Living in a freshmen dorm as a sophomore isn’t as horrible as it sounds

While there is an increasing amount of students accepted to BU every year, the amount of available housing remains the same, which makes housing as an incoming sophomore a game of chance. Because of this, many of us are stuck living in “freshmen dorms” such as West Campus or Warren Towers… again.

But living in these mostly-freshmen spaces definitely feels different the second time around. In some ways it’s better, but in others it is so much worse.

Floor meetings

This sound really exciting – if you are a freshman

As a freshmen, I thought floor meetings were somewhat necessary and took them relatively seriously. But as a sophomore, sitting on the floor in the hallway for an hour playing icebreakers and being told how to locate the “George Sherman Union” or the “College of Arts and Sciences” qualifies as actual torture.

Going to the dining hall is a force

With a new year came more scattered living situations and busier schedules, and finding the time to have a nice group meal in the dining hall takes more effort than last year’s ease of everyone being within a few floors of each other for a majority of the day.

As a freshmen, getting food at the dining hall was a mostly pleasant and social experience. Lobster night was super exciting and breakfast for dinner felt like a blessing. But after a year of dry “pork loin” and salty kale, my taste buds have decided they deserve better and dining points became my best friend. There will always be a special place in my heart for the waffle maker and visiting chef series though.

Knowing how to make the most of a tiny room

Pure art

The rooms in the West Campus dorms and Warren are obviously very small, so it’s important to learn the art of designing a room in order to maximize space. Planning like this takes at least a year of thinking and cramping to bring to life.

All of the stereotypes about freshmen are true

Being that I was a freshmen last year and am definitely still the exact same person, I came into this year swearing that I would not be one of those sophomores who hates freshmen despite having just been one. But as a sophomore, I completely caught on to how much fun it is to be that way. They wear lanyards around their necks, travel around Allston in giant herds, and are always weirdly happy and excited. But I know for a fact that I did all of those things last year too (minus the lanyard) and had a great year.

So props to the freshmen for being freshmen.

The elevators are a social scene

The thing that stands out the most while living in the freshmen dorms as a sophomore is the way the freshmen act towards each other in the elevators.

I can think of at least 15 elevator rides during which random people would greet each other, and proceed to inquire about each other’s names, floors, schools, and majors. I found this very invasive and confusing until I realized they are freshmen just trying to be friendly. I’m sure we all did this at some point, but my current self can’t even imagine asking strangers in the elevator if they are going to Bingo Night.

Never having to be the host

Although many sophomores ended up living in the freshmen dorms again, most didn’t. Therefore, chances are that if you are a sophomore living in Sleeper, for example, you know at least one other person who lives somewhere bigger and better, such as 1019, Stuvi, or an off campus apartment. This means when it comes down to a group decision for a pregame location, nobody expects anything from you. You never have to deal with the stress of cleaning up a mess of cups and potential spills, while internally worrying about whether or not your RA is about to come yell at you.

Overall, living in the freshmen dorms as a sophomore is kind of a mixed bag. The rooms are small and your floor’s RA may be breathing down your neck, but at least the dining hall is only an elevator ride away and it’s the cheapest on-campus option.

Would I want to live here again next year? Absolutely not. Does living here this year suck that much? Only a little.