Before coming to Tufts, I remember being nervous about dorm life since I had never experienced it before and dorm and roommate assignments were random. My freshman year, I got really lucky since I got a pretty big room in Hodgdon Hall, or Hodge for short, and an amazing roommate who quickly became one of my best friends. Hodge was the site of a lot of my favorite memories from last year including Euphoria Sundays, spontaneous sleepovers, and a Secret Santa gift exchange. After an amazing year living on-campus, I was both nervous and excited for the sophomore year housing lottery that would determine where I would be living for the next year.
At Tufts, both freshmen and sophomores are required to live on-campus. While freshmen are randomly assigned housing and roommates, sophomores have some more freedom in choosing where they live and who they live with. For the sophomore lottery, freshmen are assigned lottery numbers in the spring. Lower lottery numbers get first pick of housing and students can form housing groups of people they would like to live with. There are many different halls that sophomores can choose from including Latin Way, Stratton, Harleston, and Lewis. At first the process seemed overwhelming, but Tufts offered many resources like information sessions throughout the spring to help students understand how the lottery system worked. Even though I had a very high lottery number, I was still able to live with a friend in a double in Latin Way which was the residence hall we were hoping to live in. After a semester of being in Latin Way, I thought I would share some tips that I’ve learned from my second year on-campus.
Tip #1: Pack Lightly!
I learned a lot from my first move-in day and prepared ahead of time to make sure things were much less chaotic. While repacking my things from last year, I made sure only to bring things that I was actually going to use throughout the school year and stocked up on things I was always running out of. I got lucky again with a pretty big room and it was even bigger since I didn’t bring too much stuff that would clutter it.
Tip #2: Don’t Be Afraid of the Kitchen!
In Latin Way and other suite-style residence halls, the suites are equipped with kitchens that only the residents can use. Sophomores are still required to be on a meal plan, but 180 swipes is a lot less than the 400 swipe premium plan that all freshmen have. Latin Way doesn’t have a dining place like Hodge did and even though Dewick is less than a 5 minute walk away, I find myself sometimes making a quick meal before going to class. Having a kitchen has been so convenient for late nights when I want to make a snack while studying or having suite dinners with all my friends.
Tip #3: Leave on Time!
I gave the same tip last year in my review of Hodge, but I can’t emphasize the importance of leaving on time enough. Latin is closer to many of my classes than Hodge was, but it’s still really important for me to plan an appropriate amount of time to get ready and walk to all my classes. At the beginning of the year, I definitely had to remind myself that just because I was closer to certain classes didn’t mean I could leave really late and still be on time.