Congratulations!!

And about dorms... You're probably not going to get what you ask for. I requested a double in a new dorm... I got a triple in an old dorm.

But say you want sub-free. You can still drink if you want to (just in other dorms), it's quieter, and the whole building won't smell like alcohol and vomit!!

I lived in a triple too last year...it wasn't that bad at all...My roommates were great...now that I think about it, I wish I would've chosen to live in a sub-free dorm, just for the quiet aspect of them...while the floor parties we had were fun, sometimes they were scheduled on the most inconvenient day...oh, well..

I liked the old dorms...except when they boys decided to make their smallest bathroom into a sauna...and the floor smelled of mildew for two weeks...

Good times.

Eee... Our bathrooms became kinda co-ed. It was all good, though!

I second Alex's sub-free comment. I did not live in sub-free and will now probably never drink because living conditions when people were drinking could get so bad. Sub-free won't control what you do, only what other people do in your living space.

Other than that, I really liked living in an old dorm, though the new dorms are definitely nicer on a purely asthetic scale.

My roommate, who is an engineer in the middle of finals, says, joking, "Run! Get out while you still can! Wait, what kind of engineer does she want to be? Just let her know that the correct answer is mechanical. ... She can take EN120 with me! Woohoo!" She's joking; she likes it. Finals are just unpleasant, no matter what you study. And studying what you want to study--and knowing in advance that you love it--is the best thing ever. That's my case, too, just not with engineering.

Where in NJ? (Me too, me too! I'm about 15 minutes outside of Philadelphia.)

Congrats on the acceptance! That must be a huge relief for you, and it'll be nice to have you here!

thanks! yea it is a huge relief considering i would have had to do like 10 more essays...but i am applying for this scholarship so i have to write more essays anyway :-(

ahh actually i want to be a mechanical engineer! haha

jersey rocks. i'm from warren (you probably have never heard of it) it's like north/central and i am 45 minutes from the PA border like directly east of lehigh/lafayette

thanks for the advice

right on

i was on alex's floor last year...it was a different experience in beaumont. Maybe rather than living in the sub-free dorm (if you party) maybe ask for the sub-free floor. Cause there were sometimes when I really wanted to do things I couldn't. But then again...its Wash U - you can almost get away with anything. I loved the old dorms. I recommend lee or umrath if you party - and if you don't - beaumont is awesome...I had a great time - it wasn't as quiet as I had hoped all the time - isn't that right alex....lol.

Re: right on

PS living in a triple was one of the best experiences of my life...me and my two roomates are still best friends...and although that made me want a single the nest year...you really learn how to respect people's space...I mean...but you don't always get two awesome roomates either...I got REALLY lucky.

Re: right on

Ha ha, no, it wasn't always quiet. You could hear Aaron's laugh all the way across the floor.

And yes, I like living on a sub-free floor probably better than a sub-free dorm, but I don't think freshmen can specify.

hey, i'm from philly proper.

are you from like, haddon/collings NJ area?

If you're going to drink a lot, though, please don't go in sub-free housing (the option on the forms is, I believe, "healthy living community"). I can't in good conscience endorse being a jerk.

While it's true that most people who request new dorms end up in the old dorms - that's just simple math, considering there are 6 old freshman dorms, 2 new freshman dorms, and then University House, which is a mix - it's still worthwhile to try. I, too, tried to get into a double in a new dorm and got stuck in the beer-soaked old dorms - I should have just gone for sub-free in the first place. I'd say you should do almost anything, though, to avoid those cramped, decaying hives they call the old dorms.

Good luck with things.

Next year, however, lucky you. There will be a new dorm on the South 40 that will most likely be all freshman, so the chances of you getting into a new dorm will probably be increased. I'm a freshman in a new dorm (Lien) and I really like it. However, there will no doubt be lots of people who tell you that old dorms are better. As far as the social scene goes in the new vs. old dorms, my floor was very friendly, and we all got along. There wasn't the stereotypical "you won't meet people with your door shut" type situation. I think the dorms are what you make of them, so pick what you think you'd prefer.

i live in university house, which is the mixed freshmen/upperclassmen dorm. i love the dorm itself and it's nice to get to know upperclassmen, but the room setup (mainly if you live in a single) is just SO not conducive to being social. plus, the walls are paperthin. i would go with an old dorm (i was in ruby for a program over the summer) because you will meet a ton more people and become closer with your freshman floor... and you wont have to worry about being too loud or dealing with your neighbors if they are too loud. and if you can, get a single. i know its not as great in my dorm (still, its VERY worth it) as it would be in an old dorm, but it literally has made my year 120381358235 times better. i told them i had a "migraine problem" and i had no problem getting one. good luck!

