Can someone give me the down/dirty on dorm choices w/ focus on vibe, types of kids; less interested in aesthetics/resources, but would like that info too 
My son will be entering in the Fall class of 2023. He seems to have heart set on North based on visiting a friend, but it seems relatively far from alot of things on the quad. He is pretty social but not a huge partier. From my little knowledge so far, he’ll be a fairly typical UC student-he has a small group of friends in high school that study ALOT and are serious about clubs etc., but who are social (but he’s def not in the “cool, athlete” group (please no disrespect, just trying hard to get his “gist” across). He will be majoring in math and will most likely be involved in any clubs/activities related to math and physics. Any help is MUCH appreciated! Thanks!!
There are many, many threads on this topic. Here is one:
Just scroll down the UChicago forum and you can see many of them.
Congratulations to your child (and you too!)
May I suggest you research first the houses as each house has its own personality and then see which dorm that translates to…the house will serve as the basic social unit for your child
Bad advice. Research dorms, not houses.
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You have no choice over which house you end up in within a dorm
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Houses are small and there are many of them (39 including Vue53) - you aren’t going to find much on individual houses
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Even the ones with the highest retention regularly see at least 50%+ leave every year so things change dramatically from year to year which makes point 2 more important. Even if you find information on one specific house it’s probably out of date and there is a 100% chance it will out of date by the time you get to UChicago b/c they house you will be entering is shaped by you and the other first years and doesn’t even exist yet, culturally speaking
Thx- I know there are various threads re dorms it’s hard to get a breakdown. do you have insight/thoughts about whether North is 1) noticeably further from everything and 2) is north house culture not as strong bc it’s newer?
Any help is appreciated!
North isn’t noticeably further from everything. It is a bit of a shlep to the south side of the quad where most first year classes are, but it’s near the gym(s) and the Reg. North house culture is alive and kicking.
OP: May I suggest you read up on my thread written before school started last September?
OP - check out Snitch. Near everything. And they win at Scav every year.
OP - my son is in North and has not complained about the distance anywhere (thinking from 5 up to 10 minutes to get to his classes last quarter). Although he has mentioned that it’s a long hike to go visit his friends at South. He likes North b/c it is close to the gym, it’s new and has a/c, the dining hall is decent – and it’s all he really knows. There are all types in North - I would say your son will find his people at any dorm - the larger ones like North or South might be easier to find a like-minded group…I don’t think the house culture is strong in his house, but it might just be him and the fact that the friends that he has made are not in his house (other than his roommate).
Do you have a sense of how important or not House culture is overall? One of the things that was really appealing to me (as a middle-age woman ! ?) was the house culture. He’s oblivious which is normal bc he’s obviously never been to collage but I guess I’m wondering whether you still will get the full Chicago experience (whatever that is) if you’re in North? Any thoughts from anyone on Max P’s vibe?
He’s not the frat type necessarily and I always thought a strong house culture would be awesome & good substitute - but he’s stuck on North.
To any students, if I’m over analyzing and if it’s all kinda a crap shoot feel free to say that too!
My son is in Max P, which is next to North, and Max P is very close to most of the facilities. Both the dining hall and the library is yards away from Max P East. Honestly though, toward midterms and finals, food was pretty much the last thing on his mind. He mostly ate at Barlett—Max P’s dining hall. (Although I wished he would have eaten more, but he couldn’t stomach dining hall food at that point.)
Initially, we put down North as his first choice, because it is the newest dorm, so of course! But after an overnight visit, he decided on Max P. Even though his overnight visit during Admitted Students’ Days was in South, he was still able to garner info about other dorms from speaking with the many students on campus while he was wandering around on his own in the evening. He was able to get a feel that Max P would be where he would fit in the best, and luckily, it turned out to be the right choice. Max P has a pretty diverse crowd as far as non athletes, athletes, social economic status, etc. As least that what it seemed like to us when we visited. But that’s probably true of all of the dorms though.
As far as house culture, it seems house culture is pretty strong there, but it does depend on the student. He loves his house but he has friends who are in his house who do not participate as much, but I imagine that would be the case in any house as well. His house parents are very loving and it seems like a very inclusive community. He made friends with the people in his house the first day there.
I did hear anecdotally that North house culture is not as strong, which is fine too because many students have friends outside of their house, or would eventually like to move off campus anyway. But I’m sure other students on this board would know more about North.
If your son is choosing between North and Max P as a first choice, he probably can’t go wrong with either. Also, if you’re going to Admitted Students’ Days, he might be able to gather more intel. Although I have to say, not much of the admitted student days were geared toward dorm living, so your son might have to proactively speak to students on campus and see if he can get any kind of ‘vibe’ info that way.
Uocparent that’s soo helpful. This may be a dumb question but isn’t admitted student day in April - don’t they put in their requests before that?
Quoted from an email by Dean Boyer in November 2018:
"…the housing queue, which previously placed students into dorms with preference based on date of enrollment deposits, will be changed to a random lottery. This change was made to ensure all students have the same chance to live in their preferred residence hall.”
So you can put in your request on April 30th 2019 and it makes no difference in your standing in the housing queue.
Trying to recall… admitted student days is in April, but we did not need to submit our housing survey until way after that. I think it was like July, so you need not put in your requests this early, unless you already know. We put our deposit in as soon as he was accepted, but did not have to choose our dorm until July, so you have a lot of time to figure out which dorm he prefers. Also, you are allowed to change your dorm choices up until the deadline (again, I can’t remember whether the exact due date for submitting housing was July or August.)
UChicago will be sending out many mailings to you, some of which will include links to dates of when the housing survey is due.
Congratulations on your son’s acceptance and enjoy the exciting times ahead!
Edit: also what @85bears46 said above.
Does your son have a preference of single vs shared room? The number of singles available to first years varies widely by dorm with some dorms being primarily singles and others being primarily doubles.
Definitely not a single - more merrier for him
OK, that makes it easier since it appears North has primarily doubles for first years. Similar case with Max P and South. Not that there aren’t exceptions, but my understanding is that doubles are by far the most common for first years in those dorms.
Housing preferences were submitted in early June for Class of '21. Not sure about last year.
House culture might vary by dorm or even vary within the dorm. BJ has a very strong house culture. My daughter got a single there last year and gelled with her house almost immediately upon moving in. Most of her friends are also in her house. I’d say she’s had a pretty normal experience for BJ but not all the dorms have quite the same vibrant culture. There is definitely a correlation between how long the house and the dorm have been around - and, importantly, how long the house has been allowed to exist undisturbed - and how defined the culture is. UChicago seems to be in a continual state of changing/adding/demolishing its undergraduate living space and that can actually be an obstacle to developing successful cultures in the houses impacted.
The only dorms where first years regularly get singles is BJ and I-House. Snell has singles but Hitchcock is all doubles and you can’t control which one you end up in.
@chestnutmom1 My 2nd year son is also in MaxP and I agree with everything said upstream. It is centrally located to dining halls, libraries, classes and and the gym.
Son loves his house and is in a single this year (shared bathroom) and has been on the first floor both years. Elevators had their fare share of issues last year at North which kids found burdensome.