Dartmouth offers a wide variety of dorm options, from the luxurious to the cramped. Organized in clusters, these dorms can be the defining factor in how much you study, where you do it, and more.
Luckily for you, the Office of Residential Life (ORL) has simplified the options recently, assigning nearly half the first-years to freshman-only dorms in the River and Choates clusters, continuing an experiment in freshman-only housing begun last year. About half of the Class of 2005 is expected to live in these clusters, according to Director of Housing Lynn Rosenblum.
Substance and smoke free-housing is available for those who request it.
Mass Row
Longingly dreamt of for years, North, Middle and South Massachusetts Halls offer some of the best housing on campus. Centrally located between Thayer Dining Hall, Baker/Berry Library and near the Green, these dorms are a short walk from everywhere you need to be.
However, this space will be reserved for exclusively upperclassmen this year.
Hitchcock Hall
The L-shaped Hitchcock Hall is located between Mass Row and Tuck Drive, and is but a short walk from Baker/Berry Library. Some rooms are quite cramped, consisting of two or three-room triples.
Luckily, Hitchcock is being renovated this summer and thus should be quite nice for '05s lucky enough get in here. The corner rooms are more spacious and have half-baths.
Wheeler-Richardson
These are the oldest dorms on campus and therefore offer students the quaint and rustic-style architecture of an old New England college. Unfortunately they also therefore offer students rooms that are quite small and cramped.
The two dorms -- located just east of Baker Library -- are also south of the Fairchild Science Center, home of the Kresge Library, making them an easy walk for science majors heading off to class or lab.
Freshmen in Wheeler Hall will be placed in L-shaped, one room doubles or relatively spacious two room triples with a half-baths.
Richardson Hall offers four one-room triples, the only ones on campus, which allow freshmen the opportunity to get to know their roommates very well.
The Gold Coast
Supposedly named because it housed the wealthiest students on campus during the Depression, the Gold Coast offers fine housing for students today. The cluster is composed of three dorms -- Streeter, Gile and Lord halls -- but freshmen will only be living in Gile, the easternmost of the three.
The rooms have been recently renovated and some have half-baths and fireplaces. If you land a room in here, you will no doubt be the envy of many of your peers.
East Wheelock
The four dorms of the East Wheelock Cluster -- Andres, Morton, Zimmerman and McCulloch Halls -- are quite possibly the most luxurious on campus. It is often called the "Hotel" for just this reason.
Rooms in Andres, Morton and Zimmerman are organized like suites. Many are quads, although some are doubles. All are quite spacious. The bedrooms of the quads center around a living room and all rooms include full private baths.
Among the four dorms, McCulloch is hands-down the most spacious and luxurious, being the newest dorm on campus and featuring many innovative architectural features -- such as sinks in the hallways -- designed to make the space more social.
East Wheelock offers its own snack bar, several spacious television lounges complete with cozy seating and its own public printer, saving many a long late-night walk across campus.
The cluster is also unique in trying to offer students a more intellectual residential experience. In order to live in the cluster, students must specially apply, and must reapply each year that they wish to continue living there. A larger programming budget allows residential staff to sponsor regular events such as discussions with professors, pizza and ice cream study breaks, cluster movie nights and student entertainment shows.
However, there are some drawbacks to the cluster. Paper-thin walls and doors mean that the stereo music of your hallmate, as well as the comings and goings of your next door neighbor, will register crystal clear day in and out.
RipWoodSmith
Composed of Ripley, Woodward and Smith Halls, this just-renovated cluster will welcome students with the smell of fresh paint and carpeting, as well as new furniture . Freshmen, however, will only live in Ripley and Smith Halls, on floors that are coed by floor.
Directly behind RipWoodSmith is the Bema, or "big empty meeting area," a quiet clearing in the woods where students can study or play some frisbee. Also near the cluster are the Alumni Gym, East Wheelock's snack bar and Alpha Delta and Chi Heorot fraternities .
Topliff and New Hamp
Within this cluster freshmen will live only in New Hampshire Hall. Located right between the Hopkins Center for the Arts and the Alumni Gym, this conveniently-placed dorm is a favorite of athletes and art enthusiasts alike. And with Dartmouth Row directly across the street, humanities majors can easily grab a few extra minutes of sleep before running off to morning class.
New Hamp offers big two-room doubles and triples, many with fireplaces. The dorm's lower two levels are host to a spacious two-story lounge with a television, frequently in use.
Russell Sage and Butterfield
Although Butterfield Hall will house only upperclassmen this year, its cluster-mate Russell Sage Hall will remains an attractive option for the freshmen placed within its cozy walls.
Russell Sage offers corner triples with private half-baths and fireplaces. It is connected to Butterfield via the Hyphen, a recreational space that plays host to various campus a-capella performances.
Economics and government majors rave about the cluster's convenient location next to the Rockefeller Center, while everyone else appreciates the short walk to Webster Avenue -- commonly known as "Frat Row" -- especially on the harshly cold winter nights.
The Fayerweathers
North, Middle and South Fayerweather Halls offer students large rooms and the atmosphere of living in a regal, old dorm. The two-room doubles and triples provide ample space for entertaining, and rooms in Middle and South Fayerweather have half-baths as well.
The greatest advantage of these dorms, however, is their proximity to Dartmouth, Reed and Thornton Halls, home to early-morning drill instruction and foreign language classes. The ability to get out of bed and walk the few yards to class in under a minute will no doubt prove useful on many sleepy mornings.
The River
Located a 10 minute walk from the center of campus, the 1960s-style architectural leftovers of French, McLane and Hinman Halls provide the greatest opportunity for exercise among all housing options. Purchase of a bike, a warm winter coat and solid pair of shoes is highly advised. However, the River is not nearly as far from the Green and other important locations as campus folklore would have it.
Rooms in the River dorms vary in size. The two-room doubles are a little cramped but the three-room doubles are very luxurious.
The advantage of these dorms is that you'll no doubt be spending a lot of time there and consequently have a lot of opportunities to bond with your hallmates. In fact, the River is known to house some of the most lively first-year residential environment. Keeping the numbers of pizza delivery places on hand is advised. And making life more interesting, the floors are coed but the rooms aren't.
In addition, the River is one of the few clusters to maintain its own public printer, and the nearby River apartments boast their own climbing gym.
Engineering majors will also take joy in the close location of the Thayer School of Engineering.
The Choates
Composed of Brown, Bissell, Cohen and Little Halls, the Choates stand as a tribute to a distinctly 1960s style of architecture that has long been out of date. Some have jokingly compared the long, narrow hallways that connect perpendicularly as similar to the setup of a hamster cage. Common areas -- including kitchens and television lounges -- in the four dorms are connected via second-story glass walkways.
Housing for freshmen in the Choates consists of one-room doubles -- allowing you to really get to know your roommate. The Choates are somewhat distant from Dartmouth Hall, though their proximity to Baker/Berry Library makes them advantageous on cold wintery nights.For those interested in government, economics, education or sociology, the Choates are also a fairly short walk from Rockefeller Hall.
