After attending [email protected] today, and seeing all residences but Edwards, Ive ordered my top 12 residence picks. Just wondering if any first year students have come up with their picks so I can see if my picks aren't waaaayyy off.

Heres my list, with short explanations :

#1: Hedden Hall (Very nice, bright, big rooms, nice bathrooms...right next to new stadium)

#2: Les Prince Hall (Very new, you get your own bathroom...I dont like the interior design though...looks too clinical...dont like all the red on the first floor)

#3: McKay Hall (Big rooms, big windows, nice location, overall good feel )

#4: Mary Keyes (Nicest res but also most expensive :S)

#5: Matthews Hall (From what Ive seen, bigger than average rooms)

#6: Moulton Hall (massive game room with large windows with view of cootes in basement)

#7: Brandon Hall (Decent rooms, decent bathrooms, but overall too big for my liking)

#8: Whidden Hall (Nice bathrooms...rooms seem a bit small...overall the res seems a bit dingy and closed-in)

#9: Woodstock Hall (meh, nothing special)

#10: Edwards (not really a fair since I didn't see it, but whatever)

#11: Bates Halll (feels like walking into a dungeon....too many upper-year students for my liking)

#12: Wallingford (considering I can't go there hehe)

That's a pretty good ranking. I just have a few comments (these are just my opinions):


- rank Matthews lower than 5....way lower. Sure the rooms are relatively big, but the bathrooms and old and repellent, and the entire building in general has this eccentric design (I think they advertise it as a "active/wellness design" or something like that)
- I'm surprised you got the dungeon feel from Bates instead of Brandon. When I toured Brandon a year ago I felt somewhat claustrophobic, and the rooms didn't seem any better than other double rooms on campus so I ranked it relatively low
- Edwards: small building, huge rooms and res atmosphere. I think you just kick its ranking up a notch
- Les Prince: I'm not that picky on distance, but if you are, you may not like walking from Les Prince to ITB for an 8:30 class - check out the campus map to see what I mean ;-)
- Moulton: if you don't mind the common bathrooms, this is a pretty good res.
- McKay Hall!!! - I lived in this res in first year (so I'm a little bias) and it was awesome. The rooms vary in size (even the ones on the same floor) but they're still relatively spacious compared to other buildings. There are 2 private (i.e. non-common) bathrooms per 4 rooms, and the study rooms have a peaceful view of DBAC (the athletic center - also the closest res to it) and the walkway to TSH. Definitely a top 3 residence.

I have a bias for Whidden. I know it's ugly...but res is more about the atmosphere and meeting people than the esthetic.

I lived there in first year and had the time of my life. I know lots of people who have lived there over the years, and had, well, the time of their lives. Whidden is big on tradition which makes it really fun.

My Official Ranking: (look about right to you?)

No 1 Building Hedden Hall ----------------------Double occupancy room
No 2 Building Hedden Hall ----------------------Triple occupancy room
No 3 Building Les Prince Hall -------------------Double with washroom
No 4 Building McKay Hall ------------------------Double occupancy room
No 5 Building McKay Hall ------------------------Triple occupancy room
No 6 Building Mary E. Keyes Residence ------Suite style room
No 7 Building Moulton Hall ----------------------Double occupancy room
No 8 Building Matthews Hall -------------------Double occupancy room
No 9 Building Brandon Hall ---------------------Double occupancy room
No 10 Building Moulton Hall --------------------EXPANDED TRIPLE
No 11 Building Whidden Hall -------------------Double occupancy room
No 12 Building Edwards Hall -------------------Double occupancy room
No 13 Building Woodstock Hall ----------------Double occupancy room
No 14 Building Edwards Hall -------------------Triple occupancy room
No 15 Building Bates Residence--------------- Four bedroom apartment

Here were my pics/ notes from May @ Mac.

1. Hedden Hall: Nice rooms, nice atmosphere, the bathroom situation was pretty awesome. It seemed very nice. The location was also wonderful, right beside the stadium and close to the athletic center.

2. Edwards Hall: I'm really biased towards Edwards because it's been my top pick for the longest time. La Masion Francais will hopefully be a full on theme next year. The rooms were also decently sized. The rez held fewer people so it was nice and felt very cozy. Best location on campus.

3. McKay: Nice sized rooms, a lot of light, great location.

4. Wallingford: Loved the tea room, it seemed very nice and like a quiet rez. It had this olden house feel and stule which I absolutly loved.

