<p>I'm an incoming freshman for the Fall of 2013, and I have no idea what campus to choose as far as dorms go. I will be an SAS student, and I heard Livingston or College Ave are the best campuses to request for freshmen.</p>
<p>I actually just came back from an open house where I toured Livingston. I got to see a dorm room in one of the Quads, and i thought it was horrible compared to the dorms I've seen in other schools. There was no AC, it was old, claustrophobic, and kinda scary. There wasn't like a lobby or anything, as soon as you walk in there are some sketchy stairs, and small dark hallways. The rooms seemed pretty difficult to me - not even a closet, just a rod to hang clothes on covered by a curtain, very little storage space / drawers, etc. and space in general compared to other school dorms. </p>
<p>I have to admit, I did like the environment at College Ave better. It's not as boring and dull, which is what I got out of Livingston, but I have no idea if the dorms there are like that too.</p>
<p>Are all the dorms like this? Which campus should I try to get on, and basically what would be my best bet for dorms?</p>
<p>Honestly, with how many students there are at Rutgers, sometimes people don’t get their first choice campus. (I wound up with my fourth choice. XD) But all the dorms and campuses have different atmospheres, so it depends on what you want. All the dorms are different, and a lot of them are old.</p>
<p>College Ave can be loud because it’s the party campus and there are a lot of drunk people on weekends, but it is more lively because it has places to go. Livingston, being pretty small, is a lot quieter, but it’s still fun. People generally don’t like the Quads and call them jail-like, but the people on each floor and within a House there end up pretty close.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t say any of the campuses are dull. Busch is supposedly quiet because it has a lot of science majors. Cook/Douglass is also fun; I like the dorms here, compared to what I’ve seen on other campuses. The people help make the experience, though, because no matter how small you think the rooms are, it’s about what you’re doing in that room, right? =)</p>
<p>Freshmen seem to always get the worst housing on any college campus. At least Rutgers keeps building new housing (I think more freshmen housing is scheduled to be built).</p>
<p>The BAMM dorms on Busch are decent (my son lived there) but you have to apply early to get on Busch, soon after the housing app is available. And you might end up in Davidson, which people don’t like because it doesn’t have A/C. The A/C in BAMM wasn’t that great anyway, and it gets shut off after a certain date, maybe Oct 1?</p>
<p>Livingston has the best dining hall, brand-new and huge. There will also be some stores opening up under the Livi apts, like Starbucks and Qdoba.</p>
<p>College Ave, from what I have heard, tends to be very noisy. But all dorms can be noisy, no matter what dorm, no matter what campus. Some students are experiencing freedom for the first time in their lives and some tend to go wild.</p>
<p>I agree that it doesn’t matter where you live if you make friends with the people on your dorm floor.</p>
<p>Thanks for replying!
It helps to know that the campuses aren’t really dull.
I guess it just seemed that way to me, but then again both times I visited it was during the morning to early afternoon. </p>
<p>I think I just like College Ave better, since I really wanted to go to college in the city, but I realize it might be difficult to get a space there.</p>
<p>And the quads were so jail-like! haha thats exactly what I was thinking! And while meeting people and making friends is so important to me, the dorm rooms and residence halls themselves are still a huge turnoff. They are just veryyyy different then from what I was hoping.</p>
<p>Thanks for replying as well!
And it’s definitely true that freshmen get the worst housing on campus. I heard that the BAMM dorms are nicer, but I have to admit I was warned not to stay there since I’m not a science major, and the social scene is not as prevalent on Busch. </p>
<p>While I definitely liked some of the newer ameneties on Livi, the dorm rooms and residence themselves were just plain scary. I’m not sure I could get used to that, and I am honestly just afraid of having to live in that way on any campus for a year. (Coming from a girl who spent years going to overnight camp, you might think I’d be used to the worst of the worst, but these dorms are just taking things to a whole new level!)</p>
<p>The quads do look like a prison, I have to admit. My sister lived there a couple of years and she didn’t mind it. Visiting early morning is not optimal as everyone is either in class or sleeping. People do leave their doors open and socialize. My son lived in BAMM and people usually left their doors open. The people were very friendly. </p>
<p>Most parties on the weekends are found on College Ave at the frats. But that doesn’t mean that you will have no social life if you live anywhere else.</p>