Residence Options

Hey prospective students!

For those who have ACCEPTED (yea!!), or considering accepting iSci, a lot of you have asked about residence.

I was hoping this discussion can go over the details for residence, and for us current iSci students we can speak to our experiences in residence. We also have a couple of iSci students who were CAs, so they can talk about that side of things also.

I'll start it off, by saying there are definite pros and cons to each (suite style vs single, dorm vs residence style), and think about which type of experience you want for your first year of university, and which type of residence will best suit that! There are also tons of horror stories many students have from residence, and I'm sure some will share those here too

So I'm really in to cooking and am wondering about Bates vs Mary Keyes vs traditional (I know that those have kitchens on each floor.)

I was wondering if current students have an opinion of tradition vs. suite style dorms? Is a suite worth all the money? Is is realisitc to regularly use the kitchens on each floor of traditional buildings?

I lived in Les Prince first year, and mary keyes second year, now off campus. And I dont htink it's too realistic to regularly use hte kitchens on each floor of hte bulidings thus I think Bates wold probably be the best choice as mary keyes is extremely expensive (but very nice and definitely the best choice if money isn't an issue)

For those into cooking, definitely Keyes and Bates are your two options. I know of people using the public kitchens, but I think it becomes a bit more of a hassle. Especially because, only in Bates and Keyes do you have cupboard space, a full fridge, etc.

Don't underestimate the traditional style dorms though. I know many students in the suite/apartment styles who regret not living in them, as some may argue that these provide people with the "real university experience" and I remember at least in my year, I would hang out in Moulton a lot (despite living in Keyes), just because there was more of a community feel in the res, as everyone knew everybody. (The trick is to have friends in every res -- which makes iSci a good program when everyone's in different residences).

Has anyone lived in Halcyon House for the quiet theme? If so, did you enjoy it?

I'm not 100% sure but I dont think any iSci's lived there. You'll probably spend most of your time studying in the iStudy anyways!

I lived in Bates, Keys and now off-campus. In order of decreasing niceness (living quality, hygiene, etc): Keyes, Bates, and off-campus.
If you are trying to decide between bates and keyes (which are pretty much the only two choices if you want to cook), keyes is nicer but feels more like an office than a home. Bates feels more homey, but that is just my opinion. You can't really go wrong with any choice.