Something I realized, as I skimmed my archives of blogdom, is that you guys have absolutely no idea where I am in case I need to be alerted of imminent attacks. So without further adieu, welcome to my residence hall:
West Wing/Resnik (West Wing, to be specific)
If you're reading this blog, there's a good chance you're applying here for the next year, in which case getting into West Wing/Resnik isn't too great a chance. Meant to be upperclassmen housing (I think), Wesnik (I didn't make that up) is a nice on-campus residence hall with lots and lots of suites, those nifty dorms with multiple rooms and whatnot.
Wesnik's pretty super-special-awesome, seeing as how it's situated over a number of on-campus eateries (Tartan Pavilion being my favorite), not to mention weekly get-togethers with the RAs (called 10-spots) and other random activities that the hall puts on. There's a lot of fun to be had, even though a lot of students think this is the unfun dorm. You know, since we're all upperclassmen and we all lost our noisemakers sometime over sophomore year, or something.
There's also some peer tutoring taught here, as well as a cluster downstairs. ("Cluster" is the word here for a whole bunch of computers in the same room.) "Wait," you realize, "Computers and food in the same building! But why would I ever want to leave, Dan?"
Why would you, indeed. Why would you indeed.
I visited that place! Totally awesome. Def unique.
Hey, I'm a senior in high school applying to CMU. I was wondering, which of the freshman dorms is the best, in your opinion? I have to agree with you on "Wesnik" (I like that name haha), but I prefer a dorm that will have a majority of freshmen.
Also, about what proportion of students remain in on-campus housing after freshman year?
Thanks!
Go Morewood E-Tower! It's my personal freshman dorm, and it's got nothing but freshman for your socializing needs. After you move up a year, they send you to the Dark Tower.
(Haw haw, kidding...)
Seriously, though, E-Tower has slightly larger rooms than other freshman dorms, so it's not bad to put down as a first choice.
SOMEWHERE there's a page with the statistics you seek, but until I find it, off the top of my head: a lot of sophomores end up living off-campus because they go last in the housing selection process, although most off-campus apartments I've seen are pretty nice. After that, there's a pretty even split between people who rent off-campus houses with their friends and students who get back onto campus.
I will find that page, rest assured, and re-post when more concrete numbers are available.
I did look at Morewood Gardens, but the original page refers to towers A - D and displays the statistic of 7% Freshmen residents, so knowing that there is an E tower is very helpful!
One thing about Morewood is that it appears on the map to be in a spot that might be more out-of-the-way, while you have an entire residence complex on the east side of campus. How is the student population distributed between the north and the east? If I didn't get into Morewood, would you recommend Donner or one of the small community houses for a second choice?
Thanks again!
Student population is distributed fairly evenly over the north/east axis. And Morewood isn't quite as isolated as it looks, I promise. It's only crossing-a-street away from all that campus awesomeness.
Hm...where you want to be depends on what you're looking for. Like, Stever has AC, Donner's a quick walk from classes...it's all a matter of preference. I know this is kind of a flip-floppy answer, though...ergh...honestly, I'm probably the wrong person to ask. If I HAD to answer, though, I'd probably take a dormy place over a "community" place.
But again, that decision borders on a coin flip. Ask the other bloggers! They lived in other places...I think.