<p>Im OOS and never been to OSU, and i have got some details on my other posts. But can someone help a little bit? Like is the North housing area the closer to the academic building that the south one or something alongs those lines. I got in the Honor Program and i dont know where i might want to house next year. I was looking at the website and they are so many options. Kinda need some personal insight.</p>
<p>Thxs</p>
<p>My D isn't in the Honors program, but is applying to the Scholars program, so I'm not sure what the difference is in the housing for the two groups. We have visited Ohio State twice. The first time that we visited we looked at a dorm in South campus. At first I thought that South campus would work better, because she'd only have one roomate (as opposed to three other roommates in a quad on north campus). However, after recently visiting one of the residence halls in North campus, she now prefers to live there. After talking to several current students, it just seems like North Campus is somewhat more quiet and laid back, which would be a better fit for her, whereas South campus seems to have a livelier social scene(she's not much of a partier). Also, it doessn't that North campus residence hall that she was looking at has air-conditioning. (I remember, having lived in OH for a few years, how warm it can get in the mid-to-late spring!)
I guess that, it depends, in part, upon what kind of lifestyle you want on campus(quieter vs. lively). It also depends upon what your logistics will be(accessibility to classes, library, etc.) and that I'll leave for one of the current students to comment on.</p>
<p>There are many options, but consider that a good thing. It's easy to narrow down houses when you know what you want. Like mom already stated, there are so obvious differences between the three locales. </p>
<p>South Campus does not have air conditioning; North Campus does. Since you're OOS (not sure how far), this probably doesn't mean much to you. Let's just say OH weather, esp. in Columbus, can be strange. Many students aren't bothered by the lack of A/C, but it's important to know that the Spring and Summer months can get unbearably hot (specifically I hear a lot of students say the last 2-3 weeks of Spring quarter, so early June). However, on the otherside, some of the North Campus dorms can be "freezers." Would you rather bring a fan for the ride or wear a hoodie?</p>
<p>Another difference is the bathroom set up. Most South Campus dorms offer the "traditional" style of dorm living by having a corridor bath for the girls and guys. North Campus differs by offering an en suite bath for dorms. In South, the bathrooms are cleaned by the staff; in North, it's your job. West Campus differs from both because of their room set up. Explained below.</p>
<p>The South Campus dorms are set up so that two people live together, per traditional style. In short, you get about two areas, one for living, sleeping, and studying, and another for a closet. Since you haven't visited, I'll say right now: it's small. Very. Many people can adjust pretty well, esp. if you don't haul over all your large furniture. North Campus dorms are called "apartment" style because it's typical for freshman to live four to a dorm. It's a bigger space, with a sleeping area, living/studying area, and as mentioned before, en suite bathroom. It's larger compared to the South Campus dorms, but keep in mind that you're living with 3 other people, not 1. It makes a difference. Lastly, West Campus dorms (the two towers) are styled differently than both. It's kind of hard to explain, but essentially you'll have a couple of other roommates and a bunch of suitemates. This mean that you share a sleeping space and studying space with four other people, and share an entertainment space and large bathroom with eight or ten or so. Again, larger space = more people.</p>
<p>Check out OSU's campus map to try to get a better understanding of where the dorms are located in relation to academic buildings, hang outs, and food places:
<a href="http://www.osu.edu/map/%5B/url%5D">http://www.osu.edu/map/</a></p>
<p>The South Campus dorms are situated next to the South Oval (smaller one), the North are on the very far right on the map, and the two towers are next to the stadium. Regarding your question about academic buildings, it varies. The South Campus dorms are located closer to the medical and science buildings. North Campus is closer to more of the art, social sciences, and some math buildings. West Campus is the furthest apart from all three. Generally speaking, though, North and South Campus are the same distance for your classes. If you're worried about walking all the time, remember that OSU has CABS, a bus service that has routes running all throughout campus. Walking takes about 15-20 mins. from either side of campus, but the buses run fairly quickly in like 10 min. intervals.</p>
