What is FroSoCo?FroSoCo is a program where freshmen and sophomores live together in a single dormitory so that freshmen can have more interactions with upperclassmen. Many students enjoy this opportunity to bond and make friends with both fellow freshman and upperclassmen in an environment that promotes this form of mentorship between freshmen and sophomores. If you decide to sign up for FroSoCo, you can leave after the first year if you want, so don't worry--you aren't signing away your sophomore year freedom. But if you do decide to come back for your sophomore year, you'll be given additional incentives, like first pick for rooms.The dormitory itself is located on West Campus in Governor's Corner, almost right next to the Stanford Red Barn. It is rather far away from all the other dorms, so it may take a lot of persuation to get your friends in Wilbur and Stern to visit you. To compensate, Governor's Corner does have one of the best dining halls on campus, Ricker. What is it like to be in four-class housing?A dormitory that is deemed "four-class" is one that contains an assortment of freshmen, sophomores, juniors, and seniors. The distribution is usually weighted a little more heavily towards freshman, so that it is easier for you to bond with others of the same class year. The presence of upperclassmen means that you will get to meet many upperclassmen, and maybe even get some advice on picking classes and professors. However, unlike FroSoCo, these upperclassmen are not required to help you, so your mileage may vary. Four-class dormitories also tend to be a bit tamer and quieter than all-freshman dorms, since upperclassmen are often much busier than freshman in terms of academics, so they tend to have less parties.What is it like to be in all-freshman housing?An all freshmen house is definitely more cohesive than a four-class dorm, mainly because these are freshmen who have not yet developed their "friend circles". On the first day, everybody is in the same boat--nobody knowns anybody, so it is much easier to find a group of friends to hang around with. On the other hand, in four-class dorms, the upperclassmen are often in these dorms with a group of friends, so they may be more cliquey than freshmen. Nevertheless, almost all students at Stanford are quite outgoing, and are probably more than willing to help out a freshman in need of some help. Freshman only houses also have dedicated academic peer counselors living with you, so you always have somebody you can go to when you have questions about picking classes, or are confused with how to plan out your next few years.Coed versus single gender floors?It really depends on what you think of as a comfortable environment. In most dormitories, the coed floors have separated bathroom and shower stalls, but with a common sink area. Although some students worry about being seen with messy hair, etc. by those of the opposite gender, in the end, most people get used to it. If you really do care though, then single-gender floors is probably the way to go. In terms of noise level, while there are certainly stereotypes for co-ed floors being louder than an all-female floor, it really depends on the people. For example, if all the guys like visiting the ladies, the ladies floor may be significantly louder than the others. In the end, you really cannot say that certain floors will be louder than others, so I suggest you not take that into consideration.How will I do homework if there are parties?Many of you have probably heard many stories about college life and how everybody goes out and parties now that their parents are not there to supervise them. While this is true to some extent, it is definitely an exaggeration and you should not be put off by it. But if you have a need for quiet space, there are many places you can go on campus to do this. A very popular destination for students in need of study space is Green Library, with its newly renovated beautiful West Wing. During finals week, you'll see hundreds of bikes parked in front of Green Library--that really speaks to how nice a place it is.I don't like my dorm. What should I do?While Stanford does its best to distribute students as diversely as possible it is inevitable that some freshmen feel that they do not get along with their dorm. There is not very much you can do about it, except going out, and joining students organizations where you will find other students who share the same passions and interests as you.If your problems revolves around intrusive parties, loud noises, etc, you should talk to your RAs and RFs about it. You deserve to get a good nights rest, and if somebody else's partying is preventing you doing so, you should talk to the residential staff about it. Okay I'm really looking forward to college. Anything I should read up on?It is always a good idea to know what you're getting into. College is a very unique experience so you might want to talk to some returning college students about what people do in college, etc. You can also read the article on getting a jumpstart as a freshman. |