Oxford Housing? Should I swap?

godiva123
Sat, 08 Aug 2015 04:52:46 +0000

I lived in Oxford last year. I wasn’t too excited about it at first like you, but I ended up really enjoying living there!

1. My roommate ended up becoming one of my best friends. But I think in general, many people end up with a casual and friendly relationship with their roommates - not BFFs but not enemies. If you don't end up being really great friends, that's okay. You have almost 30,000 other people on campus :)

2. The bus is called the Northwood Express in the morning, Diag-to Diag in the afternoons, and Oxford Shuttle in the nights and weekends. The route changes slightly with the Oxford Shuttle, but you'll catch on pretty quickly. They're pretty consistently on time and can take you right to North Campus. There's a Michigan app everyone should download that shows you where the buses are in real time.

3. I actually preferred the buses taking me to central than living on the hill. I'm pretty lazy and it's SO cold in the mornings, so I like that I can walk outside the building and jump on a bus that'll take me to CC Little in less than 10 minutes. I once walked to class from Markley, and it wasn't a very fun ~20 minute walk.

4. Social life: depends on what floor you're on. There were floors that were super close and hung out, and others that didn't. That's true for most dorms. On the weekends, my friendsliked to came to Oxford to pregame and chill and go out afterwards. It's in the prime spot to go to parties that are close by (if you're into that). If not, I don't think you'll find the social life lacking.

5. Social life definitely better than Baits. As for Bursley, Oxford is the superior option. However, you did say you were an engineer, and there are definitely more engineers on North Campus. If you wanted to be around more engineers or didn't want a longer commute, Bursley may be a better choice. For all your other reasons though (social life, getting to class), Oxford is great.

6. Last comments: we have Twigs, our own dining hall right there in Oxford. It's smaller but you can order great Quesadillas and burgers :D. My friends would willingly make the commute to get Quesadillas at Twigs and no other dining hall serves them constantly. When I say I lived in Oxford, people would ask me curiously what it's like to live there. When my friend says he lived in Bursley, people would usually look at him with pity. Maybe that'll help your decision haha.

As for making friends, everyone’s worried about that. Don’t worry, you’ll find your niche! If you don’t find it within your dorm, you’ll meet people through friends, mutual friends, classes, parties, clubs, etc. Hopefully this helps and let me know if you have any questions.