<p>can a current student please elaborate on this new residence hall?
far as i can tell, it's absolutely gorgeous and available to first years
...so it has me wondering, what's the catch?
is it too isolated or located inconveniently or what?</p>
<p>Its not isolated, its certainly not inconvenient (right across from dining hall also new, and BJ) the only thing I dont like is that you use communual restrooms/showers(so do most other dorms) other than that its perfect. The amenities are really nice as well as the archeitecture, I have plenty of space in my room. People are generally very social and nice.</p>
<p>From what I could tell on my overnight, South Campus is a nice dorm if you like comfortable modern living. All the amenities are there, and the place simply looks nice. What South Campus lacks is what the BJ residents I stayed with call “character.” I guess the building feels more impersonal, and the houses don’t have the same sort of deep tradition that houses in other dorms have. It’s pretty far from Ratner, Crown, and the Reg as well compared to the north dorms.</p>
<p>Okay. Pros and cons (I am not a resident of South):</p>
<p>Pros:
1)Reeeeally close to the dining hall. You only have to take a few steps outside to get there.
2)Amazing lounges with nice furniture and TVs
3)Lots of social opportunities (since it’s so big, it has something for everyone)
4)It’s clean, and in excellent condition</p>
<p>Cons:
1)South is indeed far from the north side of campus. The bus system is good for taking students to the restaurants and businesses in Hyde Park, but not to the north side of campus. For instance, riding the bus from 60th and Ellis to Ratner takes about 25-30 minutes, whereas walking it takes 10-15. It’s about half a mile walking, but the bus drives around forever first. If you have a bicycle, this is easily fixed, but that’s not really an option during the winter.
2)The social scene isn’t right for everyone. I have talked to a few people in South who know lots of students, but don’t really have any close friends yet. In buildings with closer-knit houses, people seem to make friends more easily. So if you’re someone who is easily overwhelmed socially, South might not be a good idea.</p>
<p>South Campus sort of provides a more traditional dorm experience. Sure, its amenities are godly, but it’s traditional in the sense that it’s not really cohesive socially. In dorms like BJ and Snitchcock, with small houses, the people are a lot closer with each other, which also has its pros and cons. For the people in South, the house culture isn’t as established as it is elsewhere, and many people will find that they have to branch out of their houses to find solid friendships. This is typical of most colleges. Just take a look at the College Life forum on CC and see how many people post about how it’s been a whole semester and they have no friends. Obviously, many people also know how to get over this, but it’s something for everyone to consider.</p>
<p>So when we’re talking about “social dorms,” realize that the phrase means more than just drinking and partying. Every dorm does that to a certain degree. The social scene also describes how people interact with other on a daily basis. I would say that in South, people have large social networks and may need to put more effort into establishing close relationships. That’s opposed to dorms like Snitchcock, where people have smaller and closer social networks, but often have to put in more effort to get to know more people.</p>
<p>I really hope that made sense, since I rambled on forever…</p>
<p>I can comment on the new dorm from a non-resident perspective. SCRH has a reputation for being “like a hotel” with “big-screen plasma televisions” in all the common rooms. I think most people feel its a fairly social dorm. It’s also very new, and very clean. There are singles and doubles.</p>
<p>It’s right next to the dining hall, a twenty-foot walk outside. (BJ residents, on the other hand, have to walk all the way around their quad to access something that is attached to their dorm…). </p>
<p>The main quads are a five-to-ten minute walk away; some of the more distant buildings (BSLC, Ratner) will take more like ten-to-fifteen. It is not isolated, but its not next-door to everything, like Snitchcock or Max.</p>
<p>Unless they moved whole houses from Shoreland there can be very little tradition since the dorm is brand new. You could say the new students are pioneers and the founders of the traditions they will talk about 30 years from now. The demographic center of gravity of the dorm system has shifted big time and it will take a while for the support factors to fall in line.</p>
<p>Which dorms have fireplaces?</p>
<p>QuestioN: are there communal bathrooms/ co-ed?</p>