<p>s_p: Great explanation of the various housing options.</p>
<p>Just wanted to add an edit to the sentence in my above post: "It doesn't <em>hurt</em> that the North Campus residence hall...has air conditioning." (I do wish that CC would give a longer window of time to edit posts, lol.)</p>
<p>You guys are very helpful thxs</p>
<p>Is Honors housing worth the price??? or is it better to live in a cheap apartment off-campus???</p>
<p>Deftech,</p>
<p>"Honors housing" is the same as regular housing. There are, however, three different price tags, but they only depend on the type of housing you live in, not whether it is honors, scholars, or anything else. Typically, South Campus dorms are the cheapest, North Campus are the next, and the most expensive are West Campus. Since Honors housing exists it all three parts, you could be paying any one of those.</p>
<p>By the way, you can only technically live off campus your freshman year if you live in the Franklin County vicinity and intend to live with your parents or guardian and commute. You have to get this confirmed with the registrar, though. Off-campus apartments are pretty cheaper than the dorms, so a lot of sophomores, juniors, and so on choose to move out for their second year. Even still, there are definitely pros to living in the dorms (closer to buildings, community, food, and safety).</p>
<p>I want to live with other arch students, but I dunno about the lack of air on South Campus. I live in Florida and we like to keep the air on all year, hehe. </p>
<p>I could die without it. :-P</p>
<p>"By the way, you can only technically live off campus your freshman year if you live in the Franklin County vicinity and intend to live with your parents or guardian and commute. You have to get this confirmed with the registrar, though. Off-campus apartments are pretty cheaper than the dorms, so a lot of sophomores, juniors, and so on choose to move out for their second year."</p>
<p>Where can I get this information, saint_paul???</p>
<p>Deftech,</p>
<p>The website below has information for off-housing options. You can search for specific locations, types of housing, etc. It also has a bunch of information on roommates, landlords, common problems, legal services, and so on. I'm not sure if this is what you're asking for.
<a href="http://offcampus.osu.edu/default.asp%5B/url%5D">http://offcampus.osu.edu/default.asp</a></p>
<p>If you're asking about options for living off campus your freshman year, I would call or email admissions. If you check askOSU, it will give you this response:
"Columbus campus freshmen who are single, full-time students and have not had at least a one-year educational break since high school are required to live in the residence halls, except for those from Franklin County or contiguous counties who plan to live with family."</p>
<p>The various mail I've received from OSU regarding housing has stated that if you plan to not live on campus freshman year, you need to contact the registrar. The website is here:
<a href="http://www.ureg.ohio-state.edu/%5B/url%5D">http://www.ureg.ohio-state.edu/</a></p>
<p>Part of the reason why new freshman are discouraged from living off campus is the parking problem around OSU. There are a limited # of spots, and they are not available to freshman (so cya, car), even the far lots. Parking is distributed based on priority, so professors and faculty get them first, and then seniors, juniors, and so on. If you do end up living off campus your freshman year, you will probably be given a pass in the far lot across the bridge and take CABS (unless you are within walking distance).</p>
<p>If anyone still has specific questions about honors and scholars housing and the differences between the campuses, pm me or ask me on here. (I want to help because I was in the same position a year ago--so confused!)</p>
<p>Hey ambidectrous, Could you give your insights on the housing situation of both programs?</p>
<p>I appreciated the great advice from Saint_paul, momonthehill, and others.</p>
<p>But I could use some other opinions.</p>
<p>Like how is it like to live there? Do your roomates party alot or just focus alil more on studying? Oh yeah, can you tell me about the hall you live in? Do you prefer scholar or honors and why? Just any infomation about the important aspects of the housing situation. </p>
<p>Sorry about all the questions, I just trying to learn more about the campus.</p>
<p>Thxs for everything and hope everyone here has a great year.</p>
