<p>What are the best doms at Mizzou?</p>
<p>I will be a journalism major at Mizzou and wondering what people like the best.</p>
<p>It is funny that I stumbled onto this so quickly… In my opinion, the best dorm on campus is Stafford. It is where I lived, so I may be somewhat biased, but it is among the cheapest on campus, the rooms are large, and it had a great atmosphere the other dorms lacked. My girlfriend lived in excellence, then transferred to responsibility, everyone in those dorms kept their doors shut, and never spoke to one another. They were very snobbish. She did not make a single friend in either dorm, but when she visited me at stafford, she made several friends. She is living on stafford ground floor next semester, I would be, but I am moving off campus. There were several Journalism students on my floor.</p>
<p>I lived in Discovery my freshman year (which is in with Excellence and Responsibility) and definitely disagree with the above poster about the quality of those dorms. I loved it!</p>
<p>Stafford (I actually lived there too during freshman year for about a month while I was not talking to my Discovery roommate–long story) has a much better community feeling than Discovery (Excellence, Respect, and Responsibility too). I think this is because the doors in Stafford do not automatically close (as they do in all the new dorms) so people leave their doors open, thus are available to meet new people, and because they have community bathrooms, which gets people out of their rooms to meet new people also. The people I met from Stafford were all really cool, most were laid back, and the vibe was great. I had friends in Cramer and Defoe and Graham (before some of them closed), which are similar to Stafford, and they reported much the same experience.</p>
<p>However, I liked Discovery better because the rooms were bigger and newer. I really liked that we had new tile, fresh paint, (you can paint your room in Stafford, but no one I knew did it), drywall instead of cement walls, private bathrooms, carpeted common areas (and more common areas)…pretty much everything you would expect from a building built in 04 opposed to one built in the 50s or 60s. While there was a noticeably different type of community in Discovery (most of us were pre-med, some were a little less sociable, etc) the friends that I made there have stuck with me for the past two years–and they’re great!</p>
<p>I don’t know why above poster is so anti-Discovery/Respect/Responsibility/Excellence, and it’s definitely a bummer that his girlfriend had a bad experience there, but I would encourage you not to take what he says as the absolute truth (or what I say too, even) because dorm experiences differ for each person so much.</p>
<p>I think your best bet is to figure out what you’re looking for in a dorm–location? community? like-minded residents? single sex? etc etc and then find one that matches those criteria. Mizzou has such a wide variety of res halls that it’s pretty easy to find something that matches with what you want! </p>
<p>Good luck,
Kristin</p>
<p>I can’t say anything for sure, since I’m an incoming freshman at Mizzou, but here are my thoughts based on my own opinions, research, and visiting the halls during my own visits to Mizzou:</p>
<p>Whatever dorm you choose, try to sign up early so that you can be in a Journalism FIG (freshman interest group) or a learning community. When you go online to pick housing (AS EARLY AS POSSIBLE TO GET A GOOD CHOICE!!!) you will be able to narrow down your results for what is available such as “Do you want to live with a smoker or do you smoke?” “Do you want to live with a FIG?” “Do you want to live with a learning community?” “Do you want traditional or suite/apartment style housing?” Once you answer those, you can browse all the dorms that match your criteria.</p>
<p>***A note on FIGS/LC’s. A FIG is basically the same as a learning community except that a FIG is freshmen only while an LC is for anyone living in the dorms, so your frosh year I would recommend trying to get into one of the many journalism FIGS (they have Walter Williams, honors, career explorations, etc.) and if you can’t then go for a learning community. In them, you are housed on the same level as people you will have 3 classes with, as well as doing journalism activities/discussions with them. It’s a great way to meet people at the start of your frosh year.</p>
<p>In terms of which dorms are the best, I’ll just focus on the ones w/ journalism FIGS/LCs assuming you want to join one. These are:</p>
<p>Hatch: Photojournalism FIG, Exploring Journalism FIG, Radio Television Journalism FIG, Convergence Journalism FIG, Journalism and Communication FIG, Journalism and Communication Learning Community
South: Cross-Cultural Journalism FIG
College Avenue: Exploring Journalism FIG, Journalism and Communication FIG, Journalism and Communication Learning Community
Johnston: Women in Journalism FIG
Lathrop: Women in Journalism FIG
Schurz: Journalism Honors FIG
