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Dorm Life
I would suggest living on campus your freshman year because everyone needs the experience. The best dorms are Riverside, Lakeside, and Ridgecrest. They are currently working on North Bluff which is assumed to surpass all other dorms. Those dorms are the best because they are suite style living where you have your own room, share a bathroom with one other person, you have a kitchen, and a living room. But of course these are the most expensive options. Tutwiler is the all girls dorm, 2 to a room, with community bathrooms right along the edge of sorority row. Tut is convenient for sorority girls because it is near all of the houses, however with elevator traffic you have to give time to get anywhere with 14 floors of a bazillion girls. Its old and beaten down and you either love it or hate it... from what I've heard its 80% hate, 20% love. It does have there own little mini mart for snacks and the math lab is connected to the building. Parking in Tutwiler isn't so bad because they have their own separate parking pass color. Burke East and West are older dorms and you have to share a room with another person but there is common room connected to another room shared by two other people for the 4 person layout. Burke also has community bathrooms. Tutwiler and Burke aren't so bad if you like your roommate, its crammed but if you get along there should be no problem. The nicest part about Burke is that it is right along the edge of the quad and probably the closest to any class rooms, and it has its own dining hall and mini buffalo phials downstairs. Paty is an all boys dorm which i don't know much about but I've been in it once, its a very old building which is two boys to a room with community bathrooms, however each of the bedrooms has a sink and mirror in it. The Paty Packaging center is located at the bottom which is convenient if you're expecting a lot of packages, but they don't take USPS so thats always frustrating. Mallet is across the street from Paty and is considered the "nerd dorm" or "GDI central" to most on campus, unless you're apart of Mallet of course. There are specific requirements to live in Mallet but there are benefits such as picking you're own RA... i think. Summerville is next to Mallet, which is an old building that i know nothing about. There is also the Blout initiative housing for those over achievers... i hear its nice but again know nothing about it. Paty, Mallet, Summerville and the Ridgecrest's are about a 2-5 minute walk from the Ferg. Riverside and North Bluff are way back there, there used to be Rose Towers but those of your coming in as the 2016 class are lucky they torn that place down. hopefully you'll have better parking. Lakeside Dining hall is right in the middle of Paty, Summerville, Mallet, Lakeside, Riverside, and Ridgecrest. So all of those dorms eat out of there. With Riverside, and North Bluff you need to set aside at least 15 minutes to get anywhere because its back along the river. I lived in Riverside, i didn't have a car so parking wasn't an issue but was to those who did have a car. I LOVED having my own room and the dining hall is close, overall a good choice... totally worth the money.