La Tica Brava ([info]bluegoddess88) wrote in [info]oberlin2010,
@ 2006-01-26 15:28:00
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Current mood: curious
Current music:Children of Eden - Stranger to the Rain

Housing debate.
Alright...I'm trying to figure this out, and I'm sure you guys are too. So, let's start a housing debate. The pros and cons of Freshman vs. Four Year Traditional vs. Co-op. If you want to send some people from [info]oberlin over here, they'd probably be helpful.

I'll start.

Freshman
+ pros: Everyone is looking to be friends. Everyone is new and confused, so you won't feel left out and you can figure it out together. More activities and mixer type stuff to ease into the friend-making process.
+ cons: Freshman can be annoying. If everyone is confused, who will know what to do? Less interaction with more knowledgable and useful upperclassmen.

Traditional all years:
+ pros: Interaction with all years, more diverse intellectual atmosphere. People can be helpful. Less noise, less forced friend-making.
+ cons: People already have friends and may not be looking for more to add to their crew. Or, you could make friends with older kids and be very sad to see them go.

Co-op
+ Pros: Community feeling
+ Cons: May be too much work, hard to keep up during transitional year.

What do ya'll think?

I feel like I'm just passing time this semester, waiting anxiously to finally be at Oberlin!!




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[info]coup_duh_tah
2006-01-27 04:29 am UTC (link)
yeah, i totally know what you mean about feeling like you're just waiting to be at oberlin...i have the WORST case of senioritis (meaning, i probably just failed all my exams) and i'm starting to think about oberlin a lot more now. but it's so far away, and i don't wanna spend the next 7 months counting down the days, so i'm trying to find OTHER things to get excited about, since high school is basically over. like, for instance, i'm moving to a hippie commune in virginia for 3 weeks in april :-)

oh, and as for housing, i'm definitely gonna live in a co-op. even if it means sleeping in the tofu maker. it's just gonna have to happen.

(Reply to this) (Thread)


[info]ridejohnnyride
2006-01-27 04:35 am UTC (link)
Yeah, I wanna live in a co-op too.

(Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

(no subject) - [info]somuchmore, 2006-01-27 05:09 am UTC
(no subject) - [info]eviltechie, 2006-01-27 12:43 pm UTC
(no subject) - [info]insipidity, 2006-01-27 11:37 pm UTC

[info]eviltechie
2006-01-27 12:45 pm UTC (link)
i'm really counting on the whole it's easy for frosh to get into harkness *crosses fingers*

(Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

(no subject) - [info]plaidpolkadots, 2006-01-27 10:26 pm UTC
(no subject) - [info]somuchmore, 2006-01-28 05:29 am UTC
(no subject) - [info]plaidpolkadots, 2006-01-28 05:52 am UTC

[info]atspesnonfracta
2006-01-27 11:37 pm UTC (link)
twin oaks? if so, i'm very, very jealous. i'm considering trying to spend next winter term there...

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(no subject) - [info]coup_duh_tah, 2006-01-30 01:44 am UTC

[info]somuchmore
2006-01-28 05:00 pm UTC (link)
you're friends with lauren ([info]turnyourback)?! she's great; i go to school with her!

(Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

(no subject) - [info]coup_duh_tah, 2006-01-30 01:45 am UTC
(no subject) - [info]somuchmore, 2006-01-30 02:20 am UTC

[info]littlerosyhead
2006-01-27 04:01 pm UTC (link)
wow everyone's so into the co-ops -sigh- i stayed at keep when i did my overnight and while i wouldn't really say i hated it...i really can't imagine living in a co-op. it's a good idea and keep has a particularly nice little communal area and stuff and everyone seemed happy but again...not for me. i guess the idea of it is really cool but...

i am a hugely picky eater and they eat weeeeeird food in co-ops and too many fruits and veggies and excuse me but i am a slug that enjoys un-nutritious foods and lots and lots of meat. i didn't really eat there at all while i stayed there. plus their bathrooms were wickedly nasty and the one on the floor i stayed on was suffering from a roach/fly infestation. i really don't think that's just being prissy either! and then to top it all off the rooms are smaller.

so sorry if i'm beating up the co-ops but man...i really hope i get into barrows, i liked it there a LOT.

(Reply to this) (Thread)


[info]bluegoddess88
2006-01-27 06:37 pm UTC (link)
I think I'm going to ask for Barrows, also. Maybe we'll be roommates or hallmates or something. Anyway, Barrows just seems like a nice way to kick-start the next four years...and it's notoriously "loud", which is what I'm used to at home. I get uncomfortable when there isn't constant motion around me. And if I need to study...I'll just go to Mudd cus it's AWESOME!

I agree about the co-ops. Ideally, they sound like great fun and community and such...but in reality, I'd like a professional to clean my bathrooms. Maybe my attitude will change in the next few months or years, but right now I think traditional housing is how I'm going to go.

(Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

(no subject) - [info]littlerosyhead, 2006-01-27 09:59 pm UTC
(no subject) - [info]bluegoddess88, 2006-01-27 10:09 pm UTC
(no subject) - [info]sherwood42, 2006-01-27 10:20 pm UTC
(no subject) - [info]tevs, 2006-01-28 12:17 am UTC
(no subject) - [info]sherwood42, 2006-01-28 02:26 am UTC
(no subject) - [info]iamwearingpants, 2006-01-28 04:44 am UTC
(no subject) - [info]danibannani, 2006-01-27 10:34 pm UTC
(no subject) - [info]eengah, 2006-01-27 11:09 pm UTC
(no subject) - [info]sherwood42, 2006-01-28 02:27 am UTC
(no subject) - [info]coffeewurm, 2006-01-28 06:21 am UTC
(no subject) - [info]sherwood42, 2006-01-28 07:10 am UTC
(no subject) - [info]mrartichoke, 2006-01-27 11:12 pm UTC

[info]andthefurniture
2006-01-27 05:38 pm UTC (link)
i think i might like to stay in a freshman dorm first year because it might be easier to get acclimated to the environment that way, and then move to a co-op second year. or maybe a regular dorm first year. i love the idea of living in a co-op, but first i'd like to get more familiar and comfortable with the school and everything.

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[info]plaidpolkadots
2006-01-27 10:32 pm UTC (link)
a brief summary of housing, check the memories of the oberlin community for a more in-depth look.

traditional dorms: kind of quiet, people tend to stay in their rooms, not too much community (from what i've seen, i don't live in one)

freshman dorms: high school.

co-ops: amazing, but not for everyone. a great community, really fantastic people, good good good food. the reasons that people have left my co-op this year are because of dirtiness, lack of meat, noisiness, and lack of time. i am a first-year in harkness, and i am so grateful every day of my decision. but others are not so grateful. it really depends on who you are.

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[info]natasha_fawn
2006-01-27 10:43 pm UTC (link)
Hi there. I saw the post in the Oberlin community and thought I'd come over. There are some good threads about housing in the memories of the Oberlin community, for starters.

(Disclaimer: I have lived in the same dorm -Barnard, since I was a freshman, and I've always loved it there. It's substance-free and has people from all classes. You've been warned.)

I never wanted to live in an all-freshman dorm. Both of them are known to be more run-down and generally dirtier than most of the traditional dorms. They also tend to be known for kids taking advantage of being away from parental control: Loud music, drinking, etc. I've known people who lived in them and enjoyed it (usually the gregarious party-people), and people who didn't (usually the people who like to have a quiet, calm environment most of the time).

I enjoyed living with upperclassmen as a freshman. They were always friendly and often helpful. It is, in my experience, fairly easy for freshmen to find a group of people to hang out with no matter who they live with. Lots of freshmen make friends with upperclassmen. I do know a couple of people whose friends were mostly a couple of years ahead of him, which meant their friends all graduated and they had to hang out with new people. (But people keep in contact pretty well after graduation, and it's pretty easy to fall into a new group of friends, so it's not as much of a problem as you might think.)

I've never lived or wanted to live in a co-op, but I have known people who lived in one as a freshman and loved it. Most people who live there seem to be okay with the amount of work. Co-op kids have less contact with the rest of campus though, because they don't eat with everyone else.

That's my $2.

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something to think about
[info]zoe_trope
2006-01-27 10:46 pm UTC (link)
Program/theme living may seem intimidating ("German House? But I barely speak German!" or " 'The Collective for Women & Transgendered People' ? What the hell? I'm not living with a bunch of dykes!"), but it's a great way to meet people who have similar interests, and program/theme housing is generally much smaller than other dorms, which makes it easier to get to know people and feel close to the people you live with.

I say this only because I lived in South last year (huge dorm, very anonymous, hideous) and I didn't like it because I felt like I didn't know anyone. It really lacked a sense of community.

Wherever you end up living, the situation will be very much dependent upon the people living with you -- not the size, location, or assigned purpose of housing. Any type of housing (first-year, same-sex, co-op, etc.) can be crazy, drunken, and distracting, or it can be a great experience, just depending on who's living with you.

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oh and about first-year housing
[info]zoe_trope
2006-01-27 10:50 pm UTC (link)
I will say this about first-year housing:

+ It's a wonderful way to make friends. Living with other first-years basically guarantees that you will instantly bond with these people and always have a group of friends around.

- You may hate these people and yet find yourself hanging around with them all the time anyway because they're the first people you met on campus, and you're strangely comfortable with them. I've found that people who've lived in first-year housing end up tromping around campus in huge packs (especially to dining halls) and rarely mix with other people outside their initial "we-met-and-became-BFF-during-orientation" group. But that doesn't always happen.

