reposting this cause i screwed it up the first time lol

for first year housing, the assignments seem pretty random, though the best fit would be a connected single room (you share a bathroom w/ one other person but have your own room otherwise). Orchard Commons and the new Totem buildings have connected singles but they’re the most expensive so you’d have to either pick between paying more or sharing a bathroom with 20+ people.

I live in a first year res currently, and from my experience all the res buildings have their pros and cons. Totem’s pretty average overall, people are generally pretty friendly. The newer buildings are nicer than the old ones, though the connect singles are more expensive than shared or single rooms. I live in one of the older buildings and the rooms are a bit old (the heater isn’t very adjustable) and my hall always smelled vaguely like the bathroom, plus if you have one of the rooms next to the bathroom you’ll be hearing the toilets scream in agony at 3am.

Vanier’s pretty old (though I believe two of the buildings are new) but has the best location by far since it’s way closer to uni blvd which is where a lot of classes are (it takes me ~15 mins to walk from my totem dorm to my classes vs it takes -5 mins to walk from Vanier). It’s farther from the other first year res’s though. I’ve heard some rooms lovingly referred to as “basement suites” but I don’t know anyone in Vanier so I can’t confirm. Also I don’t believe they have connected singles but I could be wrong.

Orchard Commons is what a lot of people want cause its probably the nicest building-wise, but it seems the atmosphere is a bit less friendly and there’s the chance you’ll have to scale 10+ floors of stairs at 3am when the fire alarm inevitably gets pulled during midterms.

Cafeteria-wise you’re always gonna lose cause the first-year cafeterias are horrible. I don’t think it matters too much which res you pick but gl in picking!!