<p>can some one tell me what dorms are for Athletics, close to the fields, best food, clean bathrooms, big rooms & rec/sports teams at dorms
worst rooms, etc.</p>
<p>^^ Good questions. Also, to add to the list:</p>
<ol>
<li>Social life (maybe a general description of the *type[/] of social life at each dorm).</li>
<li>General type of people who go live in the dorms (fun loving, studious, eccentric, etc...).</li>
<li>Size of the rooms.</li>
</ol>
<p>I think it'd be best if some1 jus described each dorm's characteristics : )</p>
<p>Soon enough MIT will send it's matriculated students an "I3" video package in the mail. I3 stands for "Interactive Introduction to the Institute" and is a series of short clips made by MIT students highlighting each dorm.</p>
<p>You can see last year's I3 videos at this</a> website, but be warned, they all require the [url=<a href="http://apple.com/quicktime/download/%5DQuickTime%5B/url">http://apple.com/quicktime/download/]QuickTime[/url</a>] plugin.</p>
<p>west campus dorms are closest to athletics.</p>
<p>Check out the i3 link above.</p>
<p>One of the things I really like about MIT is that it's absolutely impossible to say which dorms are the best and the worst without context -- each dorm is so different, and has such a different group of people living in it, that it's really a question of what dorm is best for you.</p>
<p>All the dorms have clean bathrooms, since they are cleaned by Housing staff. (Thank God.)</p>
<p>The food at the various dining halls is really pretty much the same -- I mean, it's by the same company. But not all dorms have a dining hall.</p>
<p>Soon (I keep saying this, but I swear it's going to happen), all the [url=<a href="http://my.mit.edu%5Dbloggers%5B/url">http://my.mit.edu]bloggers[/url</a>] are going to write entries on each of the dorms, with pictures and descriptions and all the information your little heart could desire. Timur is also correct that the I3 videos will be coming out, but that'll be closer to the end of May/beginning of June.</p>
<p>I guess I'll make a short description of each dorm in the meantime, but please don't take this as the final word on each dorm, because I would hate to have you make your decisions based on the stereotype presented by a resident of another dorm.</p>
<p>I'd like to chime in here a bit...</p>
<p>I think choosing a dorm based on cleanliness, room size, and proximity is definitely not the way to go. In my humble little opinion, the number one reason on your mind when deciding where to live should be the people you're going to be living with.<br>
Having an interest in sports is a great example. Go to the place where people have big sports teams, and where people are interested in them, not because the physical dorm is close the athletic fields. I'm sure some people have different needs, and if you really feel just about the same in a number of different places, then room size/proximity and those things are great deciding factors.</p>
<p>Now, as far as describing dorms go, that can be a bit hard...Its so hard to describe social life and the type of people without feeling you're missing some important part. There's plenty of stereotypes that go along with all the dorms on campus (well..most..) and these can be useful in deciding where to live, but don't decide solely on that. Make use of CPW and REX!</p>
<p>ohh, and I'll put in a lame plug for </p>
<p><a href="http://web.mit.edu/varenc/www/facebook.html%5B/url%5D">http://web.mit.edu/varenc/www/facebook.html</a></p>
<p>its a breakdown of the political stances of different dorms using aggregate data off of facebook..
some of you might find it helpful! =P</p>
<p>Baker. Has the reputation of being the most "social" dorm, with a heavy contingent of fraternity and sorority residents. Has a dining hall and is about 100 yards from the Student Center. There are singles, doubles, triples, and quads in Baker; freshmen are most frequently in doubles, triples, and quads.</p>
<p>Bexley. If you're temped there, they'll try to scare you off -- they do "anti-rush". Not actually as scary as they find it funny to be. All the people I know at Bexley are very cool, but not in the Abercrombie way. No dining hall, right next to the Student Center and across the street from the academic buildings. Bexley has singles and doubles, but rooms get "willed" by graduating seniors, so freshmen don't get singles.</p>
<p>Burton-Conner. One of the more "middle-of-the-road" dorms, although culture varies significantly by floor. Rooms are arranged in suites; I believe most are doubles, although there are singles. Freshmen will generally get doubles. No dining hall, and about 5 minutes' walk from the Student Center.</p>
<p>East Campus. An eclectic place. My impression is that EC is somewhat cohesive, although again culture varies by floor. EC kids like to build things, as shown in another thread. No dining hall, under a minute from the academic buildings, and probably 2-3 minutes from the Kendall T stop. Rooms are singles or doubles; freshmen will generally get doubles, although it's common for them to get singles.</p>
<p>**Macgregor.<a href="Full%20disclosure%20alert:%20my%20dorm">/b</a> Has a reputation for being quiet and antisocial, although this culture varies a great deal from floor to floor. Some "entries" (group of 3-4 floors) are very social, some are very quiet. No dining hall (although in talks to get one), but a convenience store on the first floor. Has its own weight room. About 7 minutes' walk from the Student Center. Rooms are all singles.</p>
<p>McCormick. The only single-sex dorm on campus, only for female students. Has a reputation of being for the somewhat girlier/fragile girls on campus whose parents won't let them live with boys. A dining hall, although I think it's open only on certain days of the week? About 75 yards from the Student Center. Rooms are singles or doubles; freshmen get doubles.</p>
<p>Yeah, there's so NOT an answer to that question. The dorms are so very different and each has its pros and cons. There are some dorms that you might think are horrible, but those who live there couldn't be happier.</p>
