An honest guide to housing at BU
Yes, Warren Towers IS that bad
One of the more important choices you’ll have to make during college is where you’re going to live. As a first year, housing options are limited but most students tend to choose between Warren Towers on East Campus or one of the West Campus dorms. This has lead to one of the longer standing feuds among BU students. Some are die-hard East Campus fans arguing that you can’t beat the location while West Campus residents live and breath by “West is Best!”
As you become an upperclassman, you get even more residences to pick from (if housing doesn’t screw you over, which it probably will.) But if you’re the chosen one, and get a good housing number, you’ll want to seize the opportunity and pick somewhere to live that you won’t regret.
To help you do so, here’s an honest guide to BU housing told by BU students.
East/Central Campus
Danielsen
“Hidden gem of East campus. It really does feel like you are living in Back Bay and not on campus, which is nice. Easy to get spacious rooms because no one knows about, plus many rooms have great views of the river and city. The neighborhood is fun because it is by MIT frats and Qmart. It’s a pretty good place to live if you want a more relaxed vibe than west campus and can’t get into Stuvi. It’s also the same price as warren.” -Samantha Day, QUESTROM’19
“Good dorm, shitty location.” -Marwan Sallam, ENG’19
Hojo
“Hojo honestly wasn’t too bad because of the AC and private bathroom.. but then again my previous living experience was in Warren so literally anything is a step up.” – Maria Vital, COM’19
“575 Commonwealth, commonly referred to as Hojo, was a shit show… and I don’t mean that in the fun way. That place looked straight out of a scary movie based on an outdated hotel with flickering lights and it’s not very social.” – Olivia DaGrosa, CGS’20
“Don’t live in Hojo unless you want a dormant sex life.” -Anon
Kilachand
“After living in a quad in Warren my freshmen year, Kilachand felt like such luxury especially considering my roommate and I were lucky to have a room all to ourselves and a bathroom without a suite style joining two rooms like most Kilachand dorms. Only downsides to this sophomore dorm were the occasional house centipedes and the fact that our view was the brick wall of an MIT frat house next door which loved to throw down on Monday nights keeping us up.” -Ezgi Toper, COM’19
“I have really mixed feelings about living in Kilachand. For me, Warren and West were too big and Kilachand had the advantage of being a smaller community. One thing I really disliked was that if you weren’t in the honors college, it felt like you were an outsider.” -Daera Thomas, COM’20
“Living in Kilachand was nice because firstly, bay state is beautiful and secondly it was just close enough to campus to still feel like I was a part of it, but far enough so that I could get some space from the college hustle and stress. It was also one of the more spacious dorms so that’s a plus.” – Sarah Kim, COM’19
Warren Towers
“I only enjoyed Warren because I got to nap in between my classes.” – Connie Wolff, QUESTROM’20
“I would say I have a hate love relationship with Warren, mostly hate.” – Jyoti Devagupta, CAS’20
The Towers
“When I lived in Towers, people went out of their way to not talk to me and there was one time that the pipe broke in the bathroom and I was in some dire need of help and the people on my floor just ran away instead of calling someone. Lol weird place.” – Anne Van Besouw, CGS’20
Bay State Brownstones
“Living on Bay State is fabulous – I’ve lived there the two years I’ve been at BU and will be there again this coming school year. I love that I am on campus while still living on a residential feeling beautiful street with preserved historic Boston history. When else will I live on a gorgeous street in a city on the water?!” -Kate Weiser, COM’19
West Campus
Claflin/Sleeper/Rich
“West campus’s proximity to Goodwill was perfect when I needed to pick up some movies on VCR for cheap.” – Harry Perrault, QUESTROM’20
“West campus is great because it feels like a smaller community within BU. It’s close to fitrec, hockey games, and parties, and is filled with outgoing people who are easy to make friends with. The RA staff is stellar as well, as Sleeper 7 knew last year, which makes the transition into freshman year even easier.” -Matt Hinke, QUESTROM’20
“West is best.” – Morgan Chrisman, CAS’20
“Felt a lot like a neverending summer camp. So good that you forget it costs over 60k a year.” – Kaitlyn Hirsch, SARGENT’20
1019
“I wasn’t ENTIRELY happy living in 1019. Pros were takeout from starmarket on the reg and not having a roommate for the second semester because my roomie had to leave. Cons were the 25 minute walk from 1019 to Sci, spending WAY too much time getting up and on the BUS, and having to buy toilet paper since Res Life refuses to provide that needed service.” – Nivi Saravan, CAS’19
“1019 is cool because you are right across the street from T Anthony’s and I’m not gonna lie, I had mozz sticks and pizza at least twice a week.” – Laura Davis, COM’18
“I was in 1019 and I loved it. It’s one of BU’s smaller big dorms, and because of that there is definitely a unique culture that develops. It’s also mostly sophomores and a few upperclassmen and freshmen, and there are a lot of sports teams and greek affiliations. So it’s pretty fun, and people are really chill. Weekends can get rowdy. But I really loved it. Also, we have the best security guards. ” – Anju Okutani, QUESTROM’19
1047
“Minus two crazy roommates, I loved living in 1047.” – Will Lambert, QUESTROM’19
“1047 is basically Antarctica because of distance to BU classes in terms of walking. That two minutes extra of a walk than 1019 was honestly make or break of me making it to class on time.” – Laura Davis, COM’18
Stuvi
“Stuvi 1 is lit af cause you get a dope view and you get to eat your own food and not the SUS eggs in the hall. Miss the potatoes though cause they are gods gift to freshman and sophomores that have to live in warren and west.” – Sam Brooks, COM’18
“Stuvi 1 is awesome because you don’t even have to put on shoes to go see your friends because everyone lives there.” -Megan Brogan, SARGENT’18
“‘I’m moving you into the Hilton Hotel right now’ – my parents on Stuvi2.” – Sharina Mirpuri, QUESTROM’19
“I honestly really loved living in Stuvi 2! Waking up to the view of the river every morning is incredible and never gets old. I also always feel like I’m in an episode of friends because I can go down the hall and make dinner with friends and end the day with them.” – Maddie Durso, CFA’19
South Campus
“South has the comfort of convenience that central campus has, yet it’s far enough away that you feel a part of the beautiful Fenway neighborhood. However, if you’re looking for a social environment, it’s not South. It’s almost abandoned, silent, I didn’t even hear people celebrating the super bowl win. I only heard my apartment going crazy.” -Patricia Asuncion Santana, QUESTROM’19
“I lived a brownstone that technically belongs to south campus but it was very far away from the rest of the south dorms. Very isolated but nice and quiet, it was a fine room with nothing special. Shared one toilet/shower with the other 7 people on the floor which was really frustrating. Location wise it’s not very ideal but the walk is a little closer than west. ” – Elliot Gordon, COM’19
“The 24 hour convenience store was nice but honestly would’ve stayed in west since I couldn’t even cook without setting off fire alarms.” – Triston Waiss, QUESTROM’19
Long story short, don’t live in Warren.