Housing insights

Consolation · 05-14-2008, 10:35 AM

So, does anyone have any insight into the housing alternatives for freshmen at Dartmouth? Do the dorms have distinct character, either physically or socially or intellectually?

ohmadre · 05-14-2008, 11:51 AM

Consolation - unless you apply for the East Wheelock cluster, you are not going to have much choice - you will be randomly placed based on a brief questionnaire. You will be able to indicate substance-free as a preference. Some freshman will end up on freshman-only dorms, some with upperclass persons but on freshman-only floors. Generally, freshman tend to bond with their dormmates no matter where they end up.

Consolation · 05-14-2008, 12:58 PM

I'm not the freshman--it's my S.

Is there anything special about the East Wheelock cluster?

slipper1234 · 05-14-2008, 01:34 PM

Its much quieter with students from all classes. The dorms are new and in suites, so it feels more like an apartment than a dorm. It lacks much of the rambunctiousness of the other dorms. Personally I think its too quiet and students there miss out a little on the social campus experience, but if that's your thing its a really nice option.

Consolation · 05-15-2008, 12:30 PM

The reason I ask is this:

When I was a freshman in college I ended up in a comparatively rowdy dorm that I later found out had the lowest GPA on campus, amongst other things. Living there reinforced my tendency to make what they now like to call "unwise choices" and did not have a positive effect on my college career or my life. Now, this was totally my own fault, but the atmosphere there played to my weaknesses. Living in a dorm with a different atmosphere, like most of the others on campus, would definitely have helped me establish steadier and healthier habits.

On the other hand, a friend's daughter opted for a restricted dorm at a NE LAC in recent years, and it sounds as if it was TOO straight and boring and filled with nervous nellies. She never really bonded with her classmates and left after the first year.

So, one thing I'm wondering is what happens if you indicate "substance free"? Do you end up with a bunch of highly religious or excessively uptight people? My S doesn't drink--yet--but he isn't a prude, either. And he would definitely benefit from an enclusive, companionable atmosphere.

It sounds as if simply taking his chances with a regular dorm might be the best bet...

slipper1234 · 05-15-2008, 12:52 PM

The regular dorms are hardly fraternities, they just tend to be much more social. Remember this is Dartmouth, so you are going to find people studying and focusing on important things all the time. I think its a far better option.

ohmadre · 05-15-2008, 12:54 PM

Sounds like substance free but not Wheelock might be what you have in mind. Substance free is NOT wholly substance free from what I have seen, but probably substance use is signficantly less. The kids in those dorms are pretty randomly mixed, save for the preference for substance free. I think, could be wrong, that often a number of recruited atheletes who did NOT ask for substance-free dorms end up in substance free dorms as perhaps a way to ameliorate, to some degree, any sport - associated drinking culture. My D lived in a substance free dorm - it was not TOO straight. It was super inclusive in the way that freshman floors/dorms tend to be - while the dormmates did not end up necessarily being forever best friends across the board, 4 years later they remain GOOD friends and plan to reunite during commencment. What the dorm 'scmob' did was provide a close support system during that first year when it was most needed. It created friendships based on shared new experiences, not necessarily common interests, and thus broadened the base of friends. Seems this kind of thing went on all over campus though - and that in East Wheelock there were some floors that were perhaps too quiet, and others that were not.

Nina9633 · 05-29-2008, 06:03 PM

i don't drink (no drugs or cigarettes either...) but don't know if I want to go substance free...is there a lot of substance abuse in normal dorms? do the sub-free kids get nicer (or worse) accomodations? are the kids fairly NORMAL? are these dorms quieter? are they still fairly social?

Also...qs about the East Wheelock thing...do other dorms not have advising and activities like that? Are these dorms nicer? how's the location? I want a single....what should i do to increase my chances of getting one? do most ppl that apply to ewc get in or is it super-competitive? is it all freshman or a mix?

Any anecdotes of past freshman would also help...what would you do/where would you want to live if you could do it over again?