<p>first of all, im a she.
i have to admit that kirkland is pretty sweet, but come one, fete or incest fest? please. and as for you, currier, all i shall say is river dominates quad.</p>
<p>but let’s not fight. can’t we all just agree that no matter who has it the best, dunster just sucks?</p>
<p>Kirkland was the jock house in my day. :)</p>
<p>"Kirkland was the jock house in my day. "</p>
<p>Mathmom, we must be dating outselves, cause it was the same for me.</p>
<p>Of course, that was back when people had the option of choosing which dorm they wanted. All the dorm character disappeared when housing became randomized.</p>
<p>In the old days (ie pre-1993) Kirkland was the Jock House, Eliot was the Blueblood/Legacy House, Adams was for the artsy people who dressed in black and liked “cinema” rather than “the movies,” Dunster was “Adams Lite”, Lowell, was, more or less,for the nerds. And Currier and Mather were the only two truly randomized houses because people rarely chose to live there— they got sent there if their lottery numbers were bad. (I however, did choose Currier. It has the best setup of all the Houses, I think. I had a great time there.) </p>
<p>Where did Mathmom live, if I may ask?</p>
<p>And, I’ll only say this to whenicomearound’s statement that “River dominates Quad”: </p>
<p>If you like living in cramped quarters, being forced to live in a bunkbed when you are 22 years old, ten feet from Massachusetts Avenue or Memorial Drive noise and traffic, then, please, by all means, live in a River House (especially Eliot). </p>
<p>If you’d rather have huge private rooms in a quiet, bucolic setting in a pleasant upscale Cambridge neighborhood right across the street from the Harvard Observatory, then I would recommend the Quad. </p>
<p>It all depends on what you want. For my money, the Quad beats the River any day.</p>
<p>well, coming from someone with a perhaps more current view of house life 
, there must be a reason that there’s a river run. no one runs for the quad. prefrosh, if you’d rather live close to harvard yard and all your classes, come to the river. if you’d rather be a shuttle ride away in the new england cold, then perhaps youd like the quad.</p>
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<p>hey that’s where I lived! I liked it. River views. Lots of musicians and drugs. Not as much theater as Adams… I was a VES major. Kind of strange master in our day though. I’m sorry they randomized the housing. I also lived in South House (now Cabot?) as a freshman. It had very little personality, though the senior guys were quite proud of being part of the first guys to live there. And I actually liked singles and doubles on corridors for socializing.</p>
<p>If you like squash or pottery Dunster offers both.</p>
<p>" if you’d rather live close to harvard yard and all your classes, come to the river. if you’d rather be a shuttle ride away in the new england cold, then perhaps youd like the quad."</p>
<p>Sorry to disappoint you, but Dunster, Mather and Leverett are FARTHER AWAY from the Science Center than the Quad Houses are, and about the same distance away from the Yard. Take a look at any map of Harvard.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.law.harvard.edu/about/map_harvard.php[/url]”>http://www.law.harvard.edu/about/map_harvard.php</a></p>
<p>As you may recall, there is ALSO a shuttle from Mather to the Science Center. Hm, I wonder why this is??? Is it because Mather, Dunster and Leverett are CLOSER to the Science Center than the Quad Houses are?</p>
<p>Nope. They’re FARTHER AWAY!</p>
<p>PS I also have no beef with Dunster. It is a beautiful House. Very old-time Harvard looking.</p>
<p>Winthrop House dominates easily</p>
<p>is there anything I can strategically choose in the forms that would make it les likely for me the far away freshman dorms? greenough hurblt and pennypecker? i reallly don’t want to get them</p>
<p>Far away? I lived at Radcliffe freshman year! (Not an option any more.) That was far away. But really two short blocks is not far away. Half the dorms in the yard are further away from Lamont Library than those “faraway” dorms.</p>
<p>Sorry, Barbi, there’s nothing whatsoever you can do.</p>
<p>However, the people in those dorms really like them- don’t worry too much.</p>
<p>Barbi–</p>
<p>Those “far away” dorms really aren’t that far away anyhow–less than one city block from the Freshman dining hall. Plus, the rooms are pretty big. And they are closer to the libraries, so they aren’t far away from everything. And they are closer to the History department and several other lib departments. </p>
<p>If you really don’t want them. then request a huge number of roommates. But whatever you get will be fine, you’ll see.</p>
<p>I am a person who tends to stay away from the “central”