A single in a suite is the way to go, but good luck getting that as a freshman...by sophomore year you'll be able to get one no problem, tho. It's the best of both worlds - you're by people if you want to hang out but you can have privacy whenever you want it.

Congrats on getting in - I did the early decision thing too, and I know how you feel about the relief of it.

Welcome to WU!

I lived in Beaumont freshman year. It was a fine dorm. Really there aren't bad dorms, and they are all in the same place so location isn't an issue either.

Welcome to WU

First off, welcome to Wash. U. As far as your dorm situation, I know you have had a lot thrown at you, but hopefully I can give you some unbiased advice (I am a tour guide at Wash. U.) It is easy to say new or old dorms are better when you have only lived in one, but I have lived in both, and I can say that I personally think the old dorms are a lot more fun and social. As for sub free dorms, DONT DO IT! I am sorry if I piss anyone off with this advice, but I lived in one for a semester, and it isnt good. If you look, most the people who suggested it to you havent lived in one, so they dont know. It is quiet, but there is sometimes when you dont want quiet. I remember we were throwing a football in the hall on a friday night about 10, and someone came out of their room to yell at us for being too loud. Even if a regular floor is loud at a party time, the walls are solid concrete, so once you shut your door, you wont hear much. Hope I helped out...

Re: Welcome to WU

Listen to this man.

I've lived in both new and old dorms (or, rather, one new and two old) and I'd definitely recommend old for freshman.

I also chose not to live sub-free despite never having smoked or drank anything (other than wine on passover and such) in my life and I don't regret it at all -- my freshman floor was fun and I met my girlfriend and many of my good friends there.

Re: Welcome to WU

Augh, the misconceptions. Jim, you're a tour guide, meaning you've soaked up the spiel you feed to these kids to make them want to come here. Look, WU isn't a bad place by any means, and the benefits of going here probably make up for the occasional problems, but nonetheless, there's no room for misconceptions. I suggested sub-free because while I didn't live in sub-free last year, nor did Rebecca, we were over there almost every single weekend trying to escape the morass of the alcohol-soaked old dorms. Substance free housing is the way to go in terms of living among conscientious, fun-loving people who understand how to have fun without necessarily getting trashed and yelling at the top of their lungs.

Further, I have now lived in both old and new dorms, and when I lived in the old dorms last year, I had had plenty of friends who lived in the new dorms. I've still got to say that despite the party line you all throw around—"Oh, it doesn't matter which dorm you're in, they're all fun, the old dorms have more community, anyway..."—it can make a difference. Not everyone likes being herded into the hive-like old dorms with a bunch of screaming, infantile drunkards. If by "fun and social" you mean beer-soaked and inconsiderate, well then, by all means endorse the old dorms.

I'm just presenting this as I see it. This school has real problems with alcohol, and while it's unlikely (see my earlier comment) that you'll avoid the old dorms altogether, there are still options—sub-free floors, the sub-free dorm (Beaumont), and then the new dorms if you're lucky.

Further, that solid concrete in the old dorms doesn't help when you've got 100+ people on a floor drunk off their asses, crowding the hallways and yelling to be heard over the music, with beirut in one room, "ecto cooler punch" distributed by the class president in another room, and multiple doors open blaring loud music up and down the hall. They don't help when your next-door neighbors on both sides get drunk and have shouting matches and loud make-up sex afterwards. The walls keep out some noise, but not if your roommate is helping create that noise, doing power hour shots to Incubus. And the next morning when you open your door, no walls will keep out the stench of alcohol-and-vomit-soaked carpet. You wanna speak from anecdotal experience? Those are my anecdotes.

Re: Welcome to WU

you say you are just presenting it as you see it, which is great. The thing is I was also presenting it as I see it. You gave your opinion and I was giving mine. You didnt see me sending you a post because I didnt agree with your views. The views I presented were far from only mine, and come from a lot of freshmen of whom I was their RA over the summer. Also like you said, you havent lived in sub free, and I have. I wasnt forced to do it either, and I wasnt happy with my descision, therefore I want people to understand what they are getting into before they reach that point.
As far as alcohol on campus goes, if you had that much of a problem with drinking, then why did you go to Wash U. in the first place, when there are several other dry campuses you could have chosen. I could be wrong, but mabye you are just embellishing what you see a bit. I think when you refer to the "alcohol problem" you speak of, you simply are offended there is any alcohol on campus.
I even did a research paper last year on Sub free vs regular dorms, and I found that a lot of people choose sub free because of embellished tales like you tell, and then regret their descision later. If you look at the posts, I am not the only one who thinks what I do. Please dont bash my views just because they dont mesh with whatever agenda you have, and just let all the facts be presented.

