Tufts Blogs

 

Last weekend, I was on a Zoom call for admitted students during which the class of 2025 got to ask current students questions about Tufts. I got a lot of questions about residence halls and which were the best and worst on campus, so I thought I’d break it down.

First, it is important to note that there is no residence hall at Tufts that I would say is 100% bad. Each hall has its quirks, but they all have good things about them too. For example, my hall, Lewis Hall, is well-known as the worst on campus because it hasn’t been renovated as recently as the others. (Its nickname is Dirty Lew.) While you can tell it is an older dorm by the outdated plumbing and architectural style, it has really good features too, like its proximity to the greatest number of food locations, and the fact that it has more common rooms than any other dorm. So really, no dorm here will make or break your time, but here is everything you need to know about the freshman halls.

Tilton Hall

Tilton is famous for its single-person bathrooms. While other halls share stall-style bathrooms, the Tilton students get spoiled. That being said, I made a lot of friends in the bathroom my freshman year, so although it’s awesome to get your privacy, it isn’t so bad needing to share either!

Bush Hall

I honestly don’t know much about Bush, but I have never heard anything bad about it. The best feature is probably the proximity to Dewick (the best dining hall on campus), and right now, its proximity to the Covid testing site.

Hodgdon Hall

Hodge is known for their forced triples; however, I loved my forced triple there freshman year! The halls are also big (mine was about 30 girls) which was super nice, because it gave me the opportunity to meet a lot of students right away. Best of all, Hodgdon Food-On-the-Run is right under Hodge, although regrettably, you have to go outside to get to it.

Metcalf Hall

Metcalf is a smaller hall that was actually the women's dormitory before Tufts went co-ed in the 80s. It is built to be home-y, and the residents normally get close because of its smaller size. The rooms can be a bit small, especially the doubles and triples, but the students who live there love that it is right in the middle of campus, making their commutes to class super easy!

Houston/Miller Halls

I’m grouping these two together because they are twin dorms. Houston and Miller are two of the most recently renovated dorms on campus. They tend to be the favorite halls—not only do they face out onto the res quad, which is a favorite place to eat, study, and play yard games, but they also have common rooms on each floor, which helps the students cultivate a close community.

Carmichael Hall

Even though Carm is only our second best dining hall on campus, the best thing about Carm is that you don’t even need to leave the building to get into the food part. Other than that, people also appreciate its location on res quad too, where they can join the Miller/Houston students.

Richardson House

Richardson house is an all-female dorm, perfect if you want to live with only women. While it does have some forced triples, it has the benefit of being right in the middle of campus and right next to the campus center, which is a hub of student activity.

Carpenter House

Carp is another smaller house on campus in which many students enjoy living. Because it is smaller, students get very close with the whole house very quickly. The only downside is that it is almost "off-campus," which makes it a bit of a hike to classes and other dorms.

Wilson House

Wilson is our substance-free housing, meaning that the students who choose to live there commit to abstaining from drug and alcohol usage (neither of which are technically allowed on campus, but choosing this house really ensures that you won't be living with students who value partying). Once again, the house feel is very conducive to making a good group of friends. 

That’s it for freshman dorms! It’s important to note that with the exception of choosing Richardson House (all-female housing) or Wilson House (substance-free housing), you do not get to choose your dorms. However, my Emma’s Advice is to not worry about what dorm you may get assigned. None of the dorms are bad, and if I could make it through a forced triple and Dirty Lew, you can make it through any of the dorms here. Some of my best memories and friends have been made in my residential areas, and no matter which dorm you end up siding with in the battle of the dorms, you will come out a winner!