social scene…i want to change that but not being in the yard will give me that excuse… also i am middle eastern o I won’t be able to stand walking in the cold for more than i have to…which will make me not be in the yard ever… any other advice…?</p>
<p>There’s really no way to strategize … it usually backfires. The most important thing they do is try to match you up with compatible roommates and people in your entryway. Many people request one roommate and get five, and others request four and get two. Who knows why they even ask!</p>
<p>You’ll do plenty of walking in the cold so be sure to buy a nice warm coat. Harvard is very spread out!</p>
<p>I appreciate your concerns, but you are quite mistaken if you think that living in the Union dorms will “make you not be in the Yard ever.” That is simply impossible. Most of your time will be spent in the Yard, no matter where you live. </p>
<p>Besides, I think you are confused about the layout of Harvard. Greenough and Hurlbut are closer to Widener (the main library) Lamont (the main undergrad library), the Barker Center (the Humanities center, where a lot of classes are held) Emerson and Sever (another main classroom building) than Holworthy, Stoughton, Lionel, Hollis, and Mower, and about the same distance from these places as Mass Hall, Strauss and Matthews. Yes, they are farther away from the Science Center than Mower et al… but like I said, those other dorms are farther away from several main buildings, so it’s a trade off. </p>
<p>(The most “centrally located” dorms are probably Thayer and Weld.)</p>
<p>Here’s a map page for your edification:</p>
<p><a href=“http://map.harvard.edu/level2.cfm?mapname=camb_allston&tile=F7[/url]”>http://map.harvard.edu/level2.cfm?mapname=camb_allston&tile=F7</a></p>
<p>But even so, when we are talking about the difference in these distances, they are very very slight-- like a two minute walk versus a three minute walk.
Greenough is 50 feet from the Barker Center, 400 feet from Lamont, 500 feet from Emerson 600 feet from Sever and 700 feet from Widener. Mower, on the other hand, is 800 feet from Widener, 800 feet from Sever, 1150 feet from Lamont, and 1300 feet from the Barker Center. So, in many cirsumstances, the Union dorms are CLOSER to where you will need to go.</p>
<p>The average walking speed is around 5 feet per second. 1300 feet at 5 feet per second is 260 seconds, or about 4.3 minutes. The farthest you might ever expect to walk is from the Science Center to Pennypacker, which is about 1700 feet, or 340 seconds— 5.6 minutes. This is about the longest you might ever expect to walk out in the cold. The differences over the course of the year will balance out, since the Union dorms are closer to many of the non-science classrooms. </p>
<p>You will walk much, much further after you are a Freshman anyway. ALL the upperclass dorms are farther from the Yard and most classrooms that ALL of the Freshman dorms. What will you do then? Even Adams House–which is right in the middle of Harvard Square— is farther from the Science Center than Pennypacker! And what if you get Leverett or Currier? </p>
<p>Basically, my main point is, your concerns are not only unwarranted, but actually based upon misguided information.</p>
<p>To be honest, if you were concerned about the cold, then you should have gone to Stanford or U Miami!!</p>
<p>-greg</p>
<p>wow. That really gave me alot to think of. You have like, completly managed to change my mind in one post. thanks. except for the social aspect, where most freshman will be hanging out in the yard… so i am still not sure. but moving on to a different question—how many roomates should i ask for…I kinda want a single, but am not sure… plus it will make it more likely for me to be put in a union dorm… i don’t want 1 rommate because then you for sure sleep in the same room…what does a three person suite may look like (one bedroom two, or just one big room?) and a 4 and a 5?</p>
<p>I am not exactly sure what difference it makes how many roommates you ask for. My D asked for I think 4 roommates and ended up with 1. I think her roommate had also asked for around 4. They do share a room, but it’s a big one – approximately 300 square feet. No harm in asking for what you want, but you should be prepared to get something very different. </p>
<p>The good news is that while my D and her roommate did not get the number of roommates they requested, they are extremely compatible as roommates. They are not best friends, but they get along very well. It seems most of the roommates in her dorm are equally well matched.</p>
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<p>Historically that has always been a strength of Harvard’s I think. I asked for a non-smoker who had traveled and spoke German. I got a young woman who didn’t smoke from Bangladesh with a German mother, whose family was living in Paris. I’m sure the people in the housing office must have been congratulating themselves on that one! She was a great roommate.</p>
