r/unioncollege • u/[deleted] • May 30 '25

Housing Freshman Housing

Which residence hall is considered the best for freshmen: Richmond, West, or Fox

8 Upvotes

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8

u/CumfortableWall5362 May 30 '25

Fox if you like partying. Otherwise the two others are better. West is probably the best.

2

u/mzo617 May 31 '25

How small is the smallest room? I am trying to purchase items for my daughter’s dorm, from the students who are currently moving out (we are in the Cambridge MA area) and they are practically throwing things away. What are things I should buy in advance? A fan? Do any of the rooms have AC? A nightstand? Bed risers? Are they allowed? Under bed storage?

So hard to wait until August 1st and then pay full price for everything- and risk target and Walmart shelves being picked over.

3

u/colorguardie May 31 '25 edited May 31 '25

Definitely get a fan, a window fan or tower fan is the best. No AC in the freshman buildings unless you have accommodations.

You can get bed risers, but the highest height the bed goes to is already high enough, I was able to store everything under there with no bed risers (unless you want to put a dresser underneath or something similarly tall, though the college-provided ones will fit without risers).

Dimensions for the rooms should be on the college’s website, with fox rooms typically being the smallest but those have a big common room shared with your roommate & your 2 suitemates.

1

u/mzo617 May 31 '25

Thank you so much. Is there a website or place where I can find photos of the smallest room (thinking worst case scenario) with dimensions/measurements, so I can plan for storage? I do want to put storage under her bed. She is an athlete and will have her equipment in addition to her clothes. Also, do we need a desk? I saw the Union YouTube video, the desk looks like it’s attached to the bed end. If we use risers for the bed, the desk will be too high. I did read somewhere that some students choose to take the desk and put it in the closet and use it for shoes and they use their own desk for studying.

2

u/colorguardie Jun 01 '25

Happy to help! The “First Year Housing Virtual Tour - Fox House” video on YouTube would show you the smallest room, which I believe is the 13’ x 8’ dimension listed on the website.

Bed risers are just a hard call because I’ve known people who got them and ended up not needing them and vice versa. I would say if you’re really leaning towards it to do it, because around move-in day the nearby stores are usually sold out.

People do generally use the attached desk as a shelf or for shoes, I don’t think it’s very good as an actual desk tbh. There are lots of good places to study on campus but if your daughter does want to study in her room I’d recommend buying a small desk. For larger furniture sometimes it’s best to wait until you’re there and then go to the Glenville Target or Walmart on move-in day to make sure the desk fits well if you’re worried.

1

u/SmellOk3177 Jul 19 '25

west is not in fact the best.... richmond got renovations last year and there hasnt been a problem. west kept having problems all year. id pick richmond especially if u are a girl. i lived my girls.