This past school year, I chose to live on one of the freshmen floors on Morningside Campus. When making my housing decision, I wasn't 100 percent sure that living in a freshmen hall would work for me. Now that the year is done, I am so glad that I chose to live on a freshmen floor. But, I still remember that during the housing process I had wished for some advice on where to live. So I've decided to make a pros and cons list from my time on a freshmen hall. Word of warning, this is just from my personal experience, so it may not be true for every freshmen hall.
Pros:
Everyone is in the same boat:
It's easy to get along with everyone when you know your facing the same problems. Can't find a building? The girl two doors down has a class there too, so she'll go search with you. Have no idea what to do to for your financials? Your roommate will go with you for moral support. The fact that everyone around (except your RAs) have just a little idea of what is happening is almost comforting in a way.
You make some of your closest friends:
I was lucky in that practically everyone on my hall got along with each other. Throughout this school year, I've met some of my closest friends on our floor. We liked to joke that everywhere we went was a hall function because we always had four or five girls from the hall with us. This also helped because you have an automatic meal group. There was always at least one person on the hall that had a similar schedule so we could get lunch together.
Cons:
Freshmen floors are generally in the older housing:
Now I'm not sure if this is true at every school, but my hall was located in Roadman North. Translation: We had the smallest, least updated dorms. We also had no air conditioning, which doesn't seem like much of a problem in the Midwest until it is August and your trying to sleep in 80+ degree heat. Thats not to say that the dorms are unlivable; it just might take some adjusting to if you, say, were shown the nicer dorms on your visit.
Everyone is so young:
This is kind of the downside of the "everyone is in the same boat" pro. Although it is nice to have a bunch of people who are in a similar situation around you, this also means that no one -except your RAs- really knows how to act on campus. Generally this is harmless, but if you are someone who enjoys their sleep, you should be warned that "quiet hours" don't really exist on a freshmen hall. Also, since most freshmen are fresh out of high school, you might also have to deal with some high school-level drama.
This is just a few of the pros and cons that I noticed living on a freshmen floor. Overall, for me, the pros out weighed the cons. So hopefully, this was helpful for anyone trying to make their housing decisions.
