Getting top housing choices

illinois_kid
Mon, 04 Jun 2007 15:23:19 +0000

Well, I am no expert on NU housing, but I have noticed that most dorms are either labeled as “party” dorms of “anti-social” dorms. It seems like there aren’t a whole lot of places that are in between. I’m a social person, just I don’t like parties. I like movies, going out to dinner, baseball games, theatre, music events, pickup games of basketball, walking and talking, random discussions with people that last until 4 AM, those types of things (especially the 4 AM conversations). I just don’t like parties, and it seems to me that any dorm that is not considered to be a “party” dorm is seen as “anti-social”. I am not anti-social in the least bit; I just prefer activities that do not involve “partying”. It seems like the defining criterion of the “socialness” of a dorm is how much of a party dorm it is. It seems that there aren’t a lot of dorms/res colleges that are social yet are not heavily connected with the frat/party scene at NU. It seems that the res colleges fit my criterion of a good place to live better than many of the dorms, but many of them get tagged with the “anti-social” label, which kind of turns me off.

To be honest, my criticism of NU dorms probably doesn’t hold true for most people, as most kids at NU probably would include partying in their definition of a “fun” dorm. Part of this comes from the fact that I am at NU not by choice, but because my parents, who are very loyal alumni, essentially made me come here, even though I was accepted at several schools who’s academic and social environments fit me much better. Again, I started another thread about this, but if anyone has suggestions for me, they would be greatly appreciated.

Oh also, aside from the party/anti-social dichotomy that sort of bothers me, a lot of the dorms themselves just don’t seem all that nice. I haven’t seen most dorms on NU’s campus, but the ones I’ve seen haven’t exactly impressed me. I know there are probably better dorms than the ones I’ve seen and heard about at NU, but on the whole I’m not exactly thrilled with the size and comfort of the ones I’ve seen (and I’ve gone to boarding school for 3 years; I know what dorms are like).