Since all first-year student will live on campus their first year, knowing the ins-and-outs of your home away from home can be a major factor in planning classes, where you eat, and the people you meet.
Housing at Dartmouth is always a source of much campus grousing. Although all students pay an equal amount of rent per term, what they get for their money is far from equal. Some freshmen enjoy palatial singles with fireplaces, wall-to-wall carpeting and even full bathrooms while other students are confined to cramped doubles on the outskirts of campus. Yet every dormitory has something that makes it special, be it the bonding or the furniture.
Butterfield/Russell Sage
Butterfield and Russell Sage Halls are known for their convenient location, close to Kiewit Computation Center and Baker Library.
More importantly, to some students, this cluster is just south of Webster Avenue, or Fraternity Row, so the walk home from parties on chilly winter weekends is not much of a problem.
Russell Sage offers freshmen mostly corner room triples, though upperclassmen live in some singles and doubles.
Butterfield, composed of singles and doubles, is the College's substance and alcohol-free housing.
Coffeehouses and non-alcoholic events often take place in a large common room that connects the two dorms called the Hyphen.
Since the dormitory cluster was recently refurbished, the added bonuses of living here include carpeting, Ethernet capabilities and cleaner bathrooms.
The Choates
Even though residents of these dormitories often joke about the need for a bus service to and from the campus center, the Choates cluster is not all bad.
In fact, students living in the four recently-renovated buildings that make up the Choates -- Bissell, Brown, Cohen and Little -- say they get to know one another better because of their cluster's remote location on the north end of campus.
The Choates are composed mainly of one-room doubles and some one-room singles, plus spacious television lounges and kitchens accessible by glass-enclosed walkways connecting the buildings.
East Wheelock
Andres, Morton and Zimmerman Halls, colloquially known as the "New Dorms," comprise the East Wheelock cluster, the newest of all the dorms on campus.
Freshmen who find themselves housed here should get down on their knees and thank the gods of residential life for assigning them to these spacious, posh rooms equipped with private bathrooms and showers.
This year the East Wheelock cluster will serve as a laboratory for Dean of the College Lee Pelton's Dartmouth Experience plan, which aims to increase the interaction between the intellectual and social sides of College life.
Oodles have been spent to renovate the East Wheelock cluster and equip it to become a test for this new residential concept, and earned it the nickname of the "Supercluster."
The cluster will have two resident faculty members living in an adjacent house, a cluster dean, a snack bar and a $25,000 programming budget.
Although a lot of attention and money has been spent on this supercluster idea, unseen drawbacks may arise. After all, having a professor as a next door neighbor may be more of a nuisance than it's worth. Also, the cluster is located across from the Berry Sports center, making it the furthest east of any dormitory and somewhat distant from the center of campus.
The Fayerweathers
Recently remodelled, the "Fayers" rival the New Dorms in comfort, but retain the character of an old-style college residence. Combining three buildings, this massive cluster stands on "the" hill behind Dartmouth Hall.
Due to their convenient location, new carpeting and half-bathrooms, the Fayerweathers tend to be a favorite with students. North, Mid- and South Fayerweather Halls are connected by an underground tunnel, making for easy walks to the laundry room during the dead of winter.
While most rooms in the Fayers are average-sized doubles or two room triples, the largest room on campus is located on the third floor of mid-Fayer.
The Gold Coast
This cluster, consisting of Gile, Lord and Streeter Halls, was nicknamed the "Gold Coast" because, when originally constructed during the Depression, it was seen as the exclusive domain of wealthy students. They are located on the south side of Tuck Mall.
These residence halls are coed by floor, except Gile, which is coed by room. Some of the larger rooms have half-baths and fireplaces.
Hitchcock Hall
Hitchcock's best feature is its location between two popular student destinations: Baker Library and Thayer Dining Hall.
This dorm is L-shaped with a two-story atrium and lounge in the center. It is carpeted and has large comfortable study rooms. Most freshmen in Hitchcock are assigned to recently remodeled two and three-room triples.
Massachusetts Row
In students' minds, these dorms compete with the New Dorms for the title of most desirable housing on-campus, mostly because of their great location.
Located next-door to Thayer Dining Hall and close to Baker Library and the Green, Mass Row rooms are coveted by many.
Mid-Mass is especially desirable because each of its two-room triples and one-room doubles has its own full bathroom. The rooms in North and South Mass Halls are mainly singles and large one-room doubles.
New Hampshire/Topliff
West of the Green along Wheelock Street, Topliff and New Hampshire Halls are the closest dormitories to the Hopkins Center and only a hop, skip and a jump away from Alumni Gymnasium.
Topliff underwent renovations this summer, while New Hamp underwent renovations a mere three years ago.
Most of the rooms in Topliff are singles, but freshmen usually share one-room doubles located at the hall's corners. New Hamp freshmen mostly share two-room triples.
Students in these dorms must deal with the night-time torment of the College's steam plant, whose smokestack has a habit of spewing its exhaust daily at excruciating decibel levels.
Ripley/Woodward/Smith
Often referred to as "RipWoodSmith," these three connected dorms are snuggled between the greenery of the Bema, behind the mass of the Fayerweathers, a secret society and two fraternities.
Even though the cluster is located right next to Alpha Delta and Chi Heorot fraternities, it tends to foster an unsociable atmosphere because the dorms are made up of mostly singles and are single-sex by floor.
Freshman are generally housed in spacious two room doubles with a fireplace and a half-bath, proving that there are some perks to living here. The cluster is also conveniently close to the gym and tennis courts.
The River
The River is the largest cluster on campus. It is comprised of five buildings: Hinman, French, McLane, Maxwell and Channing Cox Halls. Maxwell and Channing Cox are upperclass apartments.
Because of their remote location, this cluster is sometimes referred to as the "Foreign Study Program - Vermont," although many residents say the isolated location makes for greater bonding among the many freshmen assigned housing in the River.
Located at the far western end of campus, beyond the Amos Tuck School of Business Administration and the Thayer School of Engineering, the cluster is about a 10-minute walk from the center of campus.
On the opposite side of campus from the Berry Sports center, the cluster has decided to put in some facilities of its own. The River boasts racketball, basketball and beach volleyball courts as well as a climbing gym. McLane has a weight room in the basement.
The rooms are carpeted and are generally singles or two-room and three-room doubles. Each dorm has a lounge on the first floor.
Wheeler/Richardson
These dorms, located just east of Baker Library, may be the oldest still in use at the College, but that also means they are brimming with character.
As freshmen in Wheeler Hall, students are placed in tiny one-room, L-shaped doubles or spacious two-room triples with half-baths.
Most rooms have working fireplaces, which chilly residents often put to good use during the winter. In warmer times, the Wheeler lawn is a popular sun-bathing and studying spot.