<p>I also don't know what you mean by "what dorms are for Athletics"? Most of the dorms are strung out along the athletic fields, and only a handful have dining halls in the first place. So yeah, your best bet is to watch the i3 videos, make the most of CPW and Orientation, and try to find a place you like.</p>
<p>P.S. To modify what Mollie said about Burton Conner: I think we might have more doubles than most other dorms, but there are plenty of singles. On the average floor, all the freshmen have doubles and upperclassmen have singles. (I say "average floor" because my floor, for example, is very unbalanced age-wise, so we go through cycles in terms of number of sophomores needing to stay in doubles.)</p>
<p>New. Consists of the Cultural Houses (Spanish, French, German, Chocolate City) and 5 non-Cultural House floors. My feeling is that many Hispanic and African-American students end up living there, although I'm not sure about the actual statistics. I don't know too many people from this dorm. No dining hall, the only dorm with air conditioning. About 9 minutes' walk from the Student Center. I think rooms are singles and doubles, with freshmen getting doubles.</p>
<p>Next. A very freshman-heavy dorm -- many residents move out sophomore year to fraternities and sororities. Has a dining hall. Farthest dorm from the academic buildings -- about 10-11 minutes' walk from the Student Center. Does Residence-Based Advising, so choosing this dorm in the initial dorm lottery means you won't be able to switch dorms during rush. Rooms are singles and doubles, freshmen get doubles.</p>
<p>Random. Generally considered to be a (heavy quotes) nerdy dorm. The dorm is small (100 residents) and my understanding is that it's very close-knit. The culture varies by floor. Random has no dining hall, but it does have huge kitchens on each floor and is right next to the grocery store. Random is about 5 minutes north of campus, and is closer to a T stop than all of west campus. Cat dorm. I think Random is mostly doubles, although there are probably some singles too.</p>
<p>Senior House (Haus). Senior Haus and EC are sort of "sister" dorms -- they cater to very similar clienteles. Senior Haus is probably a little bit edgier than EC in terms of smoking, drug use, and sex. Rooms are singles and doubles; I'm not sure how common it is for freshmen to get singles. The dorm is about 3 minutes from the Kendall T stop and 2 minutes from the main academic buildings.</p>
<p>Simmons. Looks like a large metal sponge. The newest dorm, opened in 2002. My impression is that Simmons is a little more of a mishmash than some of the other dorms -- its culture hasn't entirely coalesced yet. I guess it seems to me to be in many respects a typical west campus dorm with a little bit of east campus flavor. Simmons has a dining hall as well as resident kitchens, and is about 7 minutes from the Student Center. Rooms are doubles and singles, freshmen will get singles.</p>
<p>thanks mollie! At a first glance, Burton-Conner and Next houses seem nice. :]</p>
<p>I would definitely recommend taking a dorm tour during CPW, and getting to meet people from the dorm to see which is the best fit for you. Don't ask me questions because I'm partial ;)</p>
<p>thanks mollie for all your help</p>
<p>
[quote]
I would definitely recommend taking a dorm tour during CPW, and getting to meet people from the dorm to see which is the best fit for you.
[/quote]
A thousand times yes. And if you don't get to every dorm during CPW, make sure to visit them during REX (dorm rush during orientation). It's really important that you end up in the best dorm for you and don't succumb to laziness and inertia and pick/stay based on stupid criteria. The people in your living group will probably be your most important social support system during your freshman year.</p>
<p><em>/former house rush chair</em></p>
<p>Can you make a dorm request during the summer or do you have to wait until you arrive for fall semester?</p>
<p>Haha, I guess we haven't explained this too well.</p>
<p>Timeline:
CPW -- Check out dorms, meet residents, eat free food.</p>
<p>Late May/early June -- receive a booklet with descriptions of each dorm written by residents, and a CD with resident-made videos. Rank each dorm and send in the form to be run in the housing lottery.</p>
<p>July -- Housing lottery runs. Freshmen are assigned a temporary room (almost always one of their top two choices, sometimes third choice).</p>
<p>August -- Arrive at MIT and put stuff in temporary room. Don't unpack. Run around and check out all the dorms and eat free food, decide if you want to enter the readjustment lottery to switch dorms. (You can stay in your temp dorm if you want.)</p>
<p>August, after that -- Readjustment lottery is run. Final dorm assignments go out.</p>
<p>August, even after that -- Each dorm does in-house rush, where students go around and meet people from all the floors/entries/whatever within the dorm and eat free food. Students rank floors and a lottery is run. </p>
<p>Now we're probably into September -- Final room assignments go out. Students (with help from upperclassman muscle) move into their final room assignments. Everybody gets psyched.</p>
<p>Why did they change the name from rush to rex?</p>
<p><em>HEAVY EYEROLL</em></p>
<p>I believe the rationale behind the switch was to emphasize the exploration (REX = Residence EXploration) of various dormitories rather than the selection both on the part of the freshman and on the part of the living group that "rush" implies. When dorm rush was decoupled from fraternity rush (when freshmen were forced to live in a dormitory freshman year), the name was changed by the Forces that Be.</p>
<p>There are two groups of people on this campus: those who refer to the process as REX and those who refer to it as rush. I will refer to it as rush, and everyone will have to live with that. :P</p>
<p>lol, nice facebook graphs. I like the huge spike in Math and CS around Random, and the huge spike in Management around Baker. I also like the most inclusive graph of Dorm vs. Political Stance.</p>
<p>All tech men wear batteries -- all MIT students (seem to) like data and excel graphs.</p>