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NewsvineIt’s that time of the year again, the one hitch to spring quarter: the Draw. Everywhere students are scrambling to figure out draw groups and their housing plans for next year. Unfortunately, the Draw isn’t like class: you can work at it all you want, but ultimately it comes down to one random number.
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Between 1 and 500
For those lucky students who drew between 1 and 500, you are practically guaranteed the best housing. If you want a lively social scene, great food and nice rooms, Bob, Mars, Jerry and 680 all live up to their reputations.
Bob
Most of the rooms in Bob are spacious two-room doubles, except for the unfortunate presence of two quads and a quint. Bob’s prime lower Row location ensures that this house is never quiet. According to Mikayel Currim ‘08, “There is usually Beirut going on three or four times a week,” and “the chef is the bomb.” Good food, good social life and big two-room doubles.
Mars
If you’re afraid of getting stuck in that quint — or a sophomore with low status in the in-house Draw — then maybe Mars is the place for you. Here, seniority is not used in the in-house Draw. All the rooms are one-room doubles, though, and they vary in size from broom closet to cavernous. However, if you’re lucky enough to end up on the third floor, the lofted ceilings and spacious rooms are completely worth it. According to fifth year co-term Lizzie Suiter, Mars’ “central staircase means that you see everybody,” and there are lots of social events, creating a ‘pretty tight knit community.’” And don’t worry, the cook is excellent and will prepare special dishes if you ask.
Jerry
If you’d like a little more personal space, then check out Jerry. Almost all the rooms are huge two-room doubles, although sophomores may end up in a triple instead. And naturally, with its great location — right on Lake Lag, next to KA — Jerry has a thriving social life. One caveat: the bike uphill to get home is grueling. But once you’re home, “the food is great and the chef is amazing,” says Mia Hamamoto ‘10.
680
And if you want to be ‘that kid,’ the one who gets the best number and lives in the classic holy grail of houses, you have to look into 680. 680 is right next to Theta Delt, Kappa Sig and SAE. According to Jen Avrin ‘08, 680 is “pretty loud” with lots of partying on the weekends. To top it off, it has “the best open kitchen, the best food on campus,” says Avrin.
Between 500 and 1000
Now if you didn’t draw under 500, don’t worry: the range between 500 and 1000 offers excellent housing too. There are the classics like Narnia — great rooms but a really long bike ride — and Phi Sig — intimate and right next to the row. There are some other places, though, that might not be on your radar yet.
Chi Theta Chi
If you’re into co-ops (and you applied for priority), Chi Theta Chi has a good location and a unique atmosphere. With a gorgeous house just off of Mayfield, Chi Theta Chi is known for hosting parties with live bands. As a co-op, all the food preparation is allocated communally — as is the cleaning, which can leave it a little dirty at times. According to sophomore Ahmed Alkooheji, “a big part of the house is being willing to take care of it.” And as a house that is “able to maintain a house identity from year to year,” according to Patrick Fortune ‘09, it really does offer a distinctive environment.
Grove Lasuen and Mayfield
If you want to stay close to the row, the Grove houses are just a step away from everything. Their situation is slightly unique: Grove is split into Grove Lasuen and Grove Mayfield, but you draw into them as one. And if you’re in a group larger than four, your group may be divided between the two houses. The food is decent, according to Sara Heaps ‘10, who observed, “If I go to dinner and I don’t like what we’re having, I’m surprised.” Heaps also said that the house is relatively quiet, that “it’s not a party house, but it’s fun.”
Durand
If you prefer a nice, newly renovated house a little further from the commotion, Durand has a gorgeous lawn and a nice view down the hill. The house is mostly one-room doubles of decent size, with interestingly shaped rooms and sloped ceilings on the third floor. Holly Stebing ‘09 said that Durand “is pretty well known for having a social house” despite its trek down the row, and that “the chef makes great and unique desserts.”
ZAP
And if you don’t mind being surrounded by sorority girls in the Cowell cluster, ZAP is all large two-room doubles. According to Max Zamkow ‘09, “the food is one of the three or four best on campus,” although Avrin felt that it wasn’t quite as good as the food at 680. Both, however, agreed that there were a good number of social events at ZAP, including lots of parties on weekends.
Between 1000 and 2000
Now if you draw a preferred number higher than 1000, the Draw becomes a bit more challenging. Most of the favored housing is no longer available, so you have to figure out where exactly your priorities lie — rooms, food, distance from campus, etc. The range from 1000-2000 covers everything from the co-ops to Lagunita to GovCo. It’s all about what you prefer.
Yost
Yost, located reasonably far down Santa Teresa, is the Spanish language themed dorm in GovCo. It is made up of mostly large one-room doubles, with a handful of two-room doubles and singles available as well. According to Kit Garton ‘10, “the food is not fantastic,” but fellow sophomore Caroline Kusin said that there are amazing Indian dinners. And this year the students living in Yost have really bonded, according to both Kusin and Garton. So if you don’t mind sharing a big room (two double beds fit comfortably in these doubles), and you’re into Indian food, Yost may be the place for you. Just make sure to rally your friends to maintain the great atmosphere, because according to Garton, with a fun group of students, “Yost is the best place ever.”
