^^ What it is that makes traditional-style residences more party-friendly is the room accessibility: if your door is open, you are almost in the hallway. In a suite-style room (all of which have doors that close when you aren't there holding them open), you are just further away from the hallway (i.e. where the people are). Walking down hallways of traditional-style residences, you'll see many doors wide open; practically all the doors in a suite style, however, you'll notice will be closed. It doesn't seem like a big deal, but it really makes suite styles seem less inviting.

I haven't seen any rules for where partying can/must occur, but I'll tell you one thing: even rooms in traditional styles can hold a lot of people... and with a door open, people can flood into the hallway or travel to nearby rooms. Whatever gos, gos.


^ I know what you are saying, only $1800 for a private washroom doesn't sound too bad; however, you will get used to sharing a bathroom with the rest of your floor. I haven't heard of anyone who couldn't (and no, I don't think it is worth the extra $1800).

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Honours BMSc Specialization in Medical Science UWO '09
Bachelor of Pharmacy Alberta '13 ???

Thanks for the info matt. I'm looking at Saugeen to save about $800 over Perth, and though that may not sound like alot, that's a couple textbooks or a large part of purchasing a laptop, so I think it's definitely worth it. I was only really looking at Perth for it's proximity to the football field where I figure to spend most of my time when not in class or studying, but I don't really like the room layout.

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UWO '12 Social Science

how much is the difference between suite style and traditional?

also, is there single rooms available in the traditional halls?

My Opinions:
- You do get to know more people in traditional style residences. Of course, it depends what type of person you are but most people keep their doors open. There isn't the psychological barrier caused by 2 doors in suite style (1 main door to you suite, and another to your room). Any given day, it's easy to find someone to talk to. In my opinion, you get a lot closer to people on your floor. Someone earlier asked where partying happens or something like that. Just in people's rooms...If there's a floor party, doors will be open, and you can just mingle..

-I've heard people say stuff about Saugeen being a party residence, or suite style residences being better for studying....it really depends on you. There's always going to be a party going on somewhere..it's just a matter of shutting your door and motivating yourself to work . Most people are respectfull of your needs so if you ask, they'll be quieter. If not, there are plenty of study lounges, and other rooms..And you can request quiet floors to in some residences.

-Traditional style residences have a lot more history and..well..traditions behind them. I mean, I know people whose parents went to medsyd way back when.

to bigbadsheep: Saugeen really isn't that close to the stadium, you're about 3 blocks away, then you have to walk down a hill to get to the actual stadium. For the best proximatey to everythin, choose Delaware, another traditional residence. It's the closest residence to any class and you can almost cut a straight path to td water house stadium. (even med syd is closer). Saugeen was and still would be my last choice. I know that you make friends and can have a great time, but because of it's sheer size (1200 students. the biggest rez), and distance from everything, I wouldn't pick it. Besides, it's exactly the same price as delaware and med-syd.

and..to add to what I said earlier about bathrooms..
It's never crowded. I've never had to wait for a sink, bathroom or shower. Of course, as the year goes on and you get closer to your floor, you might have shower parties, sauna parties, the guys might go shave together, etc..

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2nd Year Student
UWO BioMed Sci '11

^Med-Syd is closer really? I would of thought because of the bridge and all that it's longer. I was told Saugeen is relatively close to most first year courses in the Arts and Social Science. One of the courses I'm looking at is at Huron and the majority of the others are Social Science, so just wondering if anyone has an idea where the majority of my classes would be. As for the proximity to TD, while I'd like to have less distance to limp home after practices LOL, I've been around the campus and it doesn't seem that big (maybe I'll change that view after the first practice ). How late do the buses run around campus?

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UWO '12 Social Science

I live in Perth right now so I can offer you some insight, but my experience will differ from your experience.

- Food: definitely a lot better than Essex, nowhere close to Saugeen. Because of it's size, everything in Saugeen is fresh daily (cookies, fruit, sushi, etc.) & they also have more selection (more types of cereals to choose from, a daily stir-fry bar, etc.) whereas in a smaller residence, it wouldn't be eaten so quickly so they can leave the same desserts out for 3 - 4 days. People say that food is the same everywhere, but that's not true: Delaware's cookies are more oily than Saugeens (dab it with a napkin and it turns transparent); the interactive specials at Essex are horrible (ie. Pasta bar, Curry bar, Perogi bar); only the traditional & Perth residences have snack bar (though in a suite-style, you can just make your own snack, but the snack bar serves pizza, gelato, etc.) and many people in Essex cross the road at 10pm at night just to get food.

