suppasonic

Current student here.

First, on the n/s split. I prefer living on south campus, because its really convenient to be able to go to all the stores, restaurants and bars in Evanston. You'll go north on the weekends to party (if thats your thing), but I go into Evanston a few times a week. One exception: science people will usually want to live up north because its closer to Tech.

Allison is a big dorm, most social south campus dorm, big rooms, wireless internet, and new air conditioners. Having a dining hall in your dorm is also clutch for when you dont want to walk outside in the winter to get food. Lots of different people/majors. Walls are thick enough so if you want to study, its never a problem. ( I live in Allison).

Bobb-McCulloch is the most social dorm and one of the biggest on north campus. Trade off is the smaller rooms, a little dirtier/louder, and no AC is rough in September/May/June.

Elder is also fun, lots of people like it. Social, but you are also with just freshman.

Those are the big 3.

Slivka's rooms are really nice, but filled with studiers and is absolutely silent on the weekends.

Willard is the best of the RCs.

Hinman has in my opinion the best dining hall, and has lots of the fun people who dont party.

Everything else isnt as good as the others.

arbiter213

That last bit is generally true, though subjective. I really love ISRC, its like a family!

bdub1189

what are some of the dorms that are close to economics classes???.....or MENU classes???

bver100

Just a note about slivka (i know, i'm just pushing it cos i live there)

if you study a lot, it's a great place to be since theres a lot of areas where it's quiet. You live in suites, so you don't get all the noise and people moving around (depending on who you live with of course).

If you are a huge party animal, slivka is not for you. suppasonic is correct in saying that is is very quiet on weekends; that being said, theres been one or two occasions where people have done some crazy things here. If you're an occasional partier, or want to go to the frats once in a while, you're in a good location, since it's central in the frat quads.

Distance-wise, you're pretty close to tech, can walk there in about 5-10 minutes or so. Walking down to MAB takes about 20-30 mins. Keep that sort of thing in mind, if you're planning on doing stuff like acapella. Getting to norris also takes about 15-20 mins. Food wise, if you want dining hall food, sargent and elder are both really close, just 5 mins walk south or west. If you're not partial to that sort of thing, just go downstairs; lisa's cafe is in the first floor of slivka (nice thing is that theres a door from the inside of slivka to the back of lisas--don't even need to go outside for food if you dont' want!)

Just a couple other notes about slivka-if you like to be able to open/close your dwindows, you may want to consider a different dorm. It's ridiculously hard to do anythign with the windows (i have to step on the window to close it). We have kitchens on every floor so you can cook if you want.

People here are social within slivka, since theres a lot of events that promote socializing within the dorm. That's probably why people think slivka residents are antisocial (though this is true to some extent for some people). Theres also a good number of greeks living in the dorm as well, for those who are interested.

Anyways, thought i'd give an insider's perspective of my own dorm, let me know if you have questions.

arbiter213

bver, aren't you an engineer? Your math and physics seem a little bit off if you think it takes 5 minutes to get to elder (or 30 to get to the MAB!)

bver100

i throw number around a lot but that doesnt mean i actually have too sense of how long it takes to get places. maybe i just move slower than you do. I also have no idea how long it takes to walk to MAB area since i bike/get a ride down there these days.

Feel free to amend my numbers if you want

Purposeful1

oh god. I just spent 45 minutes typing up a description of every residence hall, then I accidentally hit "Back" and it all deleted...

ugh.

bobbystrong

I'm a journalism major with a theatre minor and I live in Elder. Elder is INCREDIBLE. Ignore the class difference of N/S. Walking to classes is not a big deal at ALL, so do not base your housing decision on class proximity. I walk south every day (or, rather, I get the shuttle). It's no biggie.

Also, don't live in a dorm with initials (CCI, CRC, ISRC, NMQ, SMQ, etc.). They're crap. The only socially acceptable dorms are Allison, Elder, Bobb, McCullough, Slivka, Sargent, 1835, Jones, and Willard. Everyone who isn't in these dorms just convinces themselves that they live in a good dorm, and frankly, they might have a pleasant time, but nothing compared to Allison/Elder/B-M/1835/Willard.

arbiter213

bobby, if I may say so, your post is ridiculous. I more or less live in Elder half the time because my girlfriend lives there, and I can say pretty solidly that while its incredible, it is not vastly superior to my own ISRC. Warranted, SMQ, NMQ are not places I would wish on anyone, but anywhere with initials is not "socially acceptable"? Really? And Slivka is?

To all future readers: bobby's post is idiotic and biased.

Northwestern2012

I was at Northwestern last summer for a five week program called the National High School Institute. We lived in Kemper Hall, which was a great dorm, especially with the beach right behind it. In contrast, I didn't like Elder to much because I found it to be rather small and pretty claustrophobic, but thats just my opinion. The dining hall downstairs though is very convient.

arbiter213

Heh, Kemper. Upperclassmen only, as nice as an apartment, great lake view. Nearly impossible to get in unless you're a senior or a really lucky junior.

jamieee1124

This is the kind of thinking that plagues people that get placed in (what they deem are the) "cool" dorms. You make your own fun. People in ISRC/CRC/NMQ/SMQ etc get out just as much as people in Elder/Bobb/Allison, assuming they want to. Don't choose a dorm based on how much partying you want to do or how fun you think it will be. Everything is what you make it. Don't get caught into the web of lies that is "you will not have a social life." Trust me. If you want to, you will.

Kemper is not even close to an option for underclassmen.

Northwestern2012

My best friend stayed in Kemper her sophomore year, so maybe she had some type of hook up or something if it's difficult for underclassmen.

bver100

It's possible to live in kemper as a sophomore because how how housing works.

Theres a lottery, where all students are assigned numbers. They select their housing based on that number. In dorms like Kemper and Plex, students live in suites. A person can draw other students into the suite until it is full. These students that have been pulled in can be sophomores, juniors, or other seniors. Hence, sophomores living in kemper.

As a freshman, of course, you don't worry about these things because you can't get numbers (housing happens in spring)

coolaid387

bdub1189. menu classes are either in Tech or lunt. Tech is on North campus. Lunt is smack dab in the middle of campus. Econ classes are spread out all over the place. Based off of my experience, econ classes can take place in Leverone Hall which is in the Kellogg building (mid campus next to lunt) or in Fisk or in Harris or in Tech. Intro to micro macro classes are usually in kellogg.