5. Brandon: It was big and very overwhelming, but I liked that there'd be a bunch of other people and I liked it as a "party" atmosphere sort of rez.

6. Matthews: Really awkward building design on the inside. The rooms were really nice and spacey though. It's location sucks though. If it's the wellness house I think it should be closer to the athletic centre.

7. Woodstock: Nothing too too special, but I liked its location. The rooms were decent, but not too special.

8. Whidden: It seems like a fun rez, but a huge turn off was that most the rooms were bunk/loft rooms. Good location though.

9. Moulton: Nice rooms, I didn't like how it only had singles & triples though. Bad location.

10. Les Prince: Far from everything. It made me feel like I was in a hospital. I really didn't like it AT ALL. the only good thing was the personal bathrooms, but then again I don't mind sharing.

11. Bates: I don't care for apartment styles so I didn't get to see it...

12. Mary E. Keyes: Same as bates. I don't care for the suite styles.

I would move Keyes down in your ranking. Especially if you're worried about cost. The room is 6100 for the year. And it's hard to meet people.

http://housing.mcmaster.ca/Residence...ions/Fees.html

On the Moulton tour, the guide said moulton only has triples and singles....but on the website it says they have doubles too.

Have all the doubles been converted to triples...is that what TRIPLE EXPANDED means?

I am not sure exactly what expanded triple means, but I have a feeling it means the size of the room is larger than a standard triple.

.

Funny thing is, triple rooms in Moulton were the smallest triples I had seen. Leads me to belive the may have been converted from doubles. Nice thing about them was they did have alot of storage space though.

Hmmm.

Well, not being from H&CSn and/or having seen a triple in Moulton in more than three years...I don't really know!

J-Met, although Brandon, Whidden, and Woodstock seem to be pretty generic residences, they do have one redeeming quality - the underground tunnel to Commons. That tunnel was a lifesaver when it was cold, rainy, snowy, or when I just didn't feel like getting bundled up to go grab a snack. And to second what lorend has been saying all along, the people really do make the res - I came to Mac knowing absolutely no one, and my floor quickly became my family.

ps...McKay has tunnel access as well, making a great res even better.

um just wondering what does everyone think of Matthews pros cons? I'm thinking of putting that as my first choice...

whatever the residence u mite get in there is one huge difference in the quads u get

Generally from personal experience and from hearing from friends and everyone else North quad is a more social quad. If u want to meet people and have a social time pretty much north quad is your thing. north quad residences are traditional residences. Plus the big ' party residences ' are in north quad thereby pretty muhc making it the rowdy one. Residences like Whidden , Brandon and Hedden gives north quad the flavour and rowdiness it is famous for

As for West Quad, it is more the quiet quad suitable for people who like to stay to themselves and study or something. The positives out of it are that u will have a quiet time at mac. The negatives are that u wont meet AS MANY ppl as u wud have prolly with a north quad residence. The fact that the 2 biggest residences in west quad are suite style makes it quieter.

As for going thru each residence in itself the ist of residences starting from the biggest ( most populated ) to tiniest is as follows.

Brandon
Bates
Hedden
Whidden
Les Prince
Woodstock
Matthews
Mckay
Moulton
Edwards
Wallingford


And again for those of u interested the biggest party residences are Brandon, Hedden and Whidden.


But the best rez in my opinion has to be Whidden. It is a very united , closely knit residence. Where almost all the 400+ prolly know each other. Very very social residence with a LOT of tradition. The National Lampoon movie ' ANIMAL HOUSE ' is based on whidden hall. Has a tradition of being really rowdy and fun loving. Has produced a LOT of famous alumni from mac.

Originally Posted by J-Met

#9: Woodstock Hall (meh, nothing special)

lol, nice comments. Nice.

I've lived for a weekend in Woodstock three times for the MSU CLAY Conference (2006,2007,2008) and HORIZONS (2005). Also stayed in Hedden for last year's HORIZONS conference. I liked how Hedden has washrooms/showers right outside of your door, individual ones. Very nice. Interesting hallways too, lol. Woodstock is pretty standard, I'd agree.

Hedden would also be my top choice if I was in first year and wanted to live with a roommate to meet new people, etc. After that it would be Whidden, then Brandon. If I was wanting my own place that was more suite-style I'd obviously choose Mary Keyes.

Mehran, 333 people live in Whidden!

Aaaand Animal House is based on a US school, and not Whidden...coming from Matthews Alumni Ivan Reitman who produced the flick.

And you call yourself a true Whiddenite! Jeez.