PARC vs ISRC (West Fairchild) for student interested in history, politics, intl relns

Colleges & Universities Northwestern University
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<p>Hi, interested in the pros / cons of PARC vs ISRC (West Fairchild) for an incoming freshman male interested in history, current affairs / politics, international relations. </p>

<p>As an alum, I’m aware of the relative location of the two on south campus and consider that six of one, half a dozen of the other, so would appreciate comments that aren’t focused on location or proximity to the lake, Kresge, Norris, etc. (though any comments on the facilities / buildings themselves would be appreciated). </p>

<p>My question is more on the relative social / community feels of each, and any watchouts to be aware of. Thanks in advance.</p>

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<p>I was on ISRC’s executive board, so I’m a little biased. ISRC tends to be very quiet, the theme is VERY loose besides there being a lot more international students. If your son is really interested in Politics, he’ll find more like minded people in PARC than in ISRC. If he’s interested in International Studies (non-political), he’ll be happier in ISRC. ISRC also has the perk of being one of the VERY few mixed-gender suite dorms (not mixed rooms or bathrooms, but each suite has rooms of both except on the first floor, which has two segregated halls). Personally, that is why I came to love ISRC- kept much cleaner, more family oriented. But a lot of my friends from PARC make a lot of great friends- in election years they tend to get a spike in applications, but neither is exactly the most popular dorm on campus due to the perpetuation of reputations. Both are very quiet.</p>

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<p>What are the reputations of which you speak, arbiter? Are these “where the nerds go” dorms – is that the rep?</p>

<p>(West Fairchild was just opening when I was at NU, and I don’t think PARC was even around - or maybe it was just part of Shepherd, not sure.)</p>

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<p>Not nerds, per se. Just not a place people tend to choose to go to. “PARC IS NOT JUST CRAP SPELLED BACKWARDS” etc. If you put just one of either you’re almost certain to end up in that dorm, regardless of order of preference- ISRC was my fifth choice (out of 5). They are less “social” dorms- largely a euphemism pre-freshman use for drinking and partying, which they don’t realize will be readily available no matter where you live. I found ISRC being quiet very much suited to what I wanted and it worked out. I would NEVER, EVER live in Bobb, etc.</p>

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<p>Oh, I think Bobb-McCulloch is a pit and why it hasn’t been torn down or heavily renovated is beyond me! I agree, you can find a party wherever you want to. Thanks for the tip.</p>

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<p>They did do some renovations to Bobb in the last couple of years (paint, furniture).</p>

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<p>^They’re also planning to tear it down in the very near future (<10 years)</p>

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<p>Yeah - my kids lived there a few summers ago - one had a connection room.</p>

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<p>I live in the mirror building of ISRC. The rooms themselves are alright - we’re pretty small, but honestly, I don’t spend much time in my room anyway so it’s not a big deal. I have one of the smallest rooms in East Fairchild and I’ve never had an issue. Both buildings are set around suites, and that’s where most studying occurs, and certainly socializing if your suite has any social people/you find a suite you like.</p>

<p>I can’t say much about the community of either. Most of my ISRC friends are excited to move onto other living arrangements next year (one to my dorm, another to the sorority quad), and I’m told it’s often pretty quiet. PARC I know very little of except that our dorm has some sort of rivalry with them, but I have friends who I wouldn’t expect to be in a res college who absolutely loved living in PARC, though they’ve since moved on. I think one would be happy in either place, but from my interaction with others in each dorm, PARC seems more community-based.</p>

<p>Have you seen the Freshman housing guide? There are first-hand accounts from a range of people in there, which may be somewhat more reliable and diverse than those found second hand.</p>

<p>[Freshman</a> housing guide 2010 » North by Northwestern](<a href=“http://www.northbynorthwestern.com/2010/05/81000/freshman-housing-guide-2010/]Freshman”>http://www.northbynorthwestern.com/2010/05/81000/freshman-housing-guide-2010/)</p>

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<p>Thanks, perididdle. Yes, S has seen the guide. H and I are alums (lived in SMQ, Allison, Foster-Walker and Greek housing) and S has lived in Bobb-McC, Sargent, Elder and Allison during his summers there so we’re pretty familiar with the housing stock – it was that neither of us had res col experience and just don’t know how to advise him re ISRC / PARC vs a Willard-like res col with no theme vs just a straight dorm.</p>

