<p>A few weeks ago, I found out that I was accepted to the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences as a Meteorology major and had the option to live in Irvin Halls with other people in the same major. I feel that I would become closer with the other Meteorology majors if I lived in Irvin, but my concern is that it would make it harder for me to meet other people than if I lived in, say, East Halls. If I decide to live in East Halls instead of Irvin, then I'd be concerned that I wouldn't be as connected to the other people within my major. Ideally, I'd hope for a best of both worlds scenario where I'd be close to people within and not within my major. </p>
<p>Are these concerns legitimate? What are the pros and cons of living in typical freshmen dorms rather than the SLO, and vice versa? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. </p>
<p>EMS has an excellent reputation for supporting and encouraging a sense of community with incoming students. These are your future networking connections, your colleagues, your study partners. You are going to meet plenty of other freshmen in your non-major classes, but you will spend much more time with other EMS majors. East Halls are also as far from the center of campus as you can get. This week we had snow and temps in the 20’s!!! </p>
<p>I would take the SLO offer, but plenty of people live happily in East. Remember that college is less about what “grade” you are in and more about what groups you join, in and out of your major.</p>
<p>My DD1 is a junior in EMS and lived in Pollock. She met plenty of freshman so, I don’t think it matters much where you live. I would recommend doing TOTEMS in August, it’s a great program and it’s only EMS students. You’ll meet a lot of incoming freshman and upperclass students/professors. You also get to move in early which is a real plus. The upperclassmen help you with your stuff and there are no crowds. EMS has a very active THON group if you’re interested in that and there is also EMS class senate. I’m sure meteorology has a club, too, so there are plenty of ways to meet people. Good luck!</p>