Re: Welcome to WU

A suggestion: Read the comments to this post about Beaumont last year. The entire building was sub-free and it was louder and more party-like than most of the regular dorms.

I don't think anyone has a problem with drinking per se, but when you yourself don't drink much and people around you drink irresponsibly, it can get unpleasant--worse, in many people's opinions, than being told to be quite at 10 on a Friday (which, I agree, is kind of ridiculous).

On the other hand, there is an alcohol problem on campus--which doesn't mean that the university's policies are wrong, or that everyone who drinks here is an irresponsible alcoholic. It means that there are large numbers of people who don't know how to handle alcohol they should not legally be able to get.

When you say there isn't an alcohol problem, that we're "offended there is any alcohol on campus," and that a lot of people who chose sub-free regreted it later, you're missing the other side of the story. Do you know, so many upperclassmen choose sub-free housing that many of them don't get it? I know more people who were dissatisfied with regular housing than with sub-free housing--and don't say it's because my friends don't drink--most of them do. I, for once, really appreciate the alcohol policy here. It allowed me to drink last year without feeling pressured to do or not do so. It didn't make me feel like I was doing something wrong that I had to hide. It was a good experience. WU is right to give people that chance to explore, to make their own decisions, and learn how to handle themselves.

That said, limeonaire's stores are not embellished. She's nothing if not meticulous about things like that. There's no reason for you not to respect her experience, as she should do yours. This is a LJ comment space; it's here to allow discussion, not limit each of us to one space to say our piece. Arguments are good for us, if we can be reasonable about it.

Three final things: (1) I'm glad you seem to be enjoying WU because it gives you the freedom you want. (2) I really wish you'd phrased your original comment like you did here: I wasnt happy with my descision, therefore I want people to understand what they are getting into before they reach that point. This is fair and true to all sides of the issue, no matter what laurenfak wants, gets, or decides. It gives her a much better perspective by being personal. There are--obviously; this whole exchange proves it--no solid black and whites on this issue. (3) I'm glad you've moved to housing that suits you better. Living where your style is cramped and you're unhappy really sucks.

Oh, sorry, make that four: Happy break! Enjoy your vacation!

Re: Welcome to WU

Well, good for you for your research paper. Sorry, but that doesn't mean jack shit. You're what, a sophomore? You're not going to have a representative sample of the Wash U population. You don't know how, nor do you have the means. I lived in sub-free, and still do. I barely know anyone who regretted living in sub-free. In fact, the only people I know who didn't like it were people who didn't choose to be sub-free in the first place.

And you know what else? I drink. Yes, I do. I just don't bother other people with it.

Oh, and there is no such thing as a dry campus, so don't tell anyone that they shouldn't go to Wash U because it's wet.

Re: Welcome to WU

I'll have to second the loud sex thing...I was definitely sandwiched between the two most sexually active rooms on our floor last year. Concrete DOES NOT keep out noise...

Wow, lots of arguments about living conditions here. I guess living on the South 40 has changed a lot since my days there. And before anyone says anything, I'm a senior, so I've been around long enough to see policies change, and dorm attitudes change. I was a Ruby girl, which was considered a party dorm. Back in my freshman year, there was only Beaumont as a sub-free building, and only 2 other sub free floors in the new dorms. A lot of people who had probably requested sub-free, didn't get them, so they were a lot more spread out around the 40. I thought my floor would be SO loud and SO obnoxious (I hadn't requested sub-free however), but I was very wrong. It was loud and fun when we WANTED it to be that way, and it was quiet when we NEEDED it to be. I did hang out a lot on Beaumont 1 during my freshman year, so I did get a little experience with what it was like to live there, and it wasn't really quiet and subdued. The guys who lived there were awesome and fun, and ran around more than we did on my floor (albeit, they weren't drunk). Bottom line is, it almost doesn't matter where you are - it's the people who make the floor what it is. Living in Ruby or Umrath doesn't mean you'll become a partier, and living in a place like Beaumont doesn't mean you'll always get quiet time. If it's loud when you need quiet, the study rooms are ALWAYS silent, and if you want a little bit of life, you'll have friends across the 40 that you can visit.