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If your acquaintance really believes that, I would just make sure that they're not jealous of all the things the schol halls have to offer (kidding!!!) But I've spent over a semester in the dorms, and I don't really like it. There's less of a community atmosphere, and I barely know half the people who live on the same floor as me (about 50 people, same size as a single schol hall) A few of my closest friends are in the scholarship halls here, and they love it, so I've applied, hopefully I get in...?
The scholarship hall system is similar to the traditional Greek system in that there are a lot of social events and an admissions system. But I'd rather think of it as a Greek system for people who care more about academics (not that Greeks don't like academics, just... well....) The people in the schol halls are quirky, I will give your acquaintance that. But, who isn't quirky? They're not losers, but in fact very social.
Consider that to be admitted to a scholarship hall you have to write essays and submit references. Does that attract the run-of-the-mill student who would rather just live in McCollum simply because it's cheap? Students who are interested in schol halls are not only interested in saving money, but living in a place where you have more of an investment in where you live (by doing chores) and where your community is a lot more close-knit than any traditional dorm I have seen. Instead of having a fancier dorm room, why not trade for a less fancy, but still quite nice scholarship hall, filled with people who actually care about the things you care about?
Example Situation (watched this first hand):
"Hi, I'm Jess (not real name)"
"Hi, I'm Jen! I live in [schol hall]"
"You too? Cool! I live in [schol hall]"
"Awesome! Do you know..." and continues on into a conversation about their mutual friends all in the scholarship hall system.
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