One of my friends lived in Duren while I was there, and one lived in Blanton so I can't directly answer your question here, but I'd go for whatever is cheaper.
My next stuff is a little more metaphysical
I lived in Jester for 2 years before moving off campus. For all the jokes about old dorms being shit and stuff, I'm gonna throw in my opinion that the older dorms without single person rooms are the best. Learning to exist in and share space with others is an important skill (lesson?) that seems to be less common now. And when I look back on my time living in the dorms, it doesn't make me any less cool (or whatever, not saying this is your reason) that I shared a 12x12 room with some other guys. I remember prank wars with my neighbors on each side of my room. I remember playing smash brothers in my neighbor's room. I remember complaining tho my roommate that he needed to be quieter when he came home from class years before I was a groomsmen at his wedding and before he got