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first-year housing
[info]m_nystagmus
2006-01-27 11:05 pm UTC (link)
As a Barrows resident, I must say that even though I whinge about it a lot, it's really not that bad. Then again, I don't really talk to the people in my hall much (except for the first few weeks when none of us knew anyone, but now I've realised that most of my friends are in East or South and tend to hang out there more than I do here). Location-wise, it's not bad--near the fields, the Science Centre, Stevie, and Wilder. But crazy freshmen do stupid things, and if that's not your thing, you're probably not going to enjoy it here. I just tolerate it.

But I heartily recommend traditional housing--it's a good way to know people (upperclassmen don't bite) and they tend to be nicer than these little freshman dorms anyway. Don't even get me started on the (lack of) water pressure in the showers here....

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[info]eengah
2006-01-27 11:10 pm UTC (link)
As someone with a masters in student affairs (that's the stuff about college that isn't included in academics, especially ResLife and clubs/orgs and orientation), I really think that first-year housing is the way to go. Most people I know who lived in Barrows made friends that they've kept all 4 years. It's nice because you're not living with people who already have a ton of friends, so there's in a built-in social network. Plus, there's always something going on. And I lived in Barrows for 1 1/2 years as an RA and Fairkid for 1 1/2 years (as an RA and now as the wife of the hall director), and Barrows is MUCH quieter than Fairkid.

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[info]eengah
2006-01-27 11:12 pm UTC (link)
I should add that if you don't want to live in Barrows or Dascomb, I think program houses are a good alternative, because of the built-in community. I'm not a co-op person myself, so I don't know what to say about that. I just think that the general traditional housing (ie South, North, East, Burton, Noah...) can be kind of an easy way to get "lost" in the crowd your first year.

(Reply to this) (Parent)

Housing, oh boy...
[info]morningstar42
2006-01-27 11:15 pm UTC (link)
Okay, so my view is no doubt biased by the fact that I live in the rathole known as Barrows (can you tell?), but here goes...

Freshman housing, aka Barrows and Dascomb, is where you should be if you enjoy constantly being around a lot of people your own age while they are some combination of drunk, horny, and/or 18. If hallcest brought on by a night of drinking sounds right up your alley, these dorms are for you. If you don't drink or do drugs, and you like being able to practice an instrument or work on any project at all without being interrupted, don't live in freshman housing.

On the other hand, I should mention that a lot of the people I know in my classes, I know because they're in my dorm and I talked to them at the beginning of the year. I suppose FH has that upside, but I personally can't wait to move out at the end of the spring. Which brings me to a final point: if you'd like to live on the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall at some point in the future, drop me a line at Jonas.Wisser@oberlin.edu. I'll be organizing it for next year and probably until I graduate.

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[info]atspesnonfracta
2006-01-27 11:17 pm UTC (link)
while it's certainly good to be thinking about all these things, reslife isn't particularly awesome at honoring people's requests. i requested traditional all-year, co-ed housing, and somehow still got stuck on the all-girls wing of the freshman dorm, dascomb. (conversely, one of my good friends requested all freshmen girls and wound up on a co-ed traditional hall.)
with that said, living in dascomb has been a pretty good experience. i was intially pretty pissed off when i found out i was living here, because everything i had read about all-freshman dorms indicated that they were filled with high-schooly drama...and while we certainly have our fair share of that, it's not nearly as bad as i thought it would be. most of my friends i've made in my dorm are really chill people just cool being themselves and being genuinely friendly to each other - exactly the kind of friends i came to oberlin hoping to make :) not to mention that there is indeed an incredible sense of community.

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first year housing
[info]getpeached
2006-01-28 12:04 am UTC (link)
I lived in Dascomb my freshman year. Pretty much all of the friends I had came from that building. The first semester is was great because everyone was in the same boat, but as the year went on, especially towards the end, it became really tiring. Fire alarms at 3 am, fires in the kitchen, people not being able to handle their alcohol were all hallmarks. However, I'm really glad that I lived there.

For the first part of my sophomore year, I lived in South. It was nice not to have the constant social pressure of a freshman dorm, but it was very very quiet. I hope that helps!

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[info]ceryndipity
2006-01-28 12:52 am UTC (link)
i lived in a freshman dorm my first year...all my friends lived there and it was a big pot smoking bubble of people who would never have been friends if it weren't for the situation...as a result we didn't really like each other and aren't friends anymore.

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[info]_idioteque
2006-01-28 02:56 am UTC (link)
My question is about the whole divided double vs. open double situation. I am the type of person who REALLY values privacy and my own sleeping space (I don't know, I've just always been weird about it). Is it likely that a freshman can be put in a divided double if they request it (probably in one of the larger dorms which lots of availability of divided doubles)?