<p>I live in Taylor Tower, which is the honors dorm on North Campus. Taylor is generally very quiet. I jokingly call it the "anti-social honors dorm," because a lot of the residents seem to be science or engineering majors and thus have very heavy workloads. Many people, as a result, tend to stay in their rooms on their computers or watching tv. Also, floors are co-ed and have both freshmen and upperclassmen living on them. So, it isn't your typical freshmen all girls (or guys) dorm "everyone wants to meet other people and be really social" type of situation. There are only two other rooms on my floor with freshmen girls in them, but I know the girls in these rooms. Because freshmen live in quads, though, you still get to know your roommates really well.</p>
<p>I realize that (to some) I might be painting rather a grim picture, but I actually love Taylor and plan to live here next year. My roommates and I don't party, but it isn't as if you can't find a party at OSU if you want to. It's rather nice, I think, that the partying isn't happening in the place where you live. Also, the quietness of the dorm cannot be underrated. I have friends who complain about music blaring in their dorms when they're trying to study; our only music comes from the boys next door strumming their accoustic guitars. People actually laughed last quarter around finals time when signs announcing "24-hour quiet hours during exam week" appeared. We thought, "Don't we already have this?"</p>
<p>Now, I can't speak personally for the other honors dorms, but I do have friends who live in these places. Bradley, on South Campus, is louder simply because it's on South Campus. However, the people I know who live there seem to like it, but they do acknowledge the noise. By the way, unless you're a medical student, SOUTH CAMPUS IS NOT CLOSER TO YOUR CLASSES THAN NORTH CAMPUS. This is a myth; they're similar distances, but I think North Campus is actually a bit closer. It is true, though, that South Campus is closer to the good food. MarketPlace and Mirror Lake Cafe, two of the best food locations, are right near South Campus and quite a hike for anyone else.</p>
<p>Lincoln Tower, the honors dorm on West Campus, seems to be more of a party dorm than the other two (although I know people here who don't party.) Most of the honors students I know who party heavily live in Lincoln, but this is just based, obviously, on the people I know. Also, I talked to a boy who didn't drink who lamented that everyone on his floor (in Lincoln) is drunk on a given weekend night. Keep in mind, though, that if you stress on your housing form that you are (or aren't) a partier, you'll probably be placed with like-minded people. OSU is quite late with their housing assignments compared to other colleges (mid-August), but they really do seem to think the matter out. Lincoln is farthest away from classes, but the extra distance is not as dramatic as some people might think. I have to go to West Campus every day (from north campus), and it only takes me about fifteen-twenty minutes. Walks to classes (located more centrally) would certainly be shorter. Lincoln is also close to the RPAC (new rec center).</p>
<p>Now for scholars. (Whew.) I have a lot of friends who are in Scholars housing, and many of them seem quite happy with it. My friend in Haverfield (Humanities Scholars and Poly Sci Scholars) says that her dorm is much louder than Taylor (music playing all the time, she says), and a friend from Houck (Engineering Scholars) says that those engineers party somewhat heavily. Friends in Blackburn (Future Teachers and something else, I think) complain more about roommate issues than any housing problems. In general, I think Scholars housing is more hit-and-miss than Honors, just based on the problems people I know have had with drunk roommates and noise and such, but the Scholars programs themselves are amazing and offer a good opportunity to live with people in your academic discipline. As a Humanities major living with mostly math/science/engineering people, I think it would be pretty cool to live with a bunch of people who share my interests and classes. Also, Scholars take great field trips; some friends in International Studies are going to Senegal, and a girl in Environment Science to kayak in the Everglades.</p>
<p>That's all I have to say, I guess. Let me know if anyone has other questions. And keep in mind that my viewpoint is painted by my own experiences, of course.</p>
<p>
[quote]
My friend in Haverfield (Humanities Scholars and Poly Sci Scholars) says that her dorm is much louder than Taylor (music playing all the time, she says)