- Meeting people: It's really easy to meet people, the trick is to stay in touch. I met tons of people during O-week (during the activities, in the dining hall, in the common lounge, exercise room, etc.) but you can't maintain close friendships with 50+ people, so most of the time you'll be close with your floor but not so much with the rest of the building. Even in Saugeen, my friends are mostly close with their floor and not the people living six units above them. You could probably meet more people in Saugeen, but you won't be forging close friendships with every single one of them, you'll probably be close with maybe 20. And that's the exact same # of people you could meet/get close with in Perth/any suite-style.

- Parties: every rez has parties, you can't escape it. The first 2 weeks are pretty hectic but pretty soon everyone ends up going to the bars instead of staying in rez. At Perth, it's easier to escape from the noise of a party because you're behind 2 sets of doors. Also, since you can close the door and fit 15 people in a double room, you're less likely to be bothered by the RAs unless you're being exceptionally loud. Also, I find the traditional residences to be a lot dirtier. My RA used to be in Saugeen and he told me he had to clean puke up every weekend whereas at Perth, he's only had to do it 6x so far.

- Type of people: You get a variety. There's obviously lots of athletes since varsity athletes get one of their top 4 choices - we have lots of football, rugby, and soccer players but I do know of a couple of track & hockey players. Also, people on continuing scholarships or a high average get priority (despite their insistence that it's all lottery).

Perth is awesome. I think we have the most competitive soph team (60+ applicants for just 26 spots), it's got Mac's (convenient if you run out of toothpaste or toilet paper in the middle of the night) & Subway close by, you can take the bus to campus, and in my opinion, the hybrid style works perfectly because you still have a roommate / closeness but with the way the rooms are L-shaped, you still get some privacy & you can switch up the layout of your room in more ways (with suites/traditional, you're pretty much stuck with the way it came because of the lack of space).

If you're someone who's really big on cleanliness, I would pick suites. The bathrooms in traditional get really disgusting on the weekend. I know people who go to other floors to take a dump just because they don't want to get their own dirty/smelly. Randoms can enter and puke in there. Oh, and I will never forget the day I visited Delaware and one of the mothers in the group asked the tour guide why there was a used condom on the elevator floor (to my knowledge, this hasn't happened at Perth).

Hmm. There's lots of info here! Great - anyone offer some for ... Elgin perhaps?!

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• Everytime you smile at someone, it is an action of love, a gift to that person, a beautiful thing •
Western Babyyy!

Just because you're in Social Sci doesn't mean all your classes will be in Social Sci. Two of my suitemates are in Social Sci but they only have ONE tutorial in the building. My roommate (in social sci) has classes at University College, Middlesex College, Nat Sci, Somerville House. My suitemate (also in social sci) has a class at Weldon Library and the building that's beside Nat Sci (I can't remember it's name) and some other buildings that are not Social Sci.

You're pretty much spread out all over campus, especially since Social Sci encompasses so many subjects: Classics, Political Science, etc... These classes are generally smaller than the science classes (my smallest class is 250+ where my roommate's biggest is about 100) so they can stick you anywhere, whereas if you're in a pretty big class, you know you will be in one of the large lecture halls.

If you're in science, you're almost guaranteed to be at North Campus Building & Natural Science. I have 2 classes at NCB (bio, psych), 2 at Nat Sci (physics, chem), and 1 at Social Sci (calculus... but this semester Calc is in Middlesex College).

The buses change routes/times after 7pm. During the day, one of the 2s will come like every 10 minutes but at night, it's every half hour. I've also never seen the 2A or 2B running at night; just the 2C. The buses stop around midnight, if I recall correctly. If you're in Saugeen, you won't be taking the bus often unless you're going off-campus. Unless you get on at Western/Sarnia (near Perth) and take the bus to Nat Sci, then get off and walk the rest of the way.

Oh, and to whoever said you can fit tons of people in a traditional room... totally true. This year, one of the guys had a stripper come in for one of their buddies' birthday (similar to the Saugeen stripper except this was a real stripper, not a student) and they just piled in his room (this was at Saugeen... naturally haha). It was trashed within 20 minutes but people were sitting on desks, the floor, the bed, the fridge, etc... I think about 30 people piled in to see her.

Would anyone have an idea of what my chances are of getting either a Perth Double or Saugeen Single if I am a Varisty Athlete (Football). I've read on this topic that Athletes get on of their top four, but these are only the really two I'm looking at. Perth for the proximity to TD and Saugeen for the infamous debauchery.

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UWO '12 Social Science

Thanks xc and mynameismattgotmlgo for all the info, you've given me alot to think about, hopefully I can figure out somewhat more for sure when I come back for another visit.

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UWO '12 Social Science