Lagunita
A little closer to the center of campus (but not by much) is Lagunita. As Ashley Lohmann ‘10 commented, “Lag tends to be known for its quietness.” There usually isn’t much mingling between the freshmen and the upperclassmen, but the upperclassmen do get one big advantage: singles. For freshmen these rooms are known as mini-doubles, but as singles they are fairly big. Five dorms make up Lagunita: Ujamaa, the African-American theme dorm; Naranja, the entrepreneurial theme dorm; Eucalipto, Granada and Adelfa. The dining at Lagunita isn’t too bad either — it’s the same dining that Roble uses and that FroSoCo and FloMo often use on the weekends. “The dining hall is one of the best on campus,” said Lohmann, “with awesome brunches and a lot of variety.”
Toyon
If you’re a freshman interested in reliving your all-frosh days, then Toyon is the place for you. Toyon is the only all-sophomore dorm and is located right next to Branner, just a skip away from Meyer and the Quad. It’s made up of mostly two-room triples, with some quads as well. Toyon’s high ceilings certainly don’t make up for the lack of space in the earthquake rooms, which offer “just enough room to live,” according to Julie Ralph ‘10. The regular rooms, however, are much better. One major problem with Toyon is the food. Michelle Nguyen ‘10 described the food as “terrible” and “bad,” and said that the open kitchen is “not stocked very well and gets really disgusting.” The food aside, you’ll like Toyon for its above-average social life. According to Andrea Taylor ‘10, “our hall is really bumping.”
Suites
Suites is set up as four- and six-person rooms. Each person gets a miniature single and the group shares a large bathroom and common space. Instead of a dining hall, Suites has multiple eating clubs which, according to Midori Uehara ‘10, are “really all good” and have fresh food and “really good salad bars.” The eating clubs also have open kitchens stocked with lots of snacks. One downside to Suites, though, is that it is one of the farthest residences down Santa Teresa, and many students are apprehensive about this distance. Heading away from Suites, “the bike is downhill everywhere,” but coming back is really hard, said Uehara. Despite the distance from main campus, the social life is pretty good. Suites has its own special dinners, parties and progressives, and a lot of parties are held in the Suites eating clubs.
Between 2000 and 3000
By the time you enter the draw for your unpreferred year, you’re not even worried anymore — housing is guaranteed to stink. While the options available for those with numbers above 2000 may not be perfect, they still have redeeming features. About the only thing left from this point on to 3000 is that we’re all suffering together. Hey, at least we’re still on campus.
Sterling
Barely. Robinson and Potter are the dorms located in Sterling Quad; at the end of Santa Teresa, this is basically the edge of the Stanford universe. Surprisingly, though, they’re not all that bad. The bike ride to class is brutal, but both dorms have almost all two-room doubles — which are fairly big — and some one-room doubles as well. And Sterling Quad is known for Ricker Dining, rumored to be one of the best dining halls on campus. According to Kelly Wright ‘09, Ricker is “really, really good dining,” and Leigh Lucas ‘10 agrees. “They have awesome food,” said Lucas. However, Wright adds, “They’re not social,” since they are so far away, and right next to FroSoCo. Lucas cut Sterling a little more slack, saying that the social life is “pretty dull but not terrible.” It could be worse. And there are some nice balconies. But that bike ride...
Mirrielees
Speaking of bike rides, here’s another one: Mirrielees. It’s not nearly as bad as Sterling, but the bike down Escondido is surprisingly uphill as you go to class. Mirrielees is an apartment style dorm, with mostly two-bedroom triples and some three-bedroom quads. Each room has its own bathroom and kitchen, and they come with a sofa, table, stools, and everything your kitchen needs — except of course, food. It is possible to get a meal plan through another house nearby, such as ZAP, but most residents attempt to cook for themselves. Cooking is a big concern for many students, and according to Michele Liu ‘10, “sometimes it’s hard because I don’t have time, but I get to choose what I eat and I like it better than dining hall food.” There’s nothing better than always having your favorite foods right in your room, as long as you don’t mind grocery shopping. The biggest downside to Mirrielees, if you can get past the cooking, is the lack of social life. “The social life is limited,” said Liu. “There are always so many parties but they’re usually within groups.”
FloMo
And then there is FloMo. It’s much closer to campus, thankfully, and has pretty good food. According to Annika Ozinskas ‘10, “they always have a good salad bar and Mediterranean food, and the fro yo is so good.” As a freshmen dorm, the social life is pretty fun, but for upperclassmen, you “need to have good people,” said Ozinskas. Most upperclassmen prefer to avoid FloMo, which means that it is usually one of the fallbacks for those who draw unpreferred. All of the rooms are decently large one-room doubles, which isn’t bad for students with such low draw numbers. But though it is not horrible, FloMo is not particularly great either.
Stern and Wilbur
Last — and probably least — are Stern and Wilbur. These are the classic freshmen dorms with small one-room doubles and terrible food. But by the time your draw number gets this low, you really don’t have a choice. You could just give up entirely and try to live off campus; I’ve seen some great housing off of University property. But then you’d have to cook, clean and commute. You might as well face it: if your number is this low, you’re going to be reliving freshman year.