Purdue University
- Campus Housing

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Purdue University - Campus Housing - Campus Housing - College ProwlerCollege Prowler3.46

Campus Housing

Quick Stats

On-Campus Housing Available? Yes
Campus Housing Capacity 11,622
Average Housing Costs $4,319
Undergrads Living On Campus 40%
Number of Dormitories 12
Number of Campus-Owned Apartments 1
Best Dorms
  • Earhart
  • Hillenbrand
  • Shreve
Worst Dorms
  • Cary Quad
  • McClutcheon
  • Meredith

Student Author OverviewWhat's This?

Freshmen attending Purdue are not required to live in the residence halls, but it is an unwritten rule that they do so. It is the best way to become entrenched in college social life, and students say that they have forged lifelong friendships with people they met during their freshman year in the residence halls. It’s advisable to try and get out of living at Meredith Hall or Cary Quad (unless you can get into the new suites). Hillenbrand is undoubtedly the most spacious of the residence halls, but students are only eligible to live there after their first year.

The best bet for all of the residence halls is to get a loft that will elevate the beds and leave room for personal amenities below. All of the residence halls, except for Hillenbrand and the new Cary Quad suites, share communal bathrooms, which sometimes feels like an invasion of privacy. But they are cleaned everyday, which is a plus. Although students state that some of the residence halls’ rooms are bordering on the wee side, the residence hall life is definitely a freshman’s social hub. Residence halls are filled with amenities, such as computer labs and game rooms, where residents can pass their free time. Different halls arrange social events such as barbeques, movie nights, and themed weeks. Separate floors have elected senators who arrange treat nights, excursions, and fun activities to bring the residents together. Your room may be cramped, but the social trade-off of living in the residence halls is definitely worth it.

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Purdue Student ReviewsWhat's This?

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Campus Housing at Purdue University

karlidavis7

Industrial Engineering '15

3.1
B-

Dorms Are Overpriced

The dorms at Purdue are not worth the money students are expected to pay for them. Many residence halls do not have air-conditioning. The ones with air-conditioning have small rooms and/or are located on the far side of campus. Many students say they enjoy living in the dorms closer to the middle of campus with bigger rooms and no air-conditioning.

May 23, 2012

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Campus Housing at Purdue University

cjlynn

Civil Engineering '14

4.2
A-

Nice Dorms

The dorms are nice, but people find ways to party.

May 23, 2012

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Campus Housing at Purdue University

PurdueEng93

Aerospace and Aeronautical Engineering '15

3.8
B+

Great Place to Live

I love everything about living on campus. I lived in Wiley and it is very close to campus and has large(er) rooms. Only downside is no AC :(. Also the reason for B grade is that the price (for any dorm) is like around $10,000. kind of sucks but meals are inluded, which are pretty good haha

May 12, 2012

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User rating for Purdue University - Campus Housing is 3.5 out of 5 based on 59 user reviews.

Student Survey Poll ResultsWhat's This?

Rate campus housing on the following subjects

Facts

Room Types
  • Doubles
  • Singles
  • Suites
Bed Types Twins
Also Available
  • Almost all Greek houses have rooming options for their members.
  • Cooperative housing is available (seven houses for men, five for women), and touts itself as the least expensive housing at Purdue.
  • Purdue Village has over 1,000 apartments, but these are only available to graduate students with families, or professors. Undergraduates had better stick with the residence halls or Hilltop Apartments.

Cleaning Service

No

Did You Know?
  • Although Earhart Hall is named for famous graduate Amelia Earhart, the aviatrix actually resided in Duhme Hall in the Windsor residence halls while a student at Purdue, and in Meredith Hall when she was a staff member (which tells you how old those residence halls are).
  • If one were to open the lobby doors in Windsor's Duhme, Shealy, Warren, and Vawter, you would be able to shoot an arrow straight through all of them.
  • Windsor halls have been designed so that all rooms receive at least some sunlight each day.
  • Shealy Hall is named after the Shealy sisters. The three of them pledged that they would give all their worldly possessions to a university in Indiana for use by female students.

DormitoriesWhat's This?

Cary Quad
Floors: Four plus basement
Number of Occupants: 1076
Bathrooms: Shared by floor (in new suites the bathroom connects two bedrooms)
Coed: No, men only
Residents: Freshmen, sophomores, juniors, seniors
Room Types: Doubles, suites
Special Features: Study and recreational lounges, pool tables, table tennis, large-screen TV viewing areas, and laundry and vending areas. There is a centrally-located computer room with a dozen stations. Cary’s unique enclosed courtyard area is great for games, Frisbee, tossing a ball, having a barbeque, or just sunbathing. Films are screened in the courtyard.

Earhart
Floors: Eight plus basement
Number of Occupants: 788
Bathrooms: Shared by floor
Coed: Yes
Residents: Freshmen, sophomores, juniors, seniors
Room Types: Doubles
Special Features: Earhart has an ironing room on each floor. The main floor also has vending machines, an ice machine, two computer labs, and two kitchens. Also includes upright and grand pianos, a guest apartment for family rental, a large screen TV and VCR, two study lounges, luggage storage, a linen room, and the laundry room is in the basement.