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Ambidextrous, did she mean loud enough that it might as well be on South campus?? Is there a big partying scene in Haverfield(like you mentioned in Houck), as well? Thanks for your post--it was very informative.</p>
<p>No, from what I've heard, South Campus is much louder than North Campus in general. The Scholars dorms on North Campus just seem to be louder than Taylor, the honors dorm on North Campus. (it is nearly impossible to be quieter than Taylor, though).</p>
<p>And, as for my comments on individual dorms, it probably changes from year to year as a new group of freshmen move in.</p>
<p>I had a feeling that you meant noisy only in relation to Taylor, but the reassurance is appreciated. North campus definitely seems like the way to go for my D. Thanks for being a good sport with my "anxious-mom" questions.</p>
<p>Freshmen never get on-campus parking, not even in the far West Campus lot. However, I have my car here and I park in the South Campus Gateway, which is not ridiculously far.</p>
<p>They don't mention this, but since freshmen who live in the residence halls are also required to purchase a meal plan, it is possible to live off-campus without your parents. The only case I know of is this group of Hindi students who live in a nearby apartment, because they have to cook their own food to conform to the dietary restrictions of their culture/religion. They don't advertise this because then everyone would claim to be Hindu just so they can get an apartment and party it up.</p>
<p>Oh, and to add to other comments: very good descriptions of all the dorms. My opinion? Lincoln is the best! Oh sure, everyone thinks their dorm is the best, but we really ARE.</p>
<p>Valaen, I didn't know you live/lived in Lincoln (well, er, not that I should know). I'm still deciding between Taylor and Lincoln, and now am leaning more toward Lincoln. What makes you like Lincoln so much?</p>
<p>Saint Paul - because we're amazing.</p>
<p>No, the real reason I like it is because of the suite set up. Our bathrooms are cleaned twice a week, but we don't have corridor bathrooms. This is just my personal preference, but at previous programs I discovered I hate corridor bathrooms, so Lincoln was the automatic choice. I also like having 7 other suitemates, mostly because you're bound to like one of them (I like 5 of them, but before college I was worried that they would all be drunks, so I wanted to bolster my chances of having a good suitemate). It's never lonely in here, and in fact there is usually too much fun to be had for me to get work done. Granted, I swear like 50% of our tower is engineers (I'm not), so our kind of fun is creating unique furniture, playing Beans (a German card game), and talking all night.</p>
<p>I also like Lincoln because the suite set up allows privacy and individuality. Some of the other suites on our floor like to "party," but we don't have to deal with it because the hallway doesn't really allow for a lot of running around crazy, so they stay in their own suite. And, if my roommates keep asking me to come play a game, and I need to do my homework, I can go back into my room and shut the door. The suites are set up like a hexagon, with four rooms, the bathroom, and the common room branching out from the center. Each of the rooms (which usually are for two people, sometimes four, sometimes one) has a study room and a bedroom, so my roommate and I can talk on the phone or do homework or anything without disrupting each other.</p>
<p>The disadvantage of Lincoln is that the weird hexagonal shape doesn't encourage hanging out in the hall and getting to know everyone on your floor. The rest of our floor is fairly antisocial, though lots of people from other floors come to visit us all the time. Some of the other regular-style dorms have a lot more community atmosphere, like a lot of Scholars housing, they have a lot of pride in their dorm and know every person in the building. Personally, I don't mind just knowing the really cool people of Lincoln, and I've found that in some other dorms the hall setup also allows for partying and drinking to spill over. But for other people, the hall setup is better just for the social benefit.</p>
<p>Another reason Lincoln is better: the towers are lit up red this week. At first it was only Lincoln, and then a few hours later Morrill turned red, so we assumed that it was a signal that we had declared war on Morrill, which is not a good idea since a lot of the athletes live there, and then Morrill had returned the call to arms. We later discovered that it is to support the "Go Red for Women" campaign about heart disease, which is great, but we're still sticking to the interbuilding conflict.</p>