@JBStillFlying did you ever get an answer to the dorm paperwork?
I’m looking at filling it out now and just waiting for 3/15 to pick the dorm…I think. I like the full refund if I don’t go but wanna make sure I maximize opportunity.
@Seacoast my D was planning to visit on 3/10 and fill out the dorm application on 3/15 once she had a chance to rank the dorms; however, she won’t be making that trip as her plans very recently changed.
re: 12
My grandmother and sister both resided in Liz Waters for some of their time at UW. Both loved it. And yeah, it’s in a pretty good location.
Our son enjoyed at view of Lake Mendota from his room in Liz Waters last year. It served a quieter, more studious group of kids, and the dining hall there reopened in January after renovations. He is now in Ogg as a sophomore and he is happy there, too. I like that Ogg’s bike racks are well-covered by a roof, keeping the bicycles protected from both rain and snow
Ogg could be a noisy location for the next 2 years.
Are freshman allowed to stay in Ogg?
There should be a way to change your dorm rankings by a deadline (May 1?) so you can go ahead and do a ranking now and revise later.
Liz is popular so have a second choice you will like if you rank it # 1. Not all rooms are ideal- some first floor rooms facing Observatory Dr. in the far east and west buildings are actually partly underground. And north facing (lakeside) may not have views because of the trees. Entering students get the least desirable rooms in any dorm open to others because the best ones are taken by returning residents. Son lived there (as did my mother when it was new- I refused because it was isolated from the guys’ dorms back in my day)- the first year it was coed and another year. Liz is actually five buildings linked horizontally, built into the hill so you can’t use the central elevator to get to all floors. Move in/out was a sidewalk down/uphill trek with the provided laundry cart- plus up/down a few steps to get to the first floor. The rooms are a bit larger in Liz than most dorms. Stayed there for SOAR (parents’ section- students were in a totally different part of the building- good for them and us).
Nice thing about UW dorms is that they all are well maintained with basically the same amenities (air conditioning being a pay for upgrade in some buildings) but many different styles and settings.
There is no “best” dorm. You need to figure out the building style, age, setting and location that you prefer. Food service offerings will be the same all over campus and you can eat anywhere. btw- don’t count on your classes to always be in their departmental building.
Res Halls has a master plan and they continue to upgrade and build new dorms- a changing, dynamic campus.
This is all great information. Yeah it looks like we can go online and enter information and then preferences in March with the ability to change through May1st. Just trying to get some insight as to why people chose each dorm. I’ll be a freshman so I’m open to it all…I just really liked the lakes area and wanted to see if I could find out details on why people liked what they liked. Thanks everyone!
Go for lakeshore then! The psychology of being able to distress in that setting was valuable to me versus living in the high rises along busy city streets. My friends lived in that area but I wouldn’t. Think of your dorm as where you want to be when you want to relax. Going outside to the lakeshore path quickly or the urban areas. You can easily (you are young and healthy) walk to any area around campus but for those times you want an instant fix being right there is hard to beat.
Often people think they want the cool/hip/popular area when in reality everyone has a different personality and different types of housing suit them best. I could not stand Barnard- friends liked it (we were all the same major- disclosure I lived in the dorms all 4 years- beat commuting via buses and most apartments weren’t as close to campus, different campus culture for that back in my day).
Remember- you will make friends in your classes- those students chose the same course after all. Your immediate “neighborhood” will be your dorm area but the whole campus is your area. You can easily eat anywhere in Res Halls dining facilities so you have choices there as well. You may find yourself eating close to class or friends.
The first month or two you meet and spend time with the people you live with, your friends/people you hang out with changes as you get to know people through classes and activities along with those in your dorm area.
Definitely would do Lakeshore dorms freshman year, either Bradley if you want freshman only or Dejope if you want the nicer building.
Wow thanks! That does fit with my thinking. Next question, I checked out the LLC’s doesn’t seem to be much for Engineering…what’s the best way to meet people quick on campus - is it the dorm and floormates or am I missing something?
You will meet people on your dorm floor, in the dining places, in fall dorm and other activities and in your classes. It starts with your move in day. Don’t worry about meeting people- there are thousands on campus. Do realize it takes time and the friends you do things with from your dorm in September may be replaced with others as you get to know people.
On our housing tour they took us through the Lakeshore dorms. Leopold and DeJope are new and were very nice. However, the older dorms we toured-can’t remember their name, I think it started with an S-were so decrepit that as an alum, I was embarrassed that UW still uses them. And the one the biology LLC is in is in-between-not decrepit, but still pretty outdated. If D17 gets in she will definitely be ranking Leopold and DeJope first, even though they cost a bit more. I can’t emphasize enough how nice they are.
Does anyone know how many residence halls we have to enter into our housing preferences? Like how many should have ready to rank when I put in my preferences in March?
You have to rank all of them.
@Madison85 hi being international indian no idea of dorms but love to see my son in good ones with dining friendly atmosphere with in campus .any input is highly appreciated as we are clueless.
You have to rank all the dorms so don’t get your mind set on just your first choice.
However if you rank a Learning Community first, then you most likely get your first choice.
Read all about your options on the Housing website, such as Chadbourne Learning Community:
ums1971- do not worry at all about which dorm your son ends up in. Each has its own “flavor” - pros and cons. He will be able to eat in any Res Halls food service facility so distance from classes et al during lunchtime, meeting friends who live in a different dorm area, etc. is not an issue. HIS (meaning he, not you, makes the decisions) choices for ranking the dorms could be arbitrary and he will find a good one. The one thing I did was to look over my son’s rankings and point out how he put one in the other of the two areas with his preferred area. Students usually have a preference for either the Lakeshore setting or the Southeast setting and double checking that the preferred area dorms are ranked higher than the other area’s is worth doing.
My H is from India. We liked several Indian restaurants in Madison. There is a nice one close to campus/downtown and others on the far west side. There are also Indian grocery stores that he can purchase Indian snack foods and ready to eat meals for a taste of home. Taking a bus or finding a ride is doable. He should also check out any Indian organizations. He made a great choice for college!
@wis75 thank you for your great advice.really relieved and comforting since we see only in pictures your words are really helpful and giving confidence.god bless you.
Have been loving all the information UW has been sending out about the dorms. Even though I visited and did the videos online I really like the fact that they really want “me”. I think the dorm won’t matter…the school matters so thanks everyone!