Washington & Jefferson College - Campus Housing

Quick Stats

College Prowler Take

For many students, housing is what makes or breaks their enjoyment of W&J. For freshmen, it all boils down to luck, and even moreso for freshman guys. The two undisputed worst places to live are both reserved for freshman guys, though it can be hard to tell if the poor quality is because of hard-partying residents or just due to the buildings’ ages. Upperclass and Mellon were both completed in 1949, and it shows. All freshman guys have a roughly 50 percent chance of living there. The women fare much better their first year, though that typically doesn’t stop the complaints. The buildings do improve as you advance through the years, and competition can be fierce among sophomores and juniors jockeying to land a suite in Bica-Ross or New Res. The Greeks are treated the best, receiving their own buildings with no RAs or CAs. The houses in the Row are nigh indestructible, and a good number of the campus’s hardest partiers take full advantage of that fact. In the end, no matter how much you can find to complain about or praise, the buildings themselves are nowhere near as important as the people you live with. Even the most detestable of dorms can foster fond memories, or at least blurred pieces of them, so long as you make the most of where you are. After all, you’ll most likely be moving somewhere new every year, so even if you feel like you’ve been shafted, you won’t have to bear it for too long.

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Students Speak Out

10blakh says: Washington & Jefferson College 2010 Health Professions and Related Clinical Sciences

Dorm Life in Comparison to Cost C The Washington and Jefferson campus is state-of-the-art but the dorms look like they are from the early 1900's. They have just built a new science building and from the looks of it, it cost a bundle but they could spruce up the dorm rooms. For a learning experience like none other, go to Washington and Jefferson but stay at home. 12345 Campus Housing: March 16, 2010 Report

Anonymous says:

I am so glad the sororities moved... I am so glad the sororities moved into the new houses on Chestnut Street! They are spacious and comfortable, and I only have to share a bathroom with three of my sisters. It worked out great! 12345 Campus Housing Report

Anonymous says:

I love living in the Row. Those... I love living in the Row. Those fallout shelters are awesome! I have literally seen a guy take a sledgehammer to the hallway wall, and it only left a scuff mark. You can do anything in those buildings, and they’re easy to clean! 12345 Campus Housing Report

Anonymous says:

The women here can’t really... The women here can’t really complain about housing. The freshman girls only ever end up living in Beau, Marshall, or Alex, all of which are suite-style and perfectly good dorms. The guys in Mellon and Upperclass always complain, but they really aren’t terrible, just a little dingy and sub-par compared to the other dorms. Unless you’re an RA, there’s no chance you’ll end up in those two dorms after your freshman year. 12345 Campus Housing Report

Anonymous says:

Freshmen girls usually end up in... Freshmen girls usually end up in Beau Hall, where I am sure 75 percent of our campus’s drama occurs. The guys will likely find themselves in either Mellon or Upperclass (which should seriously be renamed), which are old decrepit buildings that have public bathrooms with large shower stalls. Everyone hates them at the beginning of the year, but they grow to love them as the year progresses. It is a great environment to meet people, and most people make their best friends while living there. 12345 Campus Housing Report

Facts

Did You Know?

“President’s Row” is the new name given to what used to be called the Quads, and the Residence Center before that. The series of 10 buildings served as fraternity and sorority houses from their construction in 1968 until 2005. The only remaining Greek organization as of 2007 is the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity, located at the very southern end next to Wheeling Street.

The houses in the Row were all built as bomb shelters during the Cold War, and an old atomic bomb shelter sign can still be seen on the outside wall of a few of the buildings.

The Row is home to the new theme houses, like the Outdoor House (ironic though it may be), and the Pet House, where residents can bring their pets to live with them.

Upperclass Hall is inhabited almost solely by freshmen. The only non-freshman are the RAs, yet the name still sticks.

W&J has incoming freshmen complete a survey form as part of the roommate assignment procedure. Questions range from sleeping and study habits to smoking preference to questions asking freshmen how organized they think they are. While the process isn’t perfect, it does help prevent most major lifestyle clashes that could arise.

The College offers honor’s housing to upperclass students with exceptional GPAs, putting them up in some of the old Victorian homes behind the Olin Fine Arts Center.

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