| Another point of view about dorms -- Don't worry
When my daughter was choosing a dorm, she was so anxious. Maybe this will spare some of you as much anxiety as she felt.
From what she heard, and the impression I get here, it seemed as though most people at MIT made most of their close friends in their dorms and that the hallway or entryway was the basic social unit, so she worried that a wrong choice or unfortunate assignment would have many repercussions. She ended up choosing carefully and then moving during the adjustment week.
Her dorm was okay but not the close knit social group she thought it would be. People liked each other but once the upperclassmen came back, the hallway just didn't click. She found that about half the freshman had a similar reaction to their dorms that she had and were quite dissapointed.
However, the lack of group feeling in the dorm turned out to be a blessing in
disguise.My daughter plays a sport, does an intense arts activity and joined a FSILG. She ended up making close friends in these and enjoying the fact that her dorm was peaceful and quiet but not so social, a place to study and relax when she wants somewhere quiet.
I would guess that most of you are resourceful and creative. ALthough it is certainly good to chose housing carefully, seeing your living situation as the main way to make close friends is only one way of looking at housing. No matter what you chose or what your ends up like in reality, you can have a good freshman year. |