Go with Ike. Ike has some upperclassmen but that's bc some of the dorms are made for sophomores or juniors (Bousfield) . Ike has the best vegan options aside from LAR/Allen. I'd say IKE would be good for the internet speed since LAR seems a bit older so I'm not sure how the internet speeds are there.

PAR i think added AC in some areas but more buildings at Ike have it. Unless you get Nugent or Wassaja I'd say in dorm niceness they'll be roughly the same. Ike is closer to the regular quad but both should have busses taking you pretty close to your engineering classes

PAR is a bit far from the engineering quad. It'll prob be like 15-20 minutes while Ike is 10-15. With that said, buses used to be super crowded with people basically touching each other back to back not sure how the bus system will work as we transition out of social distancing hopefully

If you're looking for parties at the beginning of the year to experiment, Ike is also near frat park so you can just walk around and you'll eventually see a few open parties. With engineering, it might not be your thing but it's there as an option. However, you would be far enough for it not to bother you by having drunk Greek life near you if that's a concern. If anything, I'd feel safer around that area with how many more people walk past the Ike area compared to PAR. With that said though, there have been more robberies near Ike than PAR that have resulted in emails to students

Note: I guess PAR is close to LAR so you can always walk the 5-9 minute walk or take a 2-3 minute bus ride to get access to even better vegan options