Posts tagged housing

Almost everybody. There’s a handful of people who live in apartments or houses off campus as well as 31 of us who live in college owned houses that are either on the edges of campus or in North Bennington. The campus experience is a big part of Bennington and the different housing communities accommodate a variety of lifestyles. Even though I moved to the Welling Townhouse in North B. I really love spending time in Franklin where I was placed as a freshmen. 

-Selina ‘15

Hey there,

All pertinent dates regarding incoming students can be found at this link http://www.bennington.edu/welcome.aspx under the Checklist: Tools & Timelines section. All incoming freshmen should be getting their housing and roommate assignments as well as their course pre-registration sometime in mid-July.

- Rachel ‘14

Don’t worry! If it still hasn’t come through in a couple of days I recommend shooting your councilor an email or giving the office a call: 800-833-6845. You’ll have plenty of time to fill everything out. In the meantime… 

-Selina ‘15

Very shortly (i.e. sometime in mid May!) you’ll get an email with lots of info, forms, and stuff to fill out. Included in there is a housing form where you jot down lifestyle specifics such as when you go to bed/get up, what music you love, what music you hate, how messy you keep your space, things like that. If I remember right I think I put down I’m an early to bed, early to rise, extremely tidy, person who can only sleep in complete darkness and that instead of music I obsessively listen to NPR. Yes I am a total nerd. 

Anyways, after gathering all this info the office of student life will pair you with a roommate they think you are compatible with and then a housing community where you seem to fit! Hope this helps!

-Selina ‘15

Also for your enjoyment… 

Hello!

It’s really hard to describe each house because they are each so defined by the people who call them home. Because of that, a house personality can change each year to fit its residents. Every single house has it’s own perks and quirks and there is no doubt that you’ll find the right one for you! The main differentiation between houses is quiet hours. Each house has either no set quiet hours, extended quiet hours, or some quiet hours as decided by the house at the beginning of term. So just keep in mind how heavy a sleeper you are.

While there is an option for incoming freshman to request a house, there is no guarantee they’ll be placed in that house because there are so many other variables in the process. If you want my advice, let the office of student life do their sorting hat thing. I was placed in a house that I NEVER would have picked for myself, but they seemed to know me better than I did from my housing questionnaire and now I’m a House Chair and can’t imagine living anywhere else.

P.S. If you’re not digging your house, it is extremely easy to bop around to one that suits your fancy more.

- Sarah ‘15

Hello. Space heaters are definitely not allowed in rooms but the houses are perfectly toasty as each room has it’s own heating system for you to crank up on chilly nights. I would definitely recommend bringing a fan though - air circulation is a must in the hotter months. 

- Sarah ‘15 

kind of! every house will change with who lives in it and those that reside there know it best. i can’t begin to compare personalities between houses because as you can imagine i haven’t lived in all of them! I would just focus on the type of community YOU want and if you happen to be one of those students that will be filling out a Bennington housing form soon do your best to describe the type of house personality that you need! 

;) Michaela

Hey there! Transfer students have the same housing options as undergraduate students; which is to say that the vast majority live in on-campus housing.

If you’re accepted as a transfer, you’ll fill out a housing request form sometime over the summer before you get here. Based on the information you provide about your interests, preferred quiet hours, roommate personality stuff, etc., you’ll be placed in one of the 18 on-campus houses with other undergrads. It’s also possible to live off-campus, but there’s a separate requirement process for being approved for off-campus housing, and I don’t personally know of anyone who’s transferred in and been able to live off-campus in their first term. Long story short, if you’re interested in transferring, take a look at some of the other posts on this blog regarding student housing - anything that applies to undergrads applies to you, also.

-Evan ‘13

If you like your house, you and a roommate (it could be your first roommate, or maybe they aren’t so into the house and you found a friend who’s dying to move in) may reserve your room.  In order to reserve a double, you must have a roommate signing up to move in with you. Juniors and seniors have singles. Juniors and seniors who live in-house are permitted to reserve open singles (order of selection is based on seniority and how long they’ve lived in-house).  

If you’re looking to mix up your living situation, you may enter the housing lottery.  Preference for selection of open rooms out-of-house is based on seniority.  For example, second-term seniors have first choice of open rooms, and freshmen have last pick.  Within these class divisions, the lottery determines who has first pick (pull a number and hope for the lowest one).  At the beginning of term, there is a brief period when a list of open rooms is available, and you may talk with student life about switching houses/rooms. I hope this helps!

~ Holly ‘13

#binghamboothcanfielddeweyfelsfranklinkilpatleighlong meadowmccolloughmercknoyesparisbordenperkinssaw tellshinglestokesswanwellingwellingtownhousewoolley 

(How else was I supposed to answer that, question-asker?!)

But, the folks currently in the office live in these houses and can tell you they’re the best because: 

Alana ‘15: “I live in Woolley, and I like that there’s a community but the people in the house have enough transparency to be a part of the larger campus community. Our theme this term is ‘Where the Wild Woolley Things are” and who wouldn’t love that? I used to live in Booth, and miss the coffee hour challenges and tight-knit community.”

Jason ‘13: “I reside in Franklin, and it’s clean, quiet, and low pressure.” 

David ‘13: “I live in Sawtell, and there just is a lot of love. It’s really comfortable and supportive”. 

Jessieh ‘13: “I loved living in the townhouse because of its intentional community and lengthy weekly house meetings.” 

As a Bingham-ite, I’ll just say that we have a porch and that is why we are the best. 

- Julia ‘15

Listen. Bingham’s #1. Look at our awesome Coffee Hour! A DOLPHIN went. But actually, we all just really love our houses. <3

-Riley ‘13

Nope! But that’s just because all of our housing is totally mixed between age, year, gender, academic concentration, etc. This gives each house a nice cross-section of the campus population - while housemates might generally be aligned in their views on something like quiet hours, that might be where face-value similarities end between residents. Your housemates will study different things, be from different parts of the world, and of course there will be students of differing gender identities and sexual orientations.

Everyone is welcome in on-campus housing, which is why specific housing options for the students you list is probably unnecessary in terms of helping people feel welcome or insulated. You should know that Student Life is always available for students to discuss housing options for whatever reason, though I think housing does a wonderful job already of pulling together ~35 students of different ages, backgrounds, and lifestyles to make a harmonious community in each house.

-Evan ‘13

Extra long twin! Not too long; not too short.

-Selina ‘15