LauraN

I'm answering questions without really paying attention to who asked them, so here are my comments on the last few posts in this thread:

1. BC does have a cluster, there are about 5 computers, plus 2 printers for the dorm. This is convenient when the printers are working, which is a frustratingly small percentage of the time. (The computers generally work fine all the time, and you can always use them to print to the clusters on campus and pick up your papers there.)

2. Re: the likelihood of getting to readjust in the lottery. This changes drastically from year to year, depending on which dorms are most popular. Baker is usually consistently on the top of the list, but the others change around quite a bit. So don't use the numbers from last year as any sort of indication of what the numbers will be like this year.

3. As for other residents participating in Burton Conner, obviously anyone who is around at the time can partake in the indoor snowball fights! Things like Apple Bake are a little trickier, because you have to enter your dishes for your floor. So only dorm residents may officially enter, but non dorm residents helping out certainly happens, although I'm not sure how that's perceived. Conner 4 has previously tried to cheat by having one of their residents' boyfriends (who was going to a culinary institute at the time!) cook for them, but they're just jerks like that. (I almost moved there 4 times. =) But seriously, lots of floors (on campus, not just BC) have honorary members, close friends or significant others who all but live on the floor, and take part in most things, even if sometimes unofficially.

P.S. I've been away from MIT for so long that when I read the word "cluster" in a post above, I thought "cluster? of what?" This is probably very good for me. =)

cheersfan

MollieB: Thanks. If you know, how big a problem is theft at the outdoor bike rack? I am bringing a U lock. Do I have to lock up the front wheel and seat too?

Now for a total digression: I am arriving early for an FPOP. Is there an effort to house FPOPs together or is there a good chance I will be the only one in my suite at MacGregor that week?

NeobiuM.90

As it was said above, nearly 30 percent of dorm residents will already be in there, so don't worry about it .

Thank you, LauraN . And I have never been to MIT before, so hearing about clusters for the first time was interesting

molliebatmit

Bike theft definitely occurs, but I don't feel like it's a huge problem. I only locked my bike with a crappy chain lock, and it was never stolen, but it was also a really crappy bike, and I would have felt sort of sorry for anyone who stole it. My husband says he doesn't think parts of bikes are generally stolen, just whole bikes, so you probably don't need to lock the seat. But, of course, if you have a nice bike, you will want to be as careful as you think you need to be.

I know that my entry always had a few early freshmen -- FPOP, international, or fall sport -- so I assume they don't base your temporary assignment on whether or not you'll be in early. But it's unlikely you'll be the only one in your suite, because most entries make an effort not to have all-freshman suites, and so upperclassmen who were at MIT over the summer or who got early returns to help with dorm rush will have moved in already.

neuron39

My son is doing an FPOP, and he was informed that he'll be housed in his temp residence during the FPOP time as well as during Orientation and REX.

jessiehl

Depends on your living group, really. East Campus didn't have a cluster, but we were a few feet away from building 66, which did*, and I knew very few residents with their own printers. I certainly never had one, and never felt like it was an inconvenience.

*We also had a hall printer on 5E, but it was better to go to the cluster if you wanted some assurance that the printer you were using actually *worked*.

pebbles

My thoughts are that man oh man I miss my printer

carmel

east campus desk has a printer! but sometimes the toner doesn't work. i know of a few ec halls with printers, and at least one with a hall athena computer

Crash_Blair

Hm. I never actually realized that EC desk has a printer.

I have a small office printer. It only prints black and white but I looove having it. No hassle, ever.

Laura's #3 point is good to keep in mind. Only goes to show that no one is really limited by where they live.. because you can still hang out or totally immerse yourself in another place/community.

That said, I hope no one chooses where to live based on where a boyfriend or girlfriend is. PLEASE DON'T DO IT. I only say it because I almost did.. and thank goodness the housing lottery gave me my second choice or else it would've been horrible. :P

kryptonsa36

It isn't horrible for everyone. I know a few couples who chose to live together who aren't doing badly at all.

passioniskey

New House 4

molliebatmit

Well, I think you have to be at a certain point in your relationship to choose to live in the same dorm, or the same subsection of a dorm.

My husband and I shared a two-person suite in MacGregor my senior year, and everybody else in the entry was a little wary at first. A breakup in that situation obviously would have caused a ton of awkwardness for everyone involved.

kryptonsa36

Does this mean one has to be wary of starting a relationship with another resident of the same dorm, too?

molliebatmit

I think that goes without saying. But when it works, it works!

jessiehl

That depends on whether you can manage to break up without being dramarific. Though it matters a lot less if you're not in the same hall/entry/subsection. Unless you're on the dorm's executive committee together, or something like that.

I have seen couples who pulled it off well and couples who pulled it off poorly. There were four freshman couples among the '08s on my hall. One is still together. One broke up somewhat angstily, but without involving others. One broke up amicably and remain close friends to this day. One broke up in a way such the angst lasted for several months and drew in much of the hall and several people not on the hall.

I think that choosing where to live based on where a significant other lives is a poor idea, but that there's nothing wrong with preferring a living group that your significant other also happens to prefer, for reasons that aren't about the significant other...I mean, it's not terribly surprising that people in a romantic relationship also have lifestyle preferences in common.