Harrison
Floors: Eight plus basement
Number of Occupants: 816
Bathrooms: Shared by floor
Coed: Yes
Residents: Freshmen, sophomores, juniors, seniors
Room Types: Doubles
Special Features: Study lounges, rec room with pool table, foosball, Ping-Pong, TV lounge with large screen TV and couches, music room and grand piano in the formal lounge. The Boiler Connection grill and convenience store is located in the basement.

Hillenbrand
Floors: Eight plus basement
Number of Occupants: 800
Bathrooms: One bathroom per two rooms, suite-style
Coed: Yes
Residents: Freshmen, sophomores, juniors, seniors
Room Types: Suites; two bedrooms with two people a piece, connected by a shared bathroom
Special Features: Each floor has its own kitchenette, pressing room and lounge. Each room is equipped with air-conditioning and heat unit. Hillenbrand also contains study lounges, a piano, a big screen TV, pool table, foosball, air hockey, Ping-Pong, laundry, vending machines, and stamp machine. Next to the dining hall is the Griffin Express bakery and grill.

McCutcheon
Floors: Eight plus basement
Number of Occupants: 752
Bathrooms: Shared by floor
Coed: Yes
Residents: Freshmen, sophomores, juniors, seniors
Room Types: Doubles
Special Features: Several study and recreation lounges, conference rooms, a computer lab, e-mail terminals, widescreen HDTV, upright and grand pianos. Also contains a music room, a kitchenette, vending and ice machines, a laundry room, storage facilities, a microwave on every other floor, two pool tables, a Ping-Pong table, a pinball machine, and a foosball table.

Meredith
Floors: Three plus basement
Number of Occupants: 620
Bathrooms: Shared by floor
Coed: Yes
Residents: Freshmen, sophomores, juniors, seniors
Room Types: Doubles, a few singles
Special Features: Study and recreation lounges, one pool table, a Ping-Pong table, a wide screen TV, a conference room, a computer lab, an ATM, vending and ice machines, laundry rooms with irons and pressing boards, and storage facilities. The Boiler Crossing mini-mart is located in the basement. There are also two kitchenettes, one baby grand piano, two upright pianos, a music practice room, and an exercise room.

Owen
Floors: Four plus basement
Number of Occupants: 712
Bathrooms: Shared by floor
Coed: Yes
Residents: Freshmen, sophomores, juniors, seniors
Room Types: Doubles
Special Features: Computer lab, ATM, fax service, laundry, change machine, TV lounge, formal lounge, a grand piano, study rooms, kitchenette, pool table, vending machines, post office, and two dining rooms.

Shreve
Floors: Eight plus basement
Number of Occupants: 852
Bathrooms: Shared by floor
Coed: Yes
Residents: Freshmen, sophomores, juniors, seniors
Room Types: Doubles
Special Features: Shreve is known as the “Wellness Hall.” It sponsors activities, events, and other programming focusing on the six dimensions of wellness: physical, occupational, spiritual, intellectual, emotional, and social. There are air-conditioning units in the residence areas. Study and recreation lounges, pool tables, Ping-Pong, widescreen HDTV, air hockey, arcade games, conference room, computer lab, ATM, vending and ice machines, laundry, storage facilities.

Tarkington
Floors: Four plus basement
Number of Occupants: 712
Bathrooms: Shared by floor
Coed: No, men only
Residents: Freshmen, sophomores, juniors, seniors
Room Types: Doubles
Special Features: A formal lounge, student study rooms, a computer lab, a copy machine, vending machines, a fax machine, VCR/DVD player and movie checkout, a Ping-Pong table, and a billiards table.

Wiley
Floors: Four plus basement
Number of Occupants: 748
Bathrooms: Shared by floor
Coed: No, men only
Residents: Freshmen, sophomores, juniors, seniors
Room Types: Doubles
Special Features: Besides the amenities that all residence halls have (computer lab and study lounges), Wiley Hall has its own beach volleyball court They also have a lovely hidden courtyard. The post office is located in the basement.

Windsor (Buildings: Duhme, Shealy, Warren, Vawter, and Wood)
Floors: Four floors in each building plus basements.
Number of Occupants: 748
Bathrooms: Shared by floor
Coed: No, women only
Residents: Freshmen, sophomores, juniors, seniors
Room Types: Doubles, singles
Special Features: Study and recreation rooms in each building, lounges, pay copier, laser printer, exercise rooms, pool table, Ping-Pong table, a kitchenette, tools and fax machines, vending and ice machines, widescreen TVs, storage facilities, a laundry room in each building, a computer lab (Wood Hall), grand pianos in each building, and the CAPS office. All buildings connected by tunnels. As the oldest women’s dorm on campus, the architecture is Tudor style, giving it a castle-like appearance.

Young
Floors: Nine plus basement
Number of Occupants: 200
Bathrooms: Some private, some shared by floor
Coed: Yes
Residents: Freshmen, sophomores, juniors, seniors
Room Types: Singles, doubles
Special Features: Air-conditioning, cable, network connection, lounge.

Campus-Owned ApartmentsWhat's This?

Hilltop Apartments
Number of Units: 100
Bathrooms: Private
Coed: Yes
Residents: Freshmen, sophomores, juniors, seniors
Room Types: Efficiency, single
Special Features: Hilltop residents are very active in the community (they host a Halloween Carnival and Easter Egg Hunt). The rooms themselves resemble actual apartments, with kitchenettes and so forth, preparing students for post-dorm living.

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