Making an off-campus housing decision can be one of the more stressful parts of college, but for incoming freshmen and some returning students, a big concern is on-campus housing. Provided you aren’t placed into a specific hall by a Freshman Interest Group or other Residential Life program, deciding on a hall can be tricky. Some halls on campus are more centrally located than others, and some are newer. How does one choose?

Schurz Hall is one of the largest halls on campus, with approximately 520 young men and women. FIGs include Nutritional Science, Pre-Veterinary Medicine, Honors Pre-Medicine and Honors Journalism, while Learning Communities (both General and Thematic) include Agriculture, Pre-Vet Medicine, Honors, and Journalism and Communications.

The location is no Defoe-Graham, but it’s located on the east side of campus just east of College Avenue. Schurz is conveniently located near both Plaza 900 and Baja Grill, and Rollins is not too far. Bingham, which includes Baja Grill, is a great resource for studying, computer access and printing, and it attaches to both Schurz and Hatch.

The student staff of Schurz is exceptional, though I would guess that this is the same everywhere on campus. Brian Tu, the hall coordinator, also does a fantastic job with the day-to-day operations of Schurz.

Schurz, however well-run, though, is a walk from places like Middlebush or Francis Quadrangle, usually about 10-15 minutes on foot. Schurz was renovated in 2008, but it is not the newest hall on campus. The bathrooms and rooms are all well-maintained, but some of the lounge furniture shows signs of wear, and several of the lounges’ TVs are missing cables and remotes, and some do not work. While this can be fixed with a maintenance request and is not really a major issue, it’s worth noting.

While Schurz is not the most centrally located on campus, the staff is stellar, and the placement of Baja, Bingham and Plaza help make it an attractive place to live.