<p>Even though you are letting your son make the decision about whether to live in an apartment next year, you’re the one who may know better than he does whether he is ready or not. (And, I assume you’re the one paying the bills, so you do have some say.)</p>
<p>Two thoughts: First, if your son does decide to live in an apartment next year, you can use this summer as a testing/training period–make him do all his own laundry, have him do a fair amount of “real” house cleaning (including cleaning the bathroom), make it his responsibility to cook dinner once a week, including planning the menu and shopping for food, etc. If you’re doing all these things already, good for you! My experience has been that boys tend to be “spoiled” more than girls in not having to take on “inside” household responsibilities, versus “outside” responsibilities like mowing the lawn.</p>
<p>Second, maybe the answer isn’t an apartment, but a different residence hall. I’ve seen the new dorm, and I would feel exactly the way your son does about all the glass. I would feel creepy and exposed.</p>
<p>Also, in general, I think the north side of campus has more off-campus places (restaurants/shopping, etc) geared to students than the south side of campus has right now. I think this is probably because, up until this year, there were the 600 or so Shoreland students who lived north of the campus. My guess is that, in time, there will be more offerings for students south of the campus because the south campus student population has just increased by 800 students. But, it may make take a couple of years.</p>
<p>Does your son have any friends that live in dorms right in the middle of campus, such as “Max”? I think Max is ugly, and it has some glass, but not as much as the new dorm–and it’s fairly new, built in 2000/2001. And any views from dorm windows would be of the campus (the dorm is only 4 stories). A lot of students like the “suite” set-up in Max, because it means that they only have to share a bathroom with 3 other students–and only one other person for people in singles. However, the students ARE responsible for cleaning their own bathrooms–a surprising turn-off to some students.</p>
<p>I know most about Pierce, and personally, I think it is a “sleeper”–underrated by many. I recently read a post about bedbugs and such at Pierce, but I don’t know how widespread a problem that is. Yes, Pierce does look like a prison at first, because it was built around 1960, when “brutalistic” architecture was popular. But, when I’ve visited I’ve found that very soon Pierce felt cozy.</p>
<p>To me, the best thing about Pierce is that the rooms surround a 2-story central lounge on four sides. Each house has only two floors and there is an interior staircase from the 2nd floor to the lounge. The word I have is that the people in Pierce get very close to the other people in their Houses. Also, there are only 60 people in a House, compared to 100 students per House in the new dorm. Pierce residents do have to share a coed bathroom on each floor–but, that also means that someone else cleans it.</p>
<p>Yes, the rooms in Pierce are fairly small, but they are no smaller than the regular dorm rooms at UCLA (which puts 3 freshman in a room the size of a Pierce room!). I was impressed that, despite being smaller, the dorm rooms in Pierce are set up very efficiently, and hold more stuff that I would have expected. To me, the rooms at Pierce “feel” bigger than the dimensions would suggest.</p>
<p>Also, if a “scenic” view matters, many of the rooms in the Houses on the top floors of Pierce (Thompson, Shorey) have great views since Pierce is 11 stories.</p>
<p>Maybe a House that was right in the center of campus and more on the north side, with a design that leaves students feeling less “exposed,” could be an in-between solution, especially if your son has any good friends in Max or Pierce that he could room with.</p>
<p>The housing lottery for next year is in May. I have no idea how it works, but the U of C Web site has the brochure that explains it. I think people who are staying in the same House have first priority, but changing Houses is definitely an option, particularly since your son has been in the housing system for a year already.</p>
<p>Be sure to let us know what you and your son decide after Spring break. In the meantime, I wish your son (and all U of C students) “good luck” on their finals/final papers.</p>