There is an age old adage at the University of Dayton about the freshman dorms: Everyone believes that their dorm was the best dorm. Despite this, when you first find out where you will be living for the next year it can feel like anything but that. To ease your fears and answer your questions here is a quick rundown on the pros and cons of each of the freshman residence halls.
Marycrest:
Pros: You live in the largest residence hall. Marycrest rooms could honestly be double the size of Founders in my personal opinion. You will have tons of space and the ability to have a lot of people in your room at once. Another plus to living in Marycrest is that you have a dining hall in your building. You do not have to go outside to get food which is amazing when it's raining. You do not need to scan to get into the bathrooms in Marycrest unlike in Stuart and Founders. This means you can just go use the bathroom in your friends hall without needing to take their ID.
Cons: You live in the largest residence hall. This year Marycrest is reintroducing triples. That means some of the dorm rooms will have three people living in them instead of two. You have a dining hall. There will be spilled ketchup and random food on the elevators, especially on Saturdays.
Stuart:
Pros: Everyone in Stuart gets super close. This may be a byproduct of the dreaded hill, but literally everyone in Stuart becomes best friends. Stuart also has the most campus ministry stuff going on. They have praise and worship, bible studies and more. These activities are super successful and continue to grow every year. Stuart also is the closest to VWK which has the best food on campus and Stuart has a sort of gas stationesque corner store inside of it. It is reported that people in Stuart have the best legs and avoid the freshman fifteen.
Cons: THE HILL. Every time you want to get to or from your residence hall you have to climb Stuart Hill. It is time consuming as well as tiresome. You can't just roll out of bed 10 minutes before class and make it on time. The rooms are a lot smaller than Marycrest rooms which means lofting is a necessity for the most part. There is no dining hall in Stuart and Stuart's Landing is super expensive.
Founders:
Pros: You could literally get up 10 minutes before class and make it there on time. Founders is in the middle of campus which makes it super easy and fast to get to and from. You also do not have to walk up any hills to get to it which might be the best part in my opinion. Founders also has huge hallways which everyone there likes to hang out in. You get to know campus better since it can be hard to hang out and study in your room.
Cons: Founders has the smallest rooms. These rooms can get cramped if you don't keep them clean and make sure everything has a place. Founders also doesn't have a dining hall or corner store in it. If you want food you have to leave the building which is not ideal when it is raining or super cold. These doors do not stay open on their own. You must have a door stop if you want to keep it open so neighbors can stop by and chat.
Marianist:
Pros: Marianist rooms are about the same size as Marycrest rooms if not a bit bigger. You will have tons of room if you are living in Marianist. The Empo and the bookstore are located inside Marianist giving you easy access to both. Additionally, Marianist is super close to everything meaning you could get up later for class. Marianist also has awesome study spaces on the second floor that you could use.
Cons: Not a lot of freshmen live in Marianist. For the most part Marianist is full of sophomores, juniors and seniors. This means not as many of your fellow classmates will be living with you. Marianist is definitely the forgotten-about freshman dorm so a lot of people may forget that you can live there as a freshman, especially the sophomores because none of us lived there last year.
No matter where you live your first year at UD, you will end up enjoying your experience and heavily petitioning that your dorm was the best dorm!