Additionally, if privacy is a concern, then would the all-freshman dorm option suck for me? I'm not an anti-social person, I'm so excited to meet people... I'm just not sure I could handle the freshman only thing.

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[info]kkgal42
2006-01-28 03:19 am UTC (link)
It's very likely that you will get placed in a divided double if you request it (presuming that requesting it is an option on the housing form), since there are a lot of them. Both freshman-only dorms have only open doubles. I lived in Barrows my freshman year and loved it, but you really don't get much privacy. Conversely, the bigger dorms with divided doubles (North and South) have reputations for being pretty anti-social. I lived in North my sophomore and I pretty much had to leave the building if I wanted to hang out with.

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(no subject) - [info]odetteodile72, 2006-01-28 07:02 am UTC

[info]_tee_
2006-01-28 04:50 am UTC (link)
as someone who lived in fairchild my first year, i vote 100% for the mixed-class experience, be it dorm or co-op. remember, as a first year, you will be there earlier than most of the upperclass people, so you'll get a chance to hang out with your classmates almost exclusively for all of orientation. i was actually really really happy when new people showed up to fill in the empty rooms, because i was tired of the intense bonding and wanted to stop feeling obligated to roam around in a "freshpack" anymore. my barrows friends never quite got over that whole mode of socializing...

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[info]divine_aphasia
2006-01-28 06:13 am UTC (link)
technically there's no spot for you to request a specific traditional dorm, but i scribbled "i want to live in fairkid!" on my form and they put me here - and i think it's an amazing place to live as a first-year.

so here's my fairkid plug: fairkid is small. 70-ish, with super-singles for upperclassmen on the first floor and doubles on the top two floors. it's just one hallway, and this year at least, it's about half freshman and half sophomores. because it's so small, i know everyone's name on my floor, and have probably had a conversation, if not hung out with, each one of them. it's close to the con, which means there are some wicked musicians living here, and also close to king/wilder/etc. and there's a co-op in the basement. if you're a member, you can snack all night long, and if not, you can grab one of your friends and have them bring you down there to snack. the rooms are a nice size and there's a deck out back with chairs and tables.

i really think this is the best traditional dorm to live in as a first-year - there's a strong sense of community, and while there tends to be a pack of first-year fairkids who do everything together, i've had a really good first semester hanging out with them sometimes, with my upperclassmen friends here sometimes, and with my friends from other places.

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[info]_idioteque
2006-01-30 06:00 am UTC (link)
Thanks for the input! Fairchild sounds really great. I definitely hope to live there next year.

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first year dorms?
[info]ennaeihpos
2006-01-28 03:10 pm UTC (link)
here's the way i see it, making friends is great and it's really not hard to make friends with upperclassmen, they're not big green scary monsters. in fact, i think that it is neccesary to have people around you who know what you have been through and can offer you advice. being friends with all freshamn is like chickens running around with their heads cut off.

take a gander at the program houses, they're awesome and a great way to make friends.

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[info]starburst8213
2006-01-29 12:34 am UTC (link)
I lived in Burton my first year (I specifically requested to live in traditional housing) but my roommate and I had very different schedules. Then I started to get involved in things around campus and made friends that way. Burton was a great dorm and was REALLY social the year I lived there, but the environment changes from year to year.

If you're worried about making friends just get involved in something that you love. That's the best way to make friends because the people you meet will probably have more in common with you than people randomly assigned to live near you.

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(Anonymous)
2006-01-29 09:24 pm UTC (link)
co-ops:
I'm a first year in a co-op and I've had very little trouble with time management and such. I'm taking four classes and also work a shift at the bike co-op and still had plenty of time to do my reading and homework and stay up until 4 am dicking around.

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[info]coffeewurm
2006-01-30 07:59 am UTC (link)
The most important thing to realize about housing is that everything will be alright. I ended up in South, which earned me some pity for a while, in a quad, which got me even more sympathy. Turns out I get along wonderfully with my roomates and couldnt imagine it being any other way. And by the sound of boards like this, I would have figured I'd be in the worst possible situation. No matter where you end up, if you want to be happy and enjoy yourself, then you will.

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[info]nyiragango
2006-02-07 03:01 pm UTC (link)
Hey there.
As [info]zoe_trope and [info]ennaeihpos (waves) have already said, program houses, while they may seem intimidating, are actually a really fantastic way to meet people with similar interests, and to get involved with something that intrigues you. The communities tend to be small and cozy, which I like-- I find huge impersonal social situations intimidating. (On the other hand, some definitely find smaller dorms claustrophobic. To each, his/her/zir own.)
So, with that introduction, I'll put in a shameless plug for Baldwin-- that is, the aforementioned Collective for Women and Transgendered People. This is my second year there. I'm abroad this semester, but I'll be eagerly back next year. It's a fantastic place to be as a first-year, and many of my closest friendships have developed out of it.

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