<p>Seriously, whats so bad about them? Everyone bashes them.</p>
<p>"You shouldn't chance Morse or Stiles if you have legacy elsewhere." Can anyone offer some insight??</p>
<p>One thing that’s being addressed in their remodelling was something that originally, was thought to be a good idea. When they were built in the early 70s, many more single suites were instituted – the prevailing thought was that this is what was desired. In comparison to the other ten colleges where the bulk of housing are shared suites with common rooms and adjoining bedrooms – it’s accepted that ES and MC camaraderie was more difficult to achieve.</p>
<p>Because they don’t look like the rest of Yale. That’s about it.</p>
<p>I was in Stiles. Loved it. Had a single for 3 years. The only negative then was the tunnels didn’t connect to all the parts so you had to go outside to get to the dining hall. </p>
<p>We had a few hermits. Literally like 1 or 2. The colleges are as social as any other.</p>
<p>They don’t look like Yale, have thoroughly repugnant courtyards, and have a bad location unless you are a varsity athlete.</p>
<p>Some people favor the gothic/georgian looking colleges… probably bc they just don’t like different things. I like morse and stiles… I find their courtyards visually interesting. They have interesting sculpture, texture, and angles. It would be nice if the windows were bigger. If you’re living in one of these colleges, it’s probably good to invest in a few floor lamps. And the location is a bit out of the way, although every college is pretty central, and the campus is generally fairly compact, so it’s not really a big deal (from morse/stiles to the farthest college is no more than a 10 minute walk… to old campus it’s maybe 5 min.).</p>
<p>Also, stiles is being renovated this year, and morse next year, so the interior (which is in need of renovation) will probably be much better. Who knows how it will turn out… i guess we’ll find out this fall!</p>
<p>As a prefrosh, I interpreted the dislike of Morse and Stiles as a result of their being the last to be renovated. For example, this year, they must have been the worst Colleges on campus, with every College redone but theirs. By the time a '14 will enter, though, both will be finished with renovations.</p>
<p>D is a senior in Stiles. She was disappointed at first, but once she got to Yale it didn’t matter at all. She loved her entryway in Lawrance, and made great friends. She’s had a single all four years, but has always coordinated room draw with a group of friends so they’re either on the same floor or at least the same entryway. There has been no lack of socializing. :)</p>
<p>Location, at least for her, has never been an issue, and she’s not an athlete. It’s hardly a long walk to get anywhere at Yale (except perhaps Science Hill in the winter) - it’s a very compact campus. That said, there’s no doubt that the other colleges are more attractive.</p>
<p>Morse and Stiles have been looked down on since they were opened, except by people who wanted singles as sophomores. It was and remains purely aesthetic. Most people who choose Yale fell in love with the pseudo-Gothic architecture – Harkness Tower and Branford’s main courtyard – or the classic Georgian look of Timothy Dwight and Pierson. No one comes to Yale because he loves Eero Saarinen’s 60s appreciation of textured concrete. </p>
<p>And by and large Yalies tend to prefer group living with common rooms, especially since most people get their own bedrooms anyway. I think Stiles has a lot more of that now post-renovation.</p>
<p>Anyway, no one actually in Morse or Stiles dislikes them. But pre-frosh all want the Gothic or the Georgian.</p>
<p>Ah I gotcha. And quick question:</p>
<p>On the housing form, you submit answers and then you’re sorted into a residential college based on your answers? Or are you sorted first and then the Dean looks at your answers and picks a roommate?</p>
<p>The second I believe</p>
<p>Some deans actually assign students roommates, while others just choose a set of suitemates and have them sort out who rooms with who, exactly.</p>
<p>I think I’d prefer the former – it would save me from the “omgggg how do we choose who’s gonna room with whooooo!!!” drama ;)</p>
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<p>It’s actually Morse that’s being renovated now. Stiles will be renovated next year.</p>
<p>“Some deans actually assign students roommates, while others just choose a set of suitemates and have them sort out who rooms with who, exactly.”</p>
<p>I don’t think this is actually true. That would be a terrible idea… letting pre-freshmen figure out who’s going to get the single or who rooms with the snorer. I’ve never heard of this happening, and it certainly isn’t practiced in my college.</p>
<p>Unless it has changed since I was an undergrad, the students do not pick out who gets a single in a suite. My Welch suite had two singles and three doubles and they were all pre-assigned. As a sophomore in the rooming lottery you can work out rooming arrangements within your suite which might include rotating the most desirable rooms mid-year.</p>
<p>As for MS and ES, I think the lack of desirability does not have to do with the renovations (or lack thereof) but rather the post-modern architecture. Most would prefer more singles in the gothic/georgian residential colleges so I don’t think it is the suite thing either. Most would say that part of the Yale experience is living on Old Campus and living in a Gothic or Georgian residential college. My guess is that legacies will often take the opportunity to avoid ES, MS, TD, and SM since 1/3 of the randon assignments will put you there. If Yale published leagcy statistics by residential college, my guess would be that those four have a statisticaly lower number of legacies for the same reason.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>It’s bizarre to me if they assign bedrooms to freshmen now. That certainly didn’t happen in my time. We were four to a suite, and it was up to us to decide who slept where. </p></li>
<li><p>There was definitely some attempt to construct interesting, sort-of compatible suites, though. Sometimes it worked out better than anyone could expect. The room across the way from mine in our entryway had two hard-core partiers (one of whom was an alcoholic who ultimately failed to graduate) and two straight-arrow engineering nerds, one of whom was an Evangelical Christian who barely spoke English and the other a coddled, mama’s boy Jew. They became fast friends and roomed together in various configurations all four years, with only minimal changes in behavior or attitude on anyone’s part.</p></li>
<li><p>I would be surprised if SM and TD had lower-than-average legacy take-up. People loved those colleges.</p></li>
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<p>Actually, Silliman still only chooses suitemates, not roommates. It worked out fine for DS, who is a rising Junior (after he finishes that last final!) He is still rooming with his originally roommate, and they will be back together with another of their original suitemates this coming year.<br>
DS is VERY happy in Silliman.</p>
<p>JHS, I believe the poster was saying they assigned rooms in suites in the Old Campus, not in the colleges. That’s how it worked when they set up the suites in Welch and Vanderbilt because the singles were so desired, but everywhere else it was up to the students.</p>
<p>In Lawrance (Stiles) you get assigned a specific room in the suite. In D’s case the whole suite was singles, although some were larger than others.</p>
<p>JHS #15: Back in my day (a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away) they assigned bedrooms in Lawrance Hall, which housed Pierson freshmen then. The year was 1979 (class of '83).</p>
<p>I’m in one of those colleges and yes, I was disappointed at first, but I love my college. I won’t say I’m a fan of the architecture, but my Yale experience thus far has not been negatively impacted by the fact that I am in one of those colleges. If I had the opportunity to change, I wouldn’t. How happy one is at Yale is so contingent on other factors - your classes, your extracurriculars, your friends - that whether or not you’re in a college with a different exterior matters little, save for the minor inconvenience of being a bit farther away.</p>
<p>If you’re really unhappy with your college (and this goes for any college, not just Morse and Stiles) you are allowed to switch after your freshman year. We had some people transfer out of our college AND some people transfer into our college. Honestly, it depends on your friends more than anything.</p>