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<p>I’ve lived in ISRC. I loved it, although I do wish that people invested themselves in the theme a little more. At the beginning of the year, each suite is supposed to pick a country and decorate their suite accordingly. The suites that actually do it wind up looking really cool, but only a few suites go all-out. The decorations stay up all year, which is cool. Then there’s also the weekly munchies, and each suite buys food that corresponds to their country. The interpretation of what constituted that country’s food became looser as the year went on, but it was still fun and interesting. And then there’s the weekly International Film Night, which is usually very good. There are also several foreign language tables held every week in ISRC’s section of Hinman. I think the new exec board is also planning to add some kind of weekly international music night and more firesides that are internationally themed, so perhaps the dorm will be more “international” in the future than it has been in years past.</p>

<p>I suppose I’ve never lived in a “loud” dorm, so I don’t have anything to compare it with, but I definitely wouldn’t say that ISRC is anti-social or anything, contrary to its reputation. There is always at least one group of loud/social/party-loving people, and they usually find each other quickly, become good friends, and find parties to go to together. And of course there are people who are more quiet and reclusive, but my experience has been that overall, people are welcoming and friendly.</p>

<p>As for the facilities, I don’t know what I can tell you that isn’t on ISRC’s website or NBN’s Housing Guide. The building is nice enough, though not as nice as some of the other dorms. The rooms are small, but then I suppose most dorms are. The basement has a pool table, ping-pong table, foosball, and large flat-screen TV with lots of chairs in front of it. The dorm owns several video games, like Guitar Hero, DDR, etc., as well as gaming platforms. There is also a study lounge in the basement that is very quiet and popular for studying. There is also a music practice room and a computer room that has a PC all residents can use. They just got new washing machines, which I’ve heard are very nice.</p>

<p>The main lounge also has a piano. There seem to be a lot of music majors in ISRC, plus people who just have backgrounds in music but aren’t majoring in it, so the piano gets a lot of use.</p>

<p>I don’t know much about PARC, but overall, I would highly recommend ISRC.</p>

<p>I hope this helps!</p>

<p>P.S. Arbiter: I understand if you’re not comfortable answering this, but what years did you live in ISRC? I’m wondering if we were there at the same time.</p>

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<p>2007-2009. It’s pretty easy to figure out who I am from my entire post history. </p>

<p>And I’m surprised they finally opened the music room. I only ever was in there once, and I only knew it was open because I was on exec…</p>

<p>I wouldn’t sit on the couch.</p>

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<p>I don’t think we were there at the same time if your last quarter was Spring 2009. Interesting, though. All this time I’ve read your posts, I never knew you were a former ISRCer. :)</p>

<p>And yes, in my experience, the music room is usually open. I think sometimes right after coming back from a break, it’s a while before someone gets around to opening it, but it’s been open almost every time I’ve wanted to use it. I wish I’d been warned about the couch, though. :/</p>

<p>@Pizzagirl: I forgot to mention it in my post above and now it’s too late to edit, but another thing ISRC does in keeping with the international theme is socials with the fellows. There are a couple every quarter, and usually the theme of the social is a specific country or region, and residents decorate the windows of the main lounge according to the theme, food is bought or made that is from the country in question, and some type of entertainment loosely relevant to the country is also provided. It’s not very educational, per se (as in you won’t necessarily learn a lot about foreign countries this way), but it IS lots of fun. I had also never tried Indian food before the Indian social last year, so it can be educational in that sense, lol.</p>

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<p>These are my pictures! [url=&lt;a href=“http://groups.northwestern.edu/isrc/munchies.html]Munchies[/url”&gt;http://groups.northwestern.edu/isrc/munchies.html]Munchies[/url</a>]</p>

<p>Dirty secret: That’s not munchies.</p>

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<p>Thanks! Very helpful!</p>

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<p>In case you haven’t seen it btw, this was made my Sophomore year: [url=&lt;a href=“http://groups.northwestern.edu/isrc/video.html]LOVE[/url”&gt;http://groups.northwestern.edu/isrc/video.html]LOVE[/url</a>]</p>

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<p>@arbiter
Are you serious by “If you put just one of either you’re almost certain to end up in that dorm, regardless of order of preference” ?!! I’m interested in ISRC but leaning more toward dorms like Shepard. What do you think? Will I end up in ISRC even though I put Shepard as my first choice?</p>

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<p>^Impossible to predict.</p>

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<p>@arbiter: Yes, I had seen that before. I wish the dorm were still awesome enough to do something like that when I was there. That must have been so much fun to put together!</p>

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<p>I actually don’t appear in the video (and was rather upset I was not informed) but it makes me very happy to this day when I watch it. Sad your experience wasn’t great- I know vaguely when you must have lived there and understand why. I have been informed that the current executive board is a huge improvement over yours and the dorm has returned to form!</p>