Hey freshman! New in town, or new on campus? Many studies done through UA Residence Life and the Admissions Office have shown that living on campus, in one of the university’s 21 residence halls, improves the overall college quality and experience in those first years.
Does that fact hold true for all students? Brought to you by past and present residents of UA housing, we’ll take an in-depth look at some of the most discussed campus residence halls.
It’s no mistake to assume that almost all of first-year college students yearn for that community feel in their residence halls. While it may come as a surprise to you, the most unexpected halls may have just what you’re looking for.
Gila, Apache-Santa Cruz and Cochise are a few of the residence halls with the best community feel, said UA alum and former 2-year Resident Assistant Chris Waters.
“”The thing about the small dorms is that they were big on the community feel,”” Waters said. “”They are well-known for that, as well.””
Having a tight-knit community within a residence hall, Waters said, is based on the involvement of hall council, participation at hall events, activity and togetherness of each individual wing.
“”These residence halls have a great community, because then they can do things like giant capture the flag games and huge dinners where the activity and participation are always high,”” he said.
“”Gila was where it was at freshman year,”” said Brian Yong, an economics senior and a former on-campus resident.
Yong was a resident in fall 2006 and still calls some of his first-year hallmates his best friends today.
“”I got over the size of the halls real fast, because it’s more about the friends I started to make and the new chapter of my life,”” he said.
Looking for the biggest rooms on campus? The UA has two residence halls currently containing some of the largest units, by square feet, on campus.
“”Babcock and Navajo-Pinal Stadium Hall both have some of the biggest rooms on campus,”” Waters said.
He said that if residents should find themselves assigned to a smaller room, bunking beds and lofting the furniture always creates more space.
For many first-year students, finding the residence halls with the craziest socialites and late night fun may be their priority. Coronado and Arizona-Sonora undoubtedly win in that category.
Dominating the southwest corner skyline, Arizona-Sonora and Coronado house a combined 1,300 students in the neighboring residence halls.
“”I lived in Coronado and absolutely loved everything about it,”” said Taylor Horwitz, a pre-education sophomore. “”When I applied for housing, I previously heard it was the most social and fun hall, which is exactly what I wanted, and decided to make it my first choice.””
When it came down to studying, she said there were plenty of resources available and rooms for all residents to use if they wanted to get away from the daily social setting of the hall.
Being social in Coronado is at the discretion of each individual resident, she said.
“”When you do want to be social, you can just leave your door open and have all your hall mates and friends come in and hang out,”” Horwitz said.
If you are looking for the newest halls, you will find them on Highland Avenue.
Not only do they feature the newest and modern looks of UA residence life, but they also have many close attractions.
Nearby on Highland Avenue, students will find the Campus Recreation Center, Highland Market, a total of seven residence halls along the street and the UA Mall a few blocks away.
So there you have it, some of the most popular and most stereotyped halls of the UA’s on-campus living. No matter which hall a resident is assigned, each one has its own identity.
