Best dorm for me?

[burn587]

Stay out of all BWR, especially welch, it is in a state of disrepair. I would echo the Helser sentiment. When I visited friends in helser the floors all seemed to have a good sense of community and all were pretty tightknit. Helser/Friley is really centralized as well, in terms of going to class, the UDCC or the Union.

 

[kevdiv48]

Reiterating what pretty much everyone has said about each place is what you make of it. I know people that lived in Martin/Eaton and were on both ends of the spectrum. My freshman year I lived in Helser, but my house wasn't real close so I spent most of my time with my buddies in Friley which was a blast. Moved there my sophomore year.
Note about living in Union Drive area-girl to guy ratio is pretty bad because the majority of students in that area (myself included) are engineers. If you're looking for ladies in your residence hall, hit up some MWL.

 

[dualthreat]

Dorms are what you make of them. I lived in Eaton and made a lot of really great friends. I also knew a ton of people in Martin and went over there. I also had friends in Friley and Helser...so in summary you'll probably meet people all over regardless of where you live.

Be open minded, don't study alone (do it in the den/study room), don't go to dinner alone, and bring a doorstop. You'll make some friends VERY fast.

Any place you live is what u make of it... I never lived in the isu dorms.. did just fine. Made lots of friends

 

[WhatchaGonnaDo]

Mac house represent!

Mutha ****in mac house!

 

[Cy$]

the house I live at currently is pretty boring..(there's nothing to do...only things are like singing and that crap which i'm not a singer). I'm more of a sports guy, and with none of those activities it's been a somewhat boring year.

The biggest thing you need to do though if this situation occurs is go do some of the activities that ISU posts on it's calendar or hit lied/state and play some hoops.

I checked out Lied with a friend and ended up playing soccer..after the first time I played I became instant friends with some of them.best decision I've made socially here as I made a **** load of friends and it's a relief from coursework (Engineering is a ***** but there's good benefits in the long run).

I currently live in Friley and is moving to where my friends are at in a lower floor as they do things that I like to do (play sports, video games..that sort of stuff). While creepy, I'd contact somebody on the floor you are thinking about living at and ask what activites they like to do..you can be an outcast in a hurry if you are different then them.

Another big key is on the first day is too meet everybody at your house. You might not like them after that but you never know "what if I talked to this person more, he could have been a good friend". and it's a good idea to find a couple people that live close to you and get to be friends because you don't want to be totally alone.

Even if you are an outsider like me (being the only one from my area that is coming to school here/only guy from my high school), you start at a big disadvantage as I've noticed that mostly everyone hangs out with high school friends and don't let others in their group (stupid but it goes on everywhere)...however you can make friends if you try (go to events and talk to house neighbors).if you don't try it will be a long year for ya.

 

[cyclone456]

I would also recommend MWL, met lots of good friends, and my now wife.

 

[timappelgate]

:yes:

:yes: x100000000000000000

 

[timappelgate]

:SLEEP:

Yours truly representing Helser, Firkins. About 4-5 years ago.

Forgot to drill a socket cover into your leg.

 

[josh4isu]

MWL. lots of girls.

 

[cowgirl836]

What area of study are you going into? A lot of majors have learning communities in which they put kids that are of similar majors in the same area. MWL is a big ag area, and Friley/Helser is big on engineering - it also puts them closer to the buildings they'll spend more time in.
Of course, I was Ag and lived in Friley for two years

Don't live in Helser. Just don't. Brother's girlfriend lives there now and really dislikes it. My now-husband worked maintenance for a summer and said Helser was just nasty. Like cockroaches nasty. That and I think most of the rooms don't have a/c?

 

[MeanDean]

Knapp Hall! So bad-*** the university had to blow it up. Storms sucks!!!

 

[Clone5]

I will also recommend MWL, especially with the new dining center.

 

[marothisu]

I know there's already a couple dorm questions, but this is a bit more specific. For my housing app I put down Martin Hall as my first option and Friley as my second, co-ed floors on both. The only thing that I am worried about with Martin is the partying/getting to know people aspect :v_SPIN: ... is this hall as upbeat as the others? I don't want to feel like I'm cooped in a hotel room, just like the additional added privacy that that hall seems to have to offer.. thanks in advance

It's really what you make of it. I lived in Friley for two years and the first year was with a lot of fun people. Really one of the most fun times ever. The second year was with not so fun people and it was boring. I always went to other floors/apartments that year.

My suggestion is that if your "floor" sucks, then make friends on a more fun floor if you're into that.

 

[EforISU14]

Lived in MWL and it was awesome, met tons of ppl, and i think it's the best place to live. It's a dump no doubt about it but the atmosphere is so "college" around the place.

 

[ThurgoodMarshal]

Although there is still a fair share of partying in Martin and Eaton, it doesn't compare to a real dorm like MWL or friley. Just not the same experience.

 

[awd4cy]

Lived in MWL and it was awesome, met tons of ppl, and i think it's the best place to live. It's a dump no doubt about it but the atmosphere is so "college" around the place.

MWL is a dump? It seems pretty nice to me. It is nothing compared to BWR.

 

[jbclone10]

Lived in MWL and it was awesome, met tons of ppl, and i think it's the best place to live. It's a dump no doubt about it but the atmosphere is so "college" around the place.

This. Willow was always fun. Dead deer in the elevator fun. :wideeyed:

 

[Al_4_State]

MWL (specifically the WL part) would be my recommendation if you're social and like to party. They aren't nice, but they're definitely the "Animal House" of the ISU residence halls.

 

[carvers4math]

My son lives in Helser and loves it. He was a little skeptical at first because it does appear to be the biggest dump on campus. Probably most likely to survive a natural disaster too. When the wrecking ball hit the part they knocked down for the UDCC, it took a while to even faze the building. He's in Engineering and loves the convenience and other students on his floor in the same classes. The lack of air is not much of an issue except for the first couple of weeks.

He has friends in Martin and Eaton but when asked to room with them next year, he wanted no part of it. It costs a lot more and he thinks it is less social. He also didn't want to clean his own bathroom, lol. I guess if you are social to start with and don't need a push, Martin and Eaton are probably fine.

Loves the new State Gym too, and all of Union Drive is close to that.

 

[klamath632]

Spent one year in the dorms, and absolutely loved living in Welch (keep in mind that this was 1991-92). I'm fairly outgoing, but I think even if I wasn't, it would have been an easy floor to meet other peeps. The only downside to how much fun was had was that we probably had one of the lower GPAs on campus as well.

Also, there were also a lot of house parties over at MWL Towers, so we'd hit those on Thursday/Friday nights before heading across Lincoln into someone's backyard to get our drink on.

South Towers was also a hell of a lot of fun, especially on hockey nights.

So, Welch. Welch was great.