come up with so far:</p>
<p>Ridgecrest West doesn’t have closets but Ridgecrest North does.
RCW only allows bed to be adjusted to 31", RCN to 60".
RCW desks are larger than RCN desks.
RCW dressers are smaller than RCN dressers.
RCW windows are larger than RCN windows.
RCW doesn’t have a 24 hr staffed front desk and RCN does.
RCW doesn’t have a “split” floor plan like RCN does.
RCW has regular dining table with 4 chairs, RCN has cafe table with 2 chairs.</p>
<p>Questions: does RCN have elevators and smart washing machines/dryers? do the stoves in RCW and RCN in the community kitchens have stovetops?</p>
<p>OK I will try to answer (I’m sure others will chime in as well)</p>
<p>RCW (Ridgecrest West) is all Honors, RCE (Ridgecrest East) is non-honors; the front desk they share is in RCE</p>
<p>RCS-N (Ridgecrest South-N tower) is Honors RCS-S is non-honors; the front desk area is in RCS-N</p>
<p>I think you are correct in the lofting heights for the beds, not sure about drawer or window sizes</p>
<p>RCW and RCS-N both have closets (in each student’s room) see the floor plans on the housing web site for floor plans. I think the closets have sliding doors in RCW/RCE and pull open type doors in RCS-N?</p>
<p>RCW and RCE also have outdoor storage closets and RCS-N does not</p>
<p>RCW (and RCE) and Riversides and Lakesides all have the L shaped hallway with 4 rooms-see the housing web site for floor plans and the dining areas have regular height tables with 4 chairs
RCS-N and RCS-S have the “split floor plan” and the higher cafe style table with 2 chairs</p>
<p>My understanding is the all of the suite style dorms (Riversides, Lakesides, Ridgecrests) have elevators and smart laundry, not sure about the kitchen differences</p>
<p>If you do a search on this forum you will find many older threads on this as well (sorry I’m not very good at linking all of the old ones here)</p>
<p>D lived in Ridgecrest West last year and is in Ridgecrest South-North Tower this year. Both units have closets in the bedroom. RCW has better storage for extra’s because of the storage closet outside of the suite, but it hasn’t been an issue. Laundry facilities & communal kitchens are the same in both. RCS-N does have the staffed desk which RCW does not (but it wasn’t ever an issue.) </p>
<p>The layout of RCW is such that the living room is larger & the front part of the suite with the bedrooms & bathrooms down a single hall. RCS-N has a smaller living room with 2 bedrooms & a bath to the left and the other 2 bedrooms & bath to the right. </p>
<p>They’re both lovely & wonderful. I’d say that RCS-N may be a little livelier than RCW was, but it could also be because D is on the same floor as the common room.</p>
<p>What floors are the common rooms on in the various dorms?</p>
<p>RobD, RCW and RCS-N are the two dorms at the top of my D’s list. Does D have a preference between the two? </p>
<p>There used to be a picture in the photo section of this site of someone’s room showing a low-lofted bed. It was really helpful, but I can’t find it now. Does anyone have pictures of actual rooms in any of the honors dorms that they could post? We’ve looked at the ones on the housing website, but it’s so much more helpful to see an actual, decorated, filled-with-stuff room.</p>
<p>beth’s mom: RCS-N and RCW are my daughter’s top picks as well. From everything we have seen on past posts and the housing website, it looks like RCS-N would be all-around the better choice.</p>
<p>Interesting. . . just from the housing website, my D thought Ridgecrest West looked better, mostly because of the larger living room and the extra storage area (D has golf clubs). She liked the idea of the higher lofting bed in RCS, but I’m not sure if she’d actually loft it really high. And she figures she could use the underground parking at RCS even if she lived in RCW. On here, though, it does seem like many kids prefer (or at least choose) Ridgecrest South. That’s why I’m anxious to know if RobD’s daughter, who has lived in both, has a preference.</p>
<p>The kitchen and laundry facilities are on floors 2 and 4 in both towers of RCS. RCS does have 2 conventional ovens with stovetops in each common kitchen. I am unfamiliar with kitchens at RCW. Riverside does not have stovetops or conventional ovens…it has something similar to a microwave in which metal pans cannot be used but has a pool.</p>
<p>my daughter is in RCS this year (and last year too). they considered moving to RCW for the bigger living area, but decided to stay put.</p>
<p>we lofted her bed high (she didn’t initially want this, but she had a comfy chair she wanted to bring so it just made a better layout). we also added a bookshelf.</p>
<p>when she moved in year two, she wanted her room set up the exact same way.</p>
<p>some rooms in RCS have a little extra area behind the door. golf clubs could fit there.</p>
<p>i think the cafe table is useless. </p>
<p>send me your email bethsmom and i can send you a few pics of my daughters room in RCS after move in.</p>
<p>D liked RCW and only moved over to RCS because of wanting to room with 2 girls who wanted to stay in RCS. They are moving on to an off campus apt, but D has decided to stay in RCS. Not for any particular reason except that she knows for sure 2 close friends will also still be in the building (guys though so she won’t be rooming with them.)</p>
<p>She kept her golf clubs in the storage closet in RCW last year, but since she didn’t get a chance to play she didn’t bring them with her this year so the storage wasn’t an issue.</p>
<p>Either way, they’ll be fine. It’s one of those things that we stress over before launch that ultimately doesn’t affect things very much, no matter where they end up. Don’t worry, I’ll be doing this again next year ;)</p>
<p>Anyone have thoughts on the chances of getting a 4 person suite (with all 4 rooms available) at RCS-N at the first selection time? Would we be better off going straight for one of the other dorms in the hopes of finding an open suite?</p>
<p>wdaveo: It’s always possible that you could land RCS-N with an early selection, but do not rule out the other dorms. I’ve been in Riverside and my son lived in Lakeside West and RCW. All are lovely. </p>
<p>The one thing that is nice about living on the same floor with upperclassmen is that they are a great resource. My son does not have a car at UA – has never wanted one, either. If he cannot hitch a ride with a roommate, he always knew an upperclassman who would give him a ride. He also tapped them for information on classes and professors. </p>
<p>As for the location of things, in Lakeside West and RCW, the elevators basically are in the middle of each floor. Same with the laundry/kitchen/community area. The kitchen was down his way at Lakeside, which was great when I visited and used it to cook some meals for us.</p>
<p>Wdaveo - as long as you don’t put too many restrictions and get on there quickly you have a good chance. Also remember there are rooms set aside for different selection times/dates. If your student so chooses, they can trade if something else opens up.</p>
<p>how can you tell which room numbers are closer to the kitchens, laundry rooms, and escalators before selecting your room number?</p>
<p>===============</p>
<p>That info isn’t readily available for security purpose…however, if you know someone in a particular dorm, they can tell you their suite number and how close it is to elevators, etc…and might be able to suggest rooms that are close to what you want.</p>
<p>RCW desks are larger than RCN desks.
RCW dressers are smaller than RCN dressers."</p>
<p>========================</p>
<p>Where are you getting this info from?</p>
<p>All the honors suites have closets…that is certain. </p>
<p>As for the desk and drawer size differences, if there’s a difference, it must not be much because I think we would have noticed. I thought the desks and drawers were the same size, but I could be wrong. </p>
<p>If you’re going by appearances in the website layout pictures, those aren’t really to scale or that reliable for estimating size.</p>