The Completely Unofficial 08-09 Chicago Dorm Guide

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Chicago ✅
142

<p>As a delighted-to-be-accepted regular decision student (acceptee? acceptant? words are fun), I’m working on finalizing my housing plans. This is a somewhat dangerous proposition for me, since I am still waiting on financial aid to ensure my ability to attend. I just know that if I can afford it, I will go.</p>

<p>Anyway, I’ve been looking gradually at the housing situation, and while Snell-Hitchcock seems like a dream for a Chicago/Scav hunt enthusiast, I am very drawn to both Breck and Broadview. They have such similar qualities (physically, at least) that make them awesome to me.</p>

<p>I’d like a single room, with a community kitchen in the dorm. They both offer those. I’d like a reasonably-sized room. Check. I’d prefer a private bath; in that respect, I’m a little confused (I know Broadview is private, and I’d thought that Breck was communal, but now I can’t find any pictures or data that backs up that memory).</p>

<p>Distance from campus is daunting, but it’s one of the last factors I’m considering. It’d be great to live in the middle of the quads–but a good living community and arrangements are more important to me.</p>

<p>Most of all, I want to be in a dorm that is loved by its inhabitants (that is, a dorm with pride), where the atmosphere is friendly and socializing isn’t forced or awkward. I’m pretty shy, despite my wishes and efforts to the contrary, so I do want to be able to retreat to my room and read/write/listen to music without feeling rude. But I also want to have the opportunity (or option) to come out of my proverbial shell frequently. Perhaps even more frequently than I expect.</p>

<p>Finally, I love “being a nerd”/“geekiness”: the culture, connectivity, and atmosphere that intellectualism and just plain silliness breeds. It would be nice to live in a place that fosters such a life–something that seems easy enough, given the University’s own nature. I hear much more about Breck in this sense than about Broadview; is that because Broadview is less familiar or Breck really is more vibrant in the “geeky” sense? No one else has stories like the (now discontinued) Ent-moot tradition of Breck’s. I love things like that.</p>

<p>So, yes. This is a lengthy way of asking: What’s the difference? How awesome -are- these dorms? Why is Broadview so rarely discussed in comparison to other dorms? Am I mistaken in my perceptions?</p>

<p>Tell me where to live! (Kidding. But Give me advice! is earnest. Please?)</p>

143

<p>wisteriawings: I can’t tell you where to live, but I can tell you that you ought to be considering Maclean, too: All singles (but one room), a completely awesome kitchen (insstitutional quality – it used to be an old-age home), closer to campus than Broadview or Breckinridge (and really close to the gyms), a fair amount of house pride, a layout that encourages socializing, and a more serious scav team (as part of MacPierce) than the dorms you are looking at. The only fly in the ointment from your standpoint is that it has bathrooms shared among 5 people (single sex). But that also means that the University, not you, keeps them clean.</p>

144

<p>the only thing i care about is eating at bartlett. sad i know. which dorms does bartlett cater to?</p>

145

<p>Word on the street is that SouthCampus/The Beej will be bartlett-style next year. Pierce might be changing, too.</p>

146

<p>From the Office of Undergraduate Student Housing:
Beginning in 2009-2010, all three dining halls (Pierce, South Campus and Bartlett) will be all-you-care-to-eat and all three will offer continuous dining, or unlimited access to the dining halls. The three dining halls will be open all day long from the dining hall opening time until their closing time. Meal plan holders may swipe their ID and enter as often as s/he desires.</p>

<p>Is this how Bartlett works? How does this “Unlimited Meal Plan” differ from the previous dining policy?</p>

147

<p>Daggerman, dining halls used to vary in their eating options. Bartlett required payment for each item purchased, so getting seconds would cost you. The other halls allowed all-you-can-eat service, meaning you could help yourself to (or request from over the counter, depending on what kind of setup they have) as much food as you liked, as long as you didn’t exit the dining hall and try to reenter. A uniform cover charge at the door, so to speak, and that was it. Like buffet restaurants in the U.S.</p>

<p>Now, with the Unlimited Meal Plan, it seems that every dining hall will have the latter setup. All you can eat (or, as Chicago more tamely puts it, all-you-care-to-eat), meaning seconds (and thirds, fourths, fifths) are as welcome as the first round. That sounds like a good change to me!</p>

148

<p>I picked Snell, B-J, and Max P.
But as someone who got in on RD and have submitted my housing deposit on 31 March, there would be no way that I could get Snell right?
And thus should I just pick another dorm?
What happens if I can’t get Snell or B-J or Max P?</p>

149

<p>Supertank, I think that if you miss out on your first three choices, the housing department looks for the best dorm that aligns with the personal information on your application. So if you checked “I want a dorm with its own dining hall,” you might get Pierce or South Campus, space permitting. Hopefully, if you don’t get your first choices (and I hope you do!), then your application is specific enough to give you a fourth dorm with similar attributes.</p>

<p>Or maybe it’ll be totally, unexpectedly, shockingly BETTER than any dorm you could have hoped for, and you’ll have the best Chicago dorm experience imaginable, and never look back.</p>

<p>=)</p>

150

<p>@ supertank: Whoa, same exact choices as me, in that same exact order. :)</p>

151

<p>Hey, does anyone know how easy it is to get a double in B-J?</p>

152

<p>uh so which dorms do get their own dining hall, and what dorms does bartlett serve?</p>

153

<p>Bartlett serves all of Max Palevsky, Snell-Hitchcock, and Blackstone, as well as Stony Island (which is for transfer students and upperclass students only).
Pierce has an attached dining hall, which is used by Pierce, Maclean, and Broadview.
Burton-Judson and the South Campus dormitory will, as of next year, have an adjoining dining hall that serves B-J, South Campus, and Breckenridge.
Also, as of next year, all dining halls will be on the same all-you-can-eat dining plan; so, for those of you interested in Bartlett as an “a la carte” style dining hall, this will no longer be available, although they will retain the same amount and variety of food.</p>

154

<p>sweet thanks.</p>

155

<p>oh and do you guys think BJ is already filled up?</p>

156

<p>It’s really hard to tell when dorms “fill up”- basically, if you have a dorm you’d like to live in, put it as your first choice without regard to what you think may be full or not. Just make sure to have options you’d be fine with for second choice and, if you’re the kind of person who waits until May 1st to turn in housing forms, 3rd choice. :)</p>

157

<p>I want anything BUT a single (that is i want doubles, triples, etc)
I like neo-gothic architecture (so probably BJ and Hitchcock)
I want a dorm that has its own kitchen
I don’t mind the distance from the quads.</p>

<p>My top three choices are: 1. BJ 2. SH 3. Breckinridge.</p>

<p>I know that SH and Breck have kitchens, but I was wondering if BJ will have a kitchen by this fall. Also, I’m an EA admit, but I am not going to commit till I visit (4/23-24). So I will probably commit on 4/25. What do you think the chances are of me getting into BJ?</p>

158

<p>@neltharion lol! I’d hate you if you are an EA that has already committed. Lol
@wisteriawings, okay thanks!</p>

159

<p>yes, she does NOT want single (surprised me!), with perhaps access to a kitchen, and closer to the quad. we will be there Apr 23/24 at UChic. perhaps she could meet with you then.</p>

160

<p>are there any new updates of the new dorm? like amount of freshmen in the dorm, house name, etc?</p>

161

<p>does anyone have any details on maclean? i’m considering it as a 3rd choice, but i haven’t really heard much about it at all compared to some other dorms.</p>