I was recently assigned a single on the 2nd floor of Sheldon Court. I chose it primarily because of its proximity to campus. Anyone know anything about this building? Room size/condition? Furniture? Bathrooms? Laundry? Lounges/rec rooms?
oh! I have been in that building once, and kind of poked around for my possible housing needs in the future...
I saw a double, and there was plenty of room for a person there. each individual in the room had a nice big open closet and lots of floor place. think the inside was pretty bright. perhaps it was just nice weather outside or something, but it passed muster in that would consider living there.
I saw a lounge in the middle of the floor I was one. I believe there were people in there when I went by and it was the middle of a weekday morning.
don't have anything for you regarding laundry or furniture (I mean it looked new and sufficient, or else I would have noticed, I think...)
I think it's a pretty neat location.
so I guess that's it. keep in mind I was probably in there like 15 minutes tops, so I perhaps a resident will come by and have another idea altogether.
I considered living there as a transfer my first year. If your an engineering major, it's fantastic b/c it's about a 3 minute walk to the QUad. and it's one of the closest to campus in general. So that's a huge plus.
But if you live in the dorms, you'll msot likely get a meal plan. That means you'll have to walk a good bit for meals. Well you can eat M-F lunch and M-T Dinner at Okensheilds in central campus. But all other meals will constitute a 10 minute walk to West probably.
I'd much prefer to live on West but I guess some people like Collegetown.
You can sign up for the Collegetown Debit Plan (which consists mostly of Big Red Bucks and will only feed you for about one-third of the semester, so you'll need some cash, too). Or you can go with no meal plan at all.
My daughter lives in Cascadilla this year, which is very near Sheldon Court, and she has found that the Collegetown Debit Plan plus some extra cash meets her needs. Whenever she wants to join her West Campus friends in their dining halls, she can; those places take Big Red Bucks or cash. But most of the time, she eats at non-meal-plan facilities on campus, such as the Ivy Room in the Straight. Some other people in Collegetown might prefer to eat at Collegetown restaurants and take-outs, such as Collegetown Bagels.
Sheldon Court is worthwhile if you enjoy the restaurant scene in Collegetown or if you're an engineering major (in both cases, proximity is key).
Apart from that, I heard that the West Campus houses require you to be on their meal plans, so if you're on a budget, Sheldon and Casca (where I lived for a year) might be better options.
One cons that comes to mind when thinking of Sheldon---quite possibly it has some of the smallest doubles on campus. I've seen singles larger than those efficiency dorms that Sheldon has.
Cascadilla also has some appallingly small doubles. My daughter and her roommate have to have their beds on the highest settings, with the dressers (and in one case, the refrigerator) underneath. This is not a matter of choice; there is no other way to fit the furniture in the room. And in Cascadilla, you don't even get a closet. You get a wardrobe (one per person).
The lack of the required West Campus meal plan could actually be considered an advantage of the Collegetown dorms, especially if you're in Ag or Hum Ec and it's a long walk back to West Campus for lunch.
my d lived in sheldon and really liked it. She was ILR so the walk from sheldon to ilr wasn't too bad. She really had no desire to live on west campus, as the slope seemed to be a major turn off to her. (I can understand that) So she was very happy that she was able to get a room in sheldon during the housing lottery. In fact she told me that she and her group got the last available rooms in sheldon. Her double seemed to be an adequate size. She never complained about her experience at sheldon- enjoyed being in collegetown- and I think basically it was a great experience. She remained in collegetown as a junior and senior as she rented an apartment.
I'm pretty sure most dorms have carpeted floors but not necessarily nice carpet. I have a rug on top of the carpeting in my room because it's colorful and nicer to walk on, but definitely not necessary.
Oh, I guess I misunderstood everyone when they were telling me west is only unlimited meal plan, and assumed it was the same as freshman meal plans. Thanks for clearing that up indigo451
