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Dorms are where we spend most of our time as college students. As the semester winds down, you’re probably either thinking your dorm stinks or wishing you could live there forever. Either way, let’s be honest with ourselves — some dorms are better than others. I spent days hiding out in other people’s dorms (is this illegal?), gathering data behind closed doors — literally — to write this article for you, dear readers. No journalist has been brave enough to do what I am about to do: write a brutally honest review of every freshman dorm on Syracuse’s campus.

6. BBB – Building Community Through Collective Suffering
Starting at the bottom is the dorm students love to hate. But what most people don’t understand about BBB is that this freshman dorm builds character and community. Those who live in BBB are under constant persecution from the rest of society and as a result, these poor souls cling to each other, creating a beautiful sense of community. I imagine the Mount as the popular jock in a 90s movie while BBB is the misunderstood nerd who takes his glasses off and is suddenly kind of hot. I respect Triple B only because everyone likes an underdog story.

5. Haven – Haven’t Heard of Her
Where is that again?

4. Sadler – The Dome’s Unfortunate Neighbor
Let’s be real. Sadler has some perks. With a pretty adequate dining hall and not the worst location on campus, I can see the appeal. One of the only downsides to living in Sadler is any construction on Dome can easily interrupt your well-deserved slumber. Hopefully, no further construction is needed. I mean they already assembled a roller coaster with color-changing lights on the top of the Dome. What else can they add?

3. The Mount – You’ll Love Your Calves After This…
At number three, we have a fan favorite: the Mount. If you’re looking to get killer calves, request to live on the Mount. You’ll be climbing about a thousand steps (I counted) to get to your tiny open double every day. If you can look past the steps, the Mount isn’t such a bad location in which to start off. Every other freshman you meet will tell you that they live on the Mount. That can be a great thing if you’re trying to make friends, but a terrible thing if you are trying to pull off a Henry David Thoreau.

2. Lawrinson – Bigger Doesn’t Necessarily Mean Better
Some people say size doesn’t matter, but when you’re required to take the stairs during a fire drill, the taller a dorm is, the more stairs you will have to climb down. A shorter dorm never hurt anybody. Twenty-one floors? Really, Lawrinson?

1. Shaw – The It Girl
Let the angry emails roll in, but I have to get this off my chest: Shaw has the best location and the best dining hall on campus! Shaw is close to campus and doesn’t require you to climb up two thousand steps (I counted again) to get to your dorm. The dining hall is never that busy. If you’re a freshman living in Shaw, consider yourself lucky. Remember — you can have bad days, but at the end of the day, at least you don’t live in BBB.

Published on November 14, 2022 at 9:32 pm