<p>Mathmom - I wonder what she asked for!</p>
<p>I agree that the housing office really tries to pair compatible roommates. On paper, my Freshman roommate and I were perfect: both interested in biochem, both wanting to be doctors, and about on the same level intellectually, both already having done research. So they really do try. I specifically asked for one rooommate and for a lot of space, and one roommate I got in a dorm with a massive amount of space!</p>
<p>What they failed to take into account in my case was that my roommate was also a selfish jerk who thought about no one but himself, and did not respect me, my needs, or my space. That made it difficult living with him, but I can’t blame the housing office for that!</p>
<p>For example, whenever I had a test the next day, I would ask him to please be quiet in our common room so I could sleep. He would agree, then invite his girlfriend over, play the radio and screw around. I would get out of bed and ask him to turn the radio off, which he would for 15 minutes, then he would put it back on again. This was typical of his behavior. We also had several chemsitry classes together. One time I missed a class and asked him if I could borrow his notebook to get the notes I missed. He refused!! He said he didn’t “feel comfortable” lending his notebook out to anyone. (Mind you, I lived in the SAME ROOM as this guy!) What an ass.</p>
<p>However, let me emphasize that my experience, from what I learned from my friends, was atypical. It seemed that about 75% of my friends continued living with their Freshman roommates for all four years. That is a pretty good batting average by the Housing Office!</p>
<p>They sometimes pull funny stunts, though, like the two guys in my class who got roomed together. Their names were “Bond” and “Moore.” For those of you who don’t know, the actor who played James Bond in the late 80’s was named “Roger Moore.” I’m sure the housing people thought this was hilarious!</p>
<p>By the way, it is likely that if you have one roommate or more than one that you will share a bedroom at the very least, at least for part of the year. One friend of mine lived in a three-person suite in Canaday. They had two bedrooms and a common room. They drew straws for who got the single. That person got their own room for the first semester. Then the other two drew straws and one of those got the single for the second half of the year. The third person shared a bedroom the whole year. The bedrooms at Canaday are really small, so the double had a bunkbed, and barely enough room for two desks and dressers. </p>
<p>I myself lived in Thayer. It has one HUGE bedroom and a HUGE common room. The bedroom is big enough for two separate beds, dressers and closet. The common room is almost obscenely huge. </p>
<p>I don’t remember the setups in the other Freshman dorms. I seem to recall Holworthy suites had bunkbeds too. I also seem to recall Grays had a heck of a lot of space, too. Oh, I remember Mass Hall— two person “suites” that were very small single rooms. That is, two people in a very small room. However, your dorm advisor also happens to be the President of Harvard College, so I guess this a tradeoff!</p>
<p>Does anyone else have more useful information?</p>
<p>The benefits of having a lot of roommates are many, as far as I can tell. First of all, there is a greater likelihood that you will find someone you like and who you can live with for the rest of your time. Second, you will almost never be isolated. Third, even if you hate one of your roommates, at least you will have a buffer because you have other roommates around–unlike if you have only one roommate and they suck, like I had. Negatives seem to be that it might be more noisy and probably more cramped. </p>
<p>Any way you look at it, it’s the luck of the draw— and is only for about 8 months, anyhow, just for Freshman year.</p>
<p>If you absolutely demand a single, they will probably try to accomodate you— but then, you know, you’ll be in one of the Union dorms.</p>
<p>The thing you must realize–and which is an absolute fact— is that compared to almost any other college in America, Harvard dorms are like palaces. Will it seem smaller that what you’re used to at home? Maybe. But it’s still probably 250% better than any other Freshman dorm in the country.</p>
<p>I guess my main point is, don’t stress it. You can’t control every variable. Me personally, if I was doing it over again, would make sure to ask for a roommate who is considerate and easy-going. That is the most important thing I think: that your roommate is nice and considerate.</p>