<p>well, here's a great recap:
<a href="http://jessie.mitblogs.com/archives/2005/07/beyond_the_iron.html%5B/url%5D">http://jessie.mitblogs.com/archives/2005/07/beyond_the_iron.html</a></p>
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[quote]
That should read "freshmen will get doubles."
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</p>
<p>Aww... oh well! :)</p>
<p>I think I'd prefer to be in a double/triple/quad than a single anyway. I would hate to be completely alone, and there's always places you can go for quiet and whatever. </p>
<p>Plus doubles/triples/quads are less expensive. :)</p>
<p>To each his own :) I personally need to be able to be completely alone sometimes--not just someplace quiet. That's my completely ridiculous reason to be considering MIT over Caltech right now--no singles there!</p>
<p>zking, this is in response to your question about EC: <a href="http://web.mit.edu/ec/www/halls.html%5B/url%5D">http://web.mit.edu/ec/www/halls.html</a></p>
<p>My son got a single in EC freshman year and is still in the same room. He wants to move across the hall next year, in part because his radiator is so CLANGY.</p>
<p>From my CPW trip:</p>
<p>Baker - very friendly and fun people. </p>
<p>Next - I had trouble talking to these people.</p>
<p>New - Nobody wanted to talk. They were grouped up and stuff.</p>
<p>Random - Scary........ They showed off their 25 yr old milk to me. If you're looking for the stereotypical genius-nerdfest this is the place. Don't get me wrong. These people are nice, but they have trouble socializing because they are so different. Props to their middle earth painting and uniqueness though.</p>
<p>Only places I visited.</p>
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[quote]
Random - Scary........ They showed off their 25 yr old milk to me. If you're looking for the stereotypical genius-nerdfest this is the place. Don't get me wrong. These people are nice, but they have trouble socializing because they are so different. Props to their middle earth painting and uniqueness though.
[/quote]
It wasn't quite that old yet, methinks... although that container definitely isn't really airtight anymore, and it smells 25 years old :) But I think people need to actually visit these dorms (CPW isn't the only opportunity) to form their own impressions--Random felt like the "friendliest" place to me. Not the most stereotypically social, perhaps, but the people were all really open and nice, and they seemed to treat one another as family (in a good way). </p>
<p>Then again, they had funny (out of context) quotes on a whiteboard in one of the lounges. So does my family... in the kitchen. I saw it and immediately thought "wow, this is home."</p>
<p>Anyway, obviously this is just a personal impression thing, but I think you're basically just demonstrating that when you visit the dorms, you find one or two you really click with--for you that seems to have been Baker. :)</p>
<p>Odd thing is that I fit at baker and random lol.</p>
<p>I enjoy parties and women (The Phi Beta Epsilon party great) and socialize well, however, the Random hall people knew every stupid reference I made which was great. (Quoting monty python, "Rejected" the flash, etc) That and I plan on majoring in math/physics or architecture and programming so I'm definitely a "nerd" in that sense.</p>
<p>I think that I would live at baker and hang at random if anything.</p>
<p>Oh, and incase any of you were at CPW (and managed to remember my name after meeting me, if you did) my name was ricky. About 5' 10'' brown hair, brown eyes, white complexion, hispanic, goatee, etc.</p>
<p>There are lots of different kinds of people at MIT, as you undoubtably noticed at CPW. Hence, there are lots of different kinds of communities at MIT. </p>
<p>I'd be careful trying to value-judge different dorms -- it's not very nice and it hurts feelings. Plus it's completely ridiculous; there's no "best" dorm, just one (or a few) that are best for you.</p>
<p>Keep that in mind when you're visiting dorms during rush. Don't listen to people who say "Oh, dorm X is lame and the people there are [weird, frat boys, antisocial, alcoholics, evil, scary, popularity whores, smelly, boring, trashy, losers]." Go there and check it out for yourself.</p>
<p>EDIT: Not saying that anybody's value-judging. But it's something that happens post-CPW when everybody suddenly is an expert on everything MIT-related. Do this old creaky upperclassman a favor and try to come up with a genuine pro and genuine con for every dorm you discuss in this thread.</p>
<p>Baker - Smelly lobby, but nice people and pretty fun, and a good bunch of pretty girls.</p>
<p>Next - Clean, orderly, large, didn't stay long enough but from those I met I didn't like the people.</p>
<p>Random - Cozy? Friendly for certain. Wierd yes. I'd say that if you can get over your social qualms about hanging with nerds and you enjoy laughing and being a kid (I certainly do) then stop by. The most welcoming enironment.</p>
