Top 10 Dorms at The Ohio State University

Below is my list of the top ten dorms at The Ohio State University. The primary focus of this project will be directed towards labeling and describing parts of campus particularly the types of dorms on each side of campus. I hope this guide helps visitors, incoming students, and current students living on campus see how great Ohio State is.

Caption: The Towers on West/Olentangy Campus at Ohio State

First, there are three parts of campus which are North Campus, South Campus, and West/Olentangy Campus. West includes the name Olentangy because of the river that runs through the West part of campus called the Olentangy river. West Campus has Abraham Lincoln Tower & Justin S. Morrill Tower, also known as The Towers. Morrill Tower and Lincoln Tower are two undergraduate residential houses at The Ohio State University. Additionally, the Towers are located on the west campus of the Ohio State University across from the Drake Union off the east banks of the Olentangy River. Morrill Tower is to the right of Ohio Stadium on Cannon Drive. Both are in proximity of OSU's RPAC (Recreation and Physical Activity Center) and the Wexner Medical Center.

Caption: The image above is Morrill Tower which is on West/Olentangy Campus at Ohio State

1) Morrill Tower

Morrill Tower was named after Justin S. Morrill. Morrill was a U.S. Representative (and later Senator) from Vermont. Morrill is known for his work on getting a bill to be passed in Congress in 1861, which was signed into law by President Abraham Lincoln on July 2, 1862. The Land Grant—or Morrill—Act, provided the means to establish The Ohio State University and defined its mission. The Morrill Act stated that the proceeds from the sale of state lands was to go into an endowment fund that would enable designated colleges and universities to offer tuition more cheaply because of the federal support. It also made designated colleges and universities teach both scientific and classical studies, as well as military training as the bill was signed during the Civil War.

Overall, Morrill Tower has 23 floors. Currently floor 2 is used as a dining hall and campus store. Floor 3 is used as a lobby and the Student Life Office of Housing Administration. Lastly, Floors 4-23 are used for residence hall purposes. Additionally, some more history that is perhaps well-known especially now is that in 1978, serial killer and sex offender Jeffrey Dahmer enrolled at The Ohio State University and resided in Morrill Tower. Dahmer resided in Morrill Tower for only one quarter and never officially declared a major before flunking out of the Ohio State University. Besides this unsettling history, the tower itself has a great community as it houses countless students, particularly freshman, giving it a nice home to connect with fellow buckeyes.

Caption: The image above is Lincoln Tower which is on West/Olentangy Campus at Ohio State

2) Lincoln Tower

Lincoln Tower was named for the nation's 16th president, Abraham Lincoln because he signed the Morrill Act into law in 1862, which established the system of land-grant institutions in the U.S. and thus made the founding of this University possible. This tower has 23 floors in total, floors 1-14 are used for office spaces, while floors 15-23 are used for residence hall student rooms. Lastly, this tower houses the Ohio State Esports Arena that the Ohio State Esports team uses to practice and compete in.

Compared to the look of West Campus, North Campus is more modern-looking with buildings that have large glass pane windows as well as brick sidewalks for students to walk on. North Campus is known for the Clock Tower, The North Rec Center, as well as Traditions at Scott, which is the largest dining facility on campus. Overall, the amenities are much better on North Campus compared to the rest of campus. Most if not all the dorms on North Campus have A/C which is a plus. Additionally, if one lives on North Campus, they are close to 18th Avenue Library as well as a short walk away from Thompson Library. North Campus is by far more popular than the other two parts of campus, however if your major has classes on south you will indeed get your steps in for the day. North Campus has many dorms in which case can be separated into two distinct categories. There are newer buildings on North Campus that are in high demand and therefore are rate 1 for students. The most popular dorms include Houston, Nosker, Blackburn, Torres, Scott, Busch, Bowen, and Raney. These dorms are supposedly called the NRDT buildings, which means there are the newer dorms/buildings on campus. All these buildings are great dorms for OSU students to live in, with each dorm having a great number of amenities for students to make the most of their years living on campus.

Caption: The image above shows Scott House as well as Traditions at Scott, Ohio State's largest dining hall on campus, both of these halls are located on North Campus.

3) Scott House

Scott House has seven stories with resident rooms starting from the third through to the seventh floor. Apart from the much-needed air conditioning, the house has two bathrooms on each floor with a community sink area. Residents can also access a lounge area on every floor. Kitchen and laundry facilities are also available. This dorm is unique and known on North Campus for being connected to Traditions at Scott, the largest dining hall/facility on campus.

Caption: The image above shows Blackburn House located on North Campus.

