<p>initiatelaunch – my older son, currently a junior at JMU, lucked out and lived in two of the best dorms on campus. Freshman year he was in Wayland Hall in Bluestone, which is right near the quad, beautiful, recently renovated and air conditioned. Then sophomore year he landed a room in Shenandoah, which is relatively new, on East Campus (the new side), right across from his favorite dining hall (e-hall), air conditioned, and has nice lounges. Those were both fantastic dorms and in nice areas. Part of Shenandoah houses the honor students, as well. Potomac Hall is right next to Shenandoah. A tip for getting into Wayland Hall as a freshman is to apply to one or both of the Small Learning Communities (info on this is on the Residence Life page) that are housed in that dorm – the Music and Arts Learning Community or the Eco-Learning Community. My son was in the Eco-Learning Community (focuses on environmental and ecological activities/outings), and it was housed in Wayland, which is why he was put there. My friend’s daughter got into that dorm by being in the Music/Arts one. There are other learning communities besides those two, which are housed in other dorms. My son’s preference for dorms areas (you pref by dorm area on your housing request, not by specific dorms) went as follows: Bluestone, Skyline, Hillside (several dorms on the far western side of campus, not far from Bluestone but more modern), Village, Tree Houses, and Lakeside. Lakeside dorms were built in the 70’s and are high rise. They are not very pretty and aren’t air conditioned, but my son says a lot of his friends who lived in them loved the camaraderie there and the proximity to everything, as well as dining halls, academic areas on both campuses, and the stadium. Another way to get into a nice dorm besides the Musis/Arts LC or the Eco LC would be the substance free dorm or the international dorm. You can request the international if your student has an interest in interacting with students from other countries.</p>