<p>New - I won't bother commenting since I didn't spend adequate time.</p>
<p>I'm by no means an expert =), and I could probably be happy at any dorm to be honest, but like a regular male women are on my mind and are a factor in considering my dorm.</p>
<p>wait... the dorms dont have AC except for next?? what??!!</p>
<p>i didnt get to go on an actual dorm tour, unfortunately. my friends and i did go around to some dorms and got ppl to show us tho.</p>
<p>Blexley - some kid took us to the place. We hadnt even heard of it before, due to its antirush thing. it has good sized rooms and is in such a convenient place, but the culture there.... hehe, let's just say my group saw the basement and decided it wasnt for us. plus, the flying cockroach turned me off.</p>
<p>Random - i liked the nerdy/artsy-ness alot, but it's too far away in the opposite direction for me. weird layout, with dif floors. theres an all girls floor too i think.</p>
<p>Baker - seems the most "normal" to me? lol. i like the convenient dining hall, and has many choices of rooms, with nice view of charles river. </p>
<p>EC - where i stayed, but prolly spent least time, heh. all i have to say is, walking up 5 flights of stairs to get to my room is wayyyyy too much. oh and now that i think abt it, the walls resemble blexley, except not as a bad.</p>
<p>Burton - i like the suites, but i can't cook and therefore would need a dining hall and no real big need for a kitchen except someplace to boil hot water for ramen =P</p>
<p>btw, the co-ed bathroom thing is very very weird, single occupancy or or not.</p>
<p>New and Senior are the only two dorms which are air-conditioned.</p>
<p>Didn't get to see all the dorms. The one i stayed in (Mccomick) made me wanna kill myself, don't choose it. </p>
<p>I acutally liked simmons. Nice rooms but don't wanna clean my bathroom.</p>
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The one i stayed in (Mccomick) made me wanna kill myself, don't choose it.
[/quote]
Okay, this is exactly what I'm talking about.</p>
<p>Hey TRIS, you can buy a window AC unit for your room which works just fine. In some dorms you may have to engineer it a little (see my</a> air conditioner, because the windows in the MacG tower have screens), but hey, isn't engineering why you all are coming to MIT anyway? :) It doesn't <em>generally</em> get AC-worthy in Boston until after school lets out anyway.</p>
<p>Don't forget that you don't have to live in a dining hall dorm to eat at the dining hall every night. I used to eat at Next House a few times a week when I was a freshman. A dorm with a kitchen just gives you more options, in case you ever do learn to cook (like I did sophomore year!).</p>
<p>I dunno about coed bathrooms. I've never found them weird in the least. You just get to be so close to everybody in your suite that it's completely normal... I mean, I've never seen anybody in my suite naked, male or female. You don't really spend that much time in the bathroom anyway, unless you have some sort of gastrointestinal problem.</p>
<p>In my opinion, all the dorms have good points and bad points. I think I'm just gonna try and get into the dorm which felt right for me, which is Baker, so I guess I'm just going off gut feeling - which may not be the best way, i guess. But at the minute, Baker is my first with Burton-Connor as my second.
But, actually, unlike other unis i've visited, there weren't any dorms I visited that I really disliked, just ones that I knew I wouldn't feel comfortable in because they were very "un-me" (like Random, for example).</p>
<p>I like the Random dorm because you can act like a fool and you don't need to worry about social reprecussions for acting weird. Everyone wants to be a kid--and still is. As we get older we just put an image of maturity, but I'm sure everyone here would love dodgeball, jousting with rubber swords, and other "nerdy" stuff.</p>
<p>ah, i forgot it doesnt get "ac-worthy" in boston often. so are there heating systems, or radiators, or what for the dorms? i forgot to notice in my room</p>
<p>well, there sure aren't fireplaces. :P</p>
<p>Yet.......!</p>
<p>
[quote]
Hey TRIS, you can buy a window AC unit for your room which works just fine. In some dorms you may have to engineer it a little (see my air conditioner, because the windows in the MacG tower have screens), but hey, isn't engineering why you all are coming to MIT anyway? It doesn't <em>generally</em> get AC-worthy in Boston until after school lets out anyway.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I would also point out that if you live in a dorm, you don't pay for electricity. So if you have an AC, you can basically turn your room into an veritable icebox, free of charge, should that be your desire. </p>
<p>AC's really aren't that expensive anyway. Maybe $400 new, half that used. And as long as you don't break it, you can use it for all 4 years and then sell it once you graduate. Honestly, compared to the cost of MIT tuition, what's another $400?</p>