4) Blackburn House

Being part of the Blackburn-Haverfield Complex, the Blackburn House is an eight-story residence hall with resident rooms from the second to the eighth floor. Each floor has two bathrooms; each with a community sink area and individual-use, lockable rooms with showers and toilets. The house also has a study/lounge space on each floor, kitchen facilities, laundry facilities and air conditioning. This dorm even has a billiards room with three nice pool tables. The Ohio State Billiards Club uses this room in Blackburn for club meetings to play some pool.

Caption: The image above shows Bowen House located on North Campus, on High Street and Lane.

5) Bowen House

Bowen House is a six-story residence hall with resident rooms on floors two through six. Each floor has two bathrooms: each with a community sink area and individual use. There is an office within the hall that is staffed to respond to inquiries made by the residents. Other features of the hall include study/lounge space on each floor, kitchen facilities and laundry facilities.

Caption: Image above pictures Nosker House located on North Campus, near Blackburn House and Curl Market.

6) Nosker House

Nosker House is a six-story residence hall with resident rooms on floors three through seven. Each floor has two bathrooms; each with a community sink area and individual-use, lockable rooms with showers and toilets. The house also has a study/lounge space on each floor, kitchen facilities, laundry facilities and air conditioning. This dorm is right by Curl Market, a To-Go market-like food place for students as well as in close proximity to Blackburn House.

Caption: The image above shows Lawrence Tower located somewhat off-campus on Lane Avenue, yet is still part of North Campus.

7) Lawrence Tower

Lawrence Tower is an eleven-story residence hall with resident rooms on floors two through eleven. The building has its own parking lot, own trash removal services, vending machines, study area, air conditioning and handicap access. There is also an office that operates for 24 hours which respond to requests and inquiries from residents. This dorm used to be a hotel, like a holiday inn type of hotel that was converted into a dorm recently for Ohio State students.

Finally, is South Campus, which has a lot for students as well. This side of campus is the most historic part of campus. Being the oldest part of campus, the buildings and dorms on South Campus are mostly all red brick buildings with great detailed architecture. Some people believe that these types of dorms make South the prettiest side of OSU’s campus. Although South has great historic beauty, there are some downsides to South as well. Most of the dorms on South have no a/c such as Mack, Canfield, and Baker Hall. Although there are some dorms on South that do have a/c and are hotel-like buildings with similar amenities to those on North Campus. These include Smith-Steeb, Park Stradley, and a few others. Smith-Steeb and Park Stradley are in high demand due to location and both of their amenities such as a/c. Lastly, these dorms are near popular places such as the Thompson Library, the Student Union, Jesse Owens South Rec Center, Traditions at Kennedy, the Oval, the Marketplace on Neil, etc. Overall, South Campus has many great things from its historic image to being near popular OSU places for students.

Caption: The image above shows the main entrance of Smith-Steeb Hall, one of Ohio State's dorms on South Campus.

8) Smith-Steeb Hall

Smith-Steeb is an eleven-story residence hall with resident rooms from the second through to the eleventh floor. The building has two wings where residents are housed together on either wing depending on their gender. Each floor has four bathrooms (two on each wing). There are recreational/gaming equipment in the lobby and public spaces around the hall. This dorm is one of the very few dorms on South with A/C. Lastly, this dorm has Academic Year Housing as well, meaning some students are part of a learning community and therefore must live in Smith-Steeb Hall.

Caption: The image above shows Park-Stradley Hall, one of Ohio State's dorms on South Campus.

9) Park-Stradley Hall

Park-Stradley is an eleven story residence hall with resident rooms on floors two through eleven. The building has two wings where residents are housed together on either wing depending on their gender. Each floor has four bathrooms (two on each wing). There are recreational/gaming equipment in the lobby and public spaces around the hall. This dorm is one of the very few dorms on South with A/C. Lastly, this dorm has Academic Year Housing as well, meaning some students are part of a learning community and therefore must live in Park-Stradley Hall.

Caption: Image above shows Residence on Tenth which is located on South Campus at The Ohio State University.

10) Residence on Tenth

The Residence on Tenth is reserved for upperclassman students only. It is a six-story residence hall with resident rooms on floors one through six. It is part of the William H. Hall Student Residential Complex. It has single-gender room/suites on mixed gender wing/floors. It has many amenities such as study/lounge spaces on each floor, kitchen facilities, laundry facilities, an indoor bicycle storage space on the first floor, dining Services adjacent to the facility, as well as air conditioning. Overall, this dorm located on South has almost everything a student would need and even beyond that compared to other dorms on campus.

All in all, there is no wrong side of campus and it all depends on the student’s preferences and lifestyles. There are many pros and cons to every part of campus, but as long as one is a buckeye here at The Ohio State University, one can always make great, fond memories that will last a lifetime.

