Ask Miss Manitou: The Low-Down on Room Draw

 

Answer: Breathe in, breathe out. This is a crazy time for everyone! Worrying about it won’t solve anything. As always, I will give you a list of the Pro’s and Con’s of living in certain dorms and sextets/quads/doubles.

The first thing to decide is whether or not you want to live with a large group of friends or stay in a double. Living with a group of girls can be tons of fun. There is always someone around, it’s easy to figure out when the best time is to eat (since everyone knows everyone else’s schedule), and the weekends are a blast. Living with a group of girls can also be discouraging. If you want to get homework done in your dorm, it’s going to be a lot more difficult; everyone will be doing something distracting and saying hello all the time. It can also be a little bit dramatic, depending on the group. Are you willing to go through having periods at the same time and helping them through emotional breakdowns? If any of the things I told you made you excited, then go for it. If you’re unsure, try sticking to a quad or a double. You always have next year (unless you’re a senior, but by now you should know what you like).

 

Your second decision is figuring out which dorm to live in! It’s always easier to figure this question out once you know how many people you are living with. Certain dorms have limited space for big groups, such as Rand, and others are better for big groups, such as Mohn or Larson. Here’s a list of Pro’s and Cons for each dorm (remember, some of my answers are personal opinions):

 

Thorson– Pros: cozy but spacious rooms, beautiful scenery, great study dorm. Cons: Far away from classes and the gym, very little options for sextets/quads, not too many crazy things on the weekends.
 

Mohn– Pros: amazing closet space, large desks, more options for large groups, close to Buntrock. Cons: Walls are not sound proof (hard to study), some odd shaped rooms, and you can’t get away from LADYBUGS in the fall.
 

Rand– Pros: great rooms for all types, private bathroom, beautiful view, study-friendly. Cons: Hard to get into, far away from classes, lots of stairs (unless on the ground floor).
 

Ytterboe– Pros: fun and spacious pods (room and living room with friends), close to gym, a great lounge. Cons: Difficult to get into unless a Senior, more expensive for singles.
 

Larson– Pros: Closest to classes and Buntrock, more options for large groups, amazing closet space, large desks. Cons: Walls are not sound proof, odd shaped rooms, far from gym.
 

Melby– Pros: Great study dorm, close to Buntrock and classes. Cons: Not a crazy weekend place, no options for sextets/quads, rooms aren’t super large.
 

Hilleboe– Pros: Large rooms, very social. Cons: Far away from everything, share half with Freshman, etc. (Can you tell which one I dislike the most? Haha)

 

Here is the information on which floors are for girls so that it makes things a little easier:

https://docs.google.com/a/stolaf.edu/viewer?a=v&pid=gmail&attid=0.1&thid…