News-Letter

Media Credit: Laura Bitner [Click to enlarge]

Media Credit: Laura Bitner [Click to enlarge]

As we all know by now, we are required to live in campus housing for our first two years at Hopkins. However, due to the diversity of housing provided by the university, this can be a very positive experience.

A large portion of the class of 2011 will most likely call the AMRs (Alumni Memorial Residences) home. These traditional residence hall-style dormitories provide the true "college experience." While there may be many of us who resent having to share a common bathroom with everybody on the floor, others relish in the social environment that such hardships lend themselves to. The AMRs are broken into houses, which are then mostly divided into rooms shared by two people. The AMR I houses are Royce, Sylvester, Vincent, Willard, Wilson and Wood. The AMR II houses are Adams, Baker, Clark, Gildersleeve, Griffin, Hollander, Jennings and Lazear. Although the people living within the houses change every year, somehow some of the houses have still managed to lay claim to certain reputations. Of course there's Hollander, the all-boys house, which naturally is known for being a bit crazier, and a bit smellier. Also notable Wilson House is named after Thomas Woodrow Wilson, the 28th President of the United States, who received his Ph.D. in history from Hopkins.

Two other dorms solely for freshmen are Buildings A and B (AMR III). A & B feature suite style living. This usually means that two doubles share a bathroom. In addition, they have community kitchens. Building B tends to have a bit more of a social reputation than Building A, but in general both buildings are a great way to enjoy the perks of suite style living while still living in the freshmen quad. Wolman Hall, located just across N. Charles St, is the home to mostly freshmen (as well as a few stray sophomores). The ultimate in luxury for freshmen, these dorms feature suite style living, typically with two doubles sharing a bathroom as well as a kitchenette. The residence hall used to be called the Cambridge Arms Apartments, and housed F. Scott Fitzgerald over 70 years ago. While Wolman sometimes gets a bad rep for being anti-social (they are the only freshmen not located on the freshman quad), freshmen living there are in reality only a two-minute walk from the other freshman dorms. In addition, the amount of partying that goes on in Wolman really varies by floor, just as it varies by house in the AMRs.

Directly across the street from Wolman Hall is McCoy Hall. Renovated from old apartments, McCoy's suites are very similar to Wolman's. In fact, the main difference is that McCoy houses primarily sophomores.

The Charles Commons, the newest dormitory, was just completed in fall of 2006. Suites are either two or four single rooms sharing a living room, a kitchenette and either one or two bathrooms (one bathroom for two people). While many sophomores live in the Commons, it also houses some of those upperclassmen who wanted to remain in campus housing.

In addition to dormitories, Hopkins also owns two apartment buildings. These house mostly upperclassmen, as well as the few lucky sophomores who received good lottery numbers. The Homewood Apartments are a couple of blocks away on 31st Street and North Charles, nestled nicely between the shops and restaurants of Charles Village. The Bradford Apartments, originally purchased to house married veterans attending Hopkins after WWII, are located at Saint Paul and 33rd Streets. Both buildings feature full kitchens and baths, living rooms and single bedrooms, as well as efficiencies. All Hopkins housing options include laundry rooms with coin and J-Card operated machines.

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