Which is the best out of Brittany, Weinstein, and Rubin? If a current or past resident can share their experience it will be helpful. Hayden is not an option.
I know people who have lived in all of them and been happy, and people who have lived in all of them and been unhappy. It's such a personal thing that it's hard to make recommendations with any degree of accuracy. I lived in Weinstein freshman year and loved it. Great location, good food options, I had a great floor, and air-conditioning. Most of your dorming experience is going to depend on the people you live with, your roomie and your floormates. And there's no way to predict that.
I lived in Weinstein freshman year, and I loved it. Great location - you can practically roll out of bed and into class. It's great having a dining hall, a food court, and a tutoring center/computer lab with free printing all in your building. The dining hall is open seven days a week, which is a HUGE plus when there's like 5 inches of snow on the ground. However, if your constitution is just too delicate for concrete block walls, then it isn't for you.
I am currently a freshman, and I think that Rubin is definitely an awesome dorm. The location on 5th avenue makes it in the center of everything-- from Union square and from washington square park. There are ALWAYS movies filming on the street (all very close to the dorm! close enough that you can see it out your window). I personally have seen many celebrities just walking on 5th ave-- matt damon (got a picture w/ him), mike myers, mark consuelos.. my roommates got a picture with hugh grant, and saw many others. But even if you're not easily starstruck, Rubin is still great b/c it's cheap (and we all need all the money we can save considering this tuition hike), there are lots of people (so there is definitely a social atmosphere), the RAs and people in charge are really nice, there's a dining hall right under you (brittany doesn't have one), and when else can you say you've lived on 5th ave? The A/C really isn't that big of a deal... You can always buy fans, and NY is pretty much cold for the rest of the school year. In fact, it's snowing right now. in April... =(
You also get a GREAT view of the empire state building and of the arch if you get a corner room or a room facing 5th ave =)