<p>Breck has a fireplace on the first floor; there is a s’mores-making tradition associated wit it.</p>
<p>Most people I have talked to are in awe of South campus, many are jealous they did not get it as a dorm. I have met quite a few people in BJ who wished they had it. I would also question the sort of character BJ has quite a few people there dont like it. I have heard very few people at South complain. I doubt the claim that SCRH isnt as close knit, sometimes there is too much house unity for me. Again it depends on who you are.</p>
<p>its not so much we are in “awe” of South or that we are jealous (ok, we are kind of jealous about your sweet apartments but that’s about it). We just admire the new-ness of the dorm itself. (Seriously who is in awe of someone who lives in South, by chance of Housing department selection.)</p>
<p>Honestly, I’ve been to South a couple of times (in the rooms and toilets) but I live in one of those closer-knit houses and I am glad I don’t live in South. It has all been said, its clean, its new, it has elevators! But I really feel like I won’t have enjoyed living in South for the lack of the tradition,and proximity to North Side of campus during winter.</p>
<p>That said its South people can study in DelGiorno Library (law school) which is beautiful. </p>
<p>One thing no one’s pointed out, if you want to stay in housing for more than one year, opt for dorms which has close-knit houses as that way you’ll live with your friends for a good few years. As seniors, you get more preference to pick which particular rooms in your house you want, so your housing situation gets better)</p>
<p>For what it’s worth, some friends of my kid are third-years from the Shoreland who elected to stay in housing to live in the new dorm, and I gather (second hand) that they are not thrilled with the overall experience. Not so much that they dislike the dorm itself (although they think it is noisy and lacks privacy) as they wish they had moved off campus like their friends.</p>
<p>Part of it’s because South is nothing like Shoreland, other than it’s big. I know some people who made the switch as well from Shoreland to South, and they aren’t thrilled with South. Rhat’s not saying that the Shoreland was a better dorm, but rather that kids got used to the Shoreland and really loved it.</p>
<p>Shoreland really did seem to have its own culture in that maze of big, old decrepit rooms. But even Shorelanders griped about taking the bus and feeling isolated from the rest of campus.</p>
<p>South will develop a culture; it will just take time.</p>
<p>My kid never griped about the bus or feeling isolated. He did gripe about the chunk of his ceiling that fell down on his bed while he was in it.</p>
<p>I’m a BJ resident. My house in particular does not much like South in general (we’re on the Ellis Ave side, and especially earlier in the year some South residents were fond of screaming drunkenly down the street at all hours of the night, which did not endear them to us in the slightest). That said, there are both pros and cons to South. I personally would probably not like the dorm as well, but others might.</p>
<p>South is brand spanking new. Literally unlived in until this year. This means that it’s clean and modern and glassy and has fancy TVs and whatever. It also means that it is still in a state of construction flux (though that’s settled down) and that, yes, the building looks like a hotel (and feels like one, or at least it did earlier in the year–the houses may have started to create individual identities by now and made the insides look less white and sterile). The “character” issue mentioned upthread is a big one and the main thing that does not endear South to others, particularly those of us in the older neo-Gothic dorms.</p>
<p>South is big. There are 8 (?) houses in it, each of about 100 people–twice the size of the largest house in BJ. Some people, like me, are horrified by the idea of a huge house, while others cannot imagine living in a “claustrophobic” house on the order of those in BJ. I can’t speak truly to house unity in South as I don’t live there and am not very close with all that many people who do, but I would assume that on principle it is a bit harder to have a cohesive house when you’re responsible for that many more people. Again, some people are fine with this idea, others may not like that.</p>
<p>South is steps away from the dining hall, which is nothing to sneer at. It’s a good 15 minute walk from north campus, though, where all the gyms are, so if you’re into gym training a lot, keep that in mind. In terms of proximity to classes it’s really not notably farther away than any other dorms (dorms like MacLean, Breck, Blackstone, and the like are the dorms with proximity issues; BJ and South are in the middle of the action compared to those dorms).</p>