I chose to make this project to help visitors as well as incoming freshman learn about campus and be able to see everything The Ohio State University has to offer. This project will be about the top 10 dorms to visit and even live in on campus. The project will rank and include the following: dorms, libraries, buildings, attractions, and just sites in general to check out. The primary focus of this project will be directed towards labeling and describing parts of campus particularly the types of dorms on each side of campus. I hope this guide helps visitors, incoming students, and current students living on campus see how great Ohio State is.

Additionally, I believe this will be a great asset to my Research Community. I believe this asset that I have created will be of value to current Ohio State students as well as historians of The Ohio State University plus other college historians. In addition to this, this asset will be insightful to incoming Ohio State students such as freshman or transfer students. This asset has helpful information about Ohio State’s dorms and buildings on campus in Columbus, Ohio. This information can be helpful for those researching The Ohio State University by providing information to historians and others who are trying to find information about Ohio State. For example, if a historian or perhaps an incoming student is researching college dorms one can use this asset to gain knowledge about Ohio State’s dorms. Furthermore, someone from my Research Community can even determine which dorm or side of campus is preferable to them from reading this asset. The decision of what side of campus one prefers more can make it easier for an incoming student or transfer student when it comes down to completing the Ohio State housing process. Overall, as said before, I chose to create this asset to help visitors, incoming Ohio State students as well as current Ohio State students, college historians, or anyone else that would be considered part of my Research Community by creating an asset that has insightful information about Ohio State, particularly OSU’s dorms on campus.

Moreover, I went about creating this object by splitting this asset into a top ten list. From there I decided to split it even further by categorizing the three main parts of campus, being North Campus, South Campus, and West/Olentangy Campus. I decided to include all three sides of campus in my top ten list of OSU’s dorms. I felt it was important to not exclude any certain side of campus as each has unique features and amenities that make each side of campus special and different. Additionally, those who will read and use this asset may have different preferences from other readers. Therefore, I had to take this into account by deciding to include and incorporate all three parts of campus into my asset.

I ranked the dorms in order of one through ten based on location, amenities, and popularity by Ohio State students. I put the towers first because both have quite a bit of history attached to them. Since the purpose of this asset is to add onto major project 3, which was about the history of Ohio State’s most historic dorms and buildings, I thought that the historic towers would be great to start off with in this asset. Next, I ranked North Campus higher than South Campus because North Campus is more popular with Ohio State students. Subjectively by OSU students, North Campus by far has the best amenities on campus. North has the largest dining facility, great gym facilities, better and newer dorms with A/C, and more. Therefore, I decided to rank a few popular dorms on North Campus before ranking South Campus dorms on this asset. Lastly, I ranked South Campus to finish off this top ten list by including the most popular dorms on South. This includes Smith-Steeb, Park-Stradley, and Residence on Tenth due to high demand for these dorms. These dorms are all in high demand on campus due to them all having A/C as well as a great location on campus. Overall, as said before, any part of campus is great as all three parts of campus have their own pros and cons. It is really based and comes down to the student’s choice of preference on where one wants to live on campus at The Ohio State University.

Furthermore, the Creative Commons license I chose is CC BY-SA. This license allows people to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format, so long as attribution is given to the creator, being me. The license allows for commercial use as well. If one would remix, adapt, or build upon the material, one must license the modified material under identical terms. In summary, credit must be given to the creator, being me, and adaptations must be shared under the same terms. I chose this license because I am fine and happy for others to use, share, adapt, add onto my work, etc., as long as credit is given to me no matter what. Meaning that one must cite me in their sources/works cited page/section of their work when using or referring to my work, being this asset. All in all, this license would suit me best because others could use this asset, but also give me necessary as well as credit that is deserved with all the hard work, I put into creating this asset for readers.

I would like people to use this object/asset in the future by using it to learn insightful information about the dorms on campus at The Ohio State University. I hope this asset helps those needing it as well as looking for some information about Ohio State’s dorms. Additionally, I hope the information this asset has will help students, whether that means incoming students or current Ohio State students. I hope these students gain information that can help them with their decision on where they want to live on campus when completing the OSU housing process. In sum, I hope this asset eases the overwhelming decision as well as process students must face and endure while choosing where they want to live on campus at The Ohio State University.

Finally, the other work that I have done this semester influenced my process. The other major projects helped me because they all covered the same topic as this asset. Thus, each major project has built upon the other which as a result has helped me in creating this asset. I enjoyed the process of creating all these projects, but mostly of creating this one because it seems to connect and tie all of the previous projects together. Therefore, the process in making this top ten list was easier in a way compared to making the other ones because I already had learned so much about this topic and Ohio State’s dorms from my other works/projects from this class.

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