Defoe-Graham: Journalism and Communication Learning Community
Mark Twain: Journalism Honors FIG, Walter Williams Journalism Scholars FIG, Journalism and Communication Learning Community
Tiger Diggs: Journalism and Communication FIG</p>
<p>As you can see, there are plenty of journalism groups to live with, but they go FAST! I highly recommend them so that you can know some of your classmates/future j-school peers during those first tough transition weeks in college. Out of the dorms I listed, here are some of their pros/cons:</p>
<p>Hatch: Mainly double rooms, a few singles, one of the “worst” dorms b/c the rooms are smaller and their are communal bathrooms, but still livable, a bit farther from classes than some, but not horrible
South: Newer, many suite style rooms (4 single bedrooms/2 bathrooms/common room, or 2 double rooms/1 bathroom), farthest from classes/library/hangouts, but closest to football stadium and Greek houses, suites are nice, but more private and the doors need to be propped open so it is “less social” but its really what you make of it and who’s on your floor that year
College Avenue: newer, suites like South’s, kitchen in hall, a bit far from classes but not too bad, near a good ice cream place (lol)
Johnston: Female only hall, pretty building centrally located, some single but mainly double rooms/communal bathrooms, dining hall in building, again one of the “worst dorms”
Lathrop: Female only hall, again one of the “worst” dorms, double rooms/communal bathrooms, kitchen in hall, okay distance to classes
Schurz: same as Hatch and in same location
Defoe-Graham: mixture of types of rooms, kitchen in hall, near rec center, centrally located
Mark Twain: all suite style double rooms, kitchen in hall, Mizzou Market/dining facility, own outdoor pool, closest to journalism school, closest to virtually all classes, farthest from football stadium/greek town, but closest to downtown area which is very nice, people are said to become really close in Mark Twain—not sure why, but I think its because it attracts a lot of journalism students who all hang out inside and outside of class
Tiger Diggs: more like apartment housing where many upperclassmen live, but opened it up to frosh because of housing needs, not desirable as a frosh because it’s off campus and you need to take a shuttle to campus every day…wait until you’re older to live here…harder to meet people</p>
<p>If I had to choose from the above list, I’d go for some type of suite housing either with all single bedrooms and shared bathrooms, or double rooms with shared bathrooms. It’s more private, you have more space, but the dorms are still really social. I’d stick to South, College Avenue, or my favorite-Mark Twain (I’ll be living there this fall!)</p>
<p>Any other questions about housing or Mizzou in general? Just PM me.</p>
<p>I think one of the old dorms wih community bathrooms is the best for freshman year, because they’re so social. Mark Twain definitely has that weird reputation…and it lives up to that, but it has a good community feel too, even with suites in it. If the doors don’t close on themselves…it will have more of a community feel.</p>
<p>The extended campus stuff is pretty solid. The price for Tiger Diggs is good, get a single room in there. Mizzou Quads is nice as hell. If you have the money, I’d say go for that. HD Tv’s, you can checkout DVD’s and video games at their front desk, etc.</p>
<p>The Respect/Responsibility/Excellence/Discovery would be a horrible place for freshman to dorm. It’s a completely dead complex socially.</p>
<p>I met a toooon of Mark Twain people over summer welcome, and ALL of them were cool, above average to really good looking, and really social. I don’t think the OP should worry about Mark Twain being “weird.” A lot I talked to were your typical college students ready to have fun, make friends, and just party it up when outside of the classroom…</p>
<p>I lived in Graham (2004) when I was there and I didnt think it was too bad. It’s rooms were a good size compared to the other dorms (exception being the new dorms of repect, responsibility, discovery, excellence). Easy to meet people where I lived, plus it is right next to Hitt St Market (or whatever it is called now). Hitt St Market has a subway, a small convenience store, and a computer lab. It is also where the students in those dorms do laundry and pick up their mail. Coffeaddict is right, I would pick a dorm with a FIG or learning community for my major. Easy to make study groups and to meet people that you will have classes with. If you still want to live in the dorms your sophomore year, I would get one of the new doorms with suites and fill it with friends that are made freshman year. Your best bet is to look at the dorms if you visit the campus. Good luck.</p>
<p>^^goin2sci, the newly renovated Graham is now Defoe-Graham and reopens this fall. My son is living there in the fall as a sophomore (probably his last year living in a dorm) and is excited about the convenient location. You probably wouldn’t recognize the place!</p>