<p>What are the atmospheres like in the different dorms?
Because I didn’t get into honors - so I won’t be in any honor dorms.
But my friends are the type of people who would get into honors.</p>
<p>so my question is what is the difference between the atmosphere of nonhonor vs honor dorms?</p>
<p>I’d actually like to know that myself. I got accepted for Spring (and therefore didn’t get into Honors, I don’t think), so this is rather important for later…>.< My friends too are the types to get into honors…X.X</p>
<p>Honestly, the difference is slight. Just because a dorm is an honors dorm, doesn’t mean that the students are 100% silent and studious 24/7. It’s college. ALSO – if there are spaces in dorms, Reslife will find a person and put them in the room, so it is not rare at all for there to be non-Honors kids in an Honors dorm.</p>
<p>Yeah I know that theres a chance for a non honors kid to get into a honors dorm. But you said the difference is slight. How is it different slightly?</p>
<p>I mean, honors dorms are a <em>bit</em> quieter, but not really by much. No matter what dorm you live in, there will be people on your floor who are quiet and study a lot, and people who are just loud all the time.</p>
<p>Jazz is correct, except I would add that Easton is infamous for being the partying dorm.</p>
<p>you guys are shallow… make new friends lol</p>
<p>All dorms are the same because everyone is a college student trying their hardest (or to their potential).
It’s not about atmosphere, it’s about your own attitude.
Don’t like the atmosphere?
Walk to the library or stay in the lounge.</p>
<p>Well, there is a slight difference in the kind of people you meet…but many people will have not gotten into honors not because they aren’t smart, but because they didn’t try in HS/didn’t study for SAT/etc. So there will be plenty of smart and focused kids in the non honors dorm. Easton used to have a reputation for being a party dorm, but it’s actually improved vastly this year and is much quieter. </p>
<p>Still, why not put in a request? You can request what dorm to live in. If you request Denton (the honors dorm), you might actually have a good chance of living there, anyway. Your second choice could be a dorm in the Cambridge community (where the scholars live).</p>
<p>I think the problem that you may face for Honors, Gemstone or Scholars dorms is if you request them and are not in the program you have a higher chance of being placed in a triple that was suppose to be a double. All Honors, Gemstone and Scholars freshman are guaranteed housing in their respective communities, thus, they get first priority. UMDCP has been notorious for housing shortages and it is not uncommon that they convert a dorm from one size to another. Personally, if I were you I would rather be in another dorm in a room that was meant to have only X amt of people then be in an honors dorm where they added more people to reduce the shortage.</p>
<p>UMDCP dorms are typical, and that means small!</p>
<p>idk there’s nothing wrong with asking…except I guess honors dorms are reserved for mostly honors. just because you’re a non-honors-scholar-gemstone freshman doesn’t mean you’re going to end up in the crappiest dorm on campus. I am a spring admitted non-honors-scholar-gemstone freshman, filled in my housing requests and emailed my specific housing requests rather late, and I got exactly what I wanted: I live in a suite. I did my research and suites cost the same amount as a traditional dorm.</p>
<p>Just ask them for what you want, there’s absolutely no harm. You can email them as they actually do check and respond to their emails daily. jsyk though my friend (also a freshman) lived in easton first semester and hated it so he moved to the cambridge community second semester, and he’s a party boy. 
I live on south campus and it’s really nice.</p>
<p>Yeah, I don’t really know that you have a higher chance of being put into a triple or not, to be honest. </p>
<p>Anectdotally it didn’t seem that way - in the honors dorm, I knew honors students in triples and non honors students in doubles - and there are always going to be honors or scholars students that submit their housing forms after the deadline, decide to commute last minute, or request other dorms on campus.</p>
<p>It seems like something you can easily ask them - if I’m a non honors student in an honors dorm, do I have a higher chance of being put in a triple. My sense is that it’s randomized, however - they have all teh people they want to put in Denton, and randomly assign people to the “Flex” rooms (meaning they could be double or triple, depending on how many people sign up for housing).</p>
<p>And if you’re looking to meet people, I don’t recommend going straight to the suites freshman year unless you’re quite outgoing. Though there is something to be said for being able to hold onto your sick south campus suite all the way through sophomore year (I never got to live in a suite…that was my dream housing for sophomore year…oh well :P). Depends on what you’re looking for!</p>
<p>aww. my roommates here are super nice and so is everyone else I’ve met around the south campus area. But I suppose you have to be outgoing…I’m really shy myself but the people here are outgoing so it’s very easy for me to open up and feel comfortable. you should take that trait everywhere at umd though if you ask me. :p</p>
<p>thanks for all the info
it was really helpful :)</p>
<p>There is a huge difference for spring admit dorms and fall admit dorms. Spring is when the overcrowding dissipates, thus, there are more options.</p>
<p>2 yrs ago when DS was an incoming freshman they told us it was FIRST COME FIRST SERVE for dorms. He was an incoming Freshman Scholar so he was going to get into Cambridge regardless, but the later we sent in the deposit the lower on the list. I know for a fact that the 2 triples across the hall from him were slated as doubles, and the quad by the elevator was deemed a triple.</p>
<p>FYI back then the snail mail even discussed it. I believe LY they changed it that you do not have to place a deposit for housing.</p>
<p>I know I sound like Janie Rain Cloud, but I would say I just don’t see the reason to ask for Honor/Gemstone/Scholars dorms if you are not in the program. I could actually see a Gemstone student asking to be in the Honors dorm because there is crossover (Gemstone students request to work in a group, but many were selected only for that reason…some are in Honors because they said no, some are in Gemstone because they said yes). One thing to realize in these dorms is that they have weekly seminars for their particular program. That means they have an additional class (1 credit) and many of these students will bond with each other because as Freshman they are taking the same courses, they will have a tendency to lean towards ea other just based on the fact that they are constantly thrown in the mix together.</p>
<p>^I find that to not be the case for honors. There are SO many honors classes offered that you don’t feel like an outcast in an honors dorm for not taking an honors seminar (since even if you are taking an honors seminar, you might not be taking the same one as someone else you meet). My friends that I made were on my floor, not through my honors classes, and actually, none of my close friends ever took an honors seminar with me (though several acquaintances did, but who cares eh lol).</p>
<p>That seems like it may be the case for Gemstone, though. Seems like a tighter knit circle.</p>
<p>/Possibly/ scholars as well, but again there are several scholars tracks so…</p>
<p>As a student I can see the benefit of living in an honors dorm. Generally in an honors dorm, you are going to meet people that had similar HS experiences to you, similar level of passion for academics, etc. I’m not saying there’s not outliers - I made great, intelligent friends who lived in Easton, Elkton, etc. and there sure were some idiots in the honors program. But I think there is a slight difference overall in the type of people you meet. Again it’s slight, so I can’t say it’s worth living in a triple for (but I really don’t know if this would even be the case…again you’d have to ask) and it’s definitely not the end of the world to live in a non honors dorm. But I can certainly see “the point” of it.</p>
<p>I think I will probably request honors 
because I put my deposit in right after I got my acceptance.
but do you think the cambridge community or denton dorms are betteR?
as in location, how far away from buildings they are, and the overall room quality/bathrrom quality.
I looked on residence halls at a glance and I saw that in denton 33 share a bathrrom, whereas only 11-16 share in the cambridge community
—im not basing it off of that, im jsut referring to how crowded the dorms are…
so which one living quality wise do you think is better?</p>
<p>oh and what did you mean by: “Seems like a tighter knit circle. /Possibly/ scholars as well”</p>
<p>–why would the scholars be more tight knit with other scholars, vs. honors with other honors</p>
<p>In scholars, you are in a particular program that has a 1-hr colloquium each week, and related programs/activities you can do, including community service projects, etc. You will be in at least that one class with the other scholars people from the floor, but will quickly know people within Scholars as soon as you hit campus. It is a much tighter knit group than Honors.</p>
<p>They fill the remaining spots in the Cambridge Community (after all the programs are determined and floor/room assignments made) with non-Scholars people. On D’s floor, there are a LOT of people who are not scholars; she knows this just because they don’t go to the scholars events or aren’t in her colloquium. (It’s not like they are shunned or anything!)
I’m not sure they have any more advantage (or disadvantage) living there than Easton or Denton.</p>
<p>Cambridge community is more convenient for engineering/chemistry/physics majors than Denton, but equally if not more inconvenient to classes on the other side of campus. What’s your planned major? Cambridge is also closer to the public health building (though everyone’s pretty close to it!) and there is a convenience store right in the middle of the community which folks from Denton used to have to trek on over to (though I hear they are opening a small diner in the Denton community, perhaps for Fall '10…or was that Fall '11?, so that would alleviate that problem slightly). And finally, Cambridge community, in my opinion, is “prettier”. The courtyard in between the building is larger/has much more grass/etc. than Denton community. And also, there’s not noisy construction going on…they are building a new dorm near Denton which causes a lot of ruckus apparently (I don’t know when the construction is slated to end…Fall '11?)</p>
<p>Cambridge community can be weird because some floors are very small - at least one of the buildings was designed very oddly, with floors split in two so you have to go outside to get to the other half of the floor, and then a few floors of only a few rooms??? Most of the floors are traditional but again at least one of those buildings is designed really oddly. Maybe another MD student can chime in on which one(s) this is. </p>
<p>Honors did seem to have a distinct vibe for the better…I think Denton is the most desirable in that sense but again there is not a huge difference between it and other dorms on campus. Freshmen are freshmen :).</p>
<p>But hey…why not visit?? Are you in MD?</p>
<p>The one benefit to not requesting a dorm, though, is that if you get put someplace crappy, you aren’t kicking yourself for it being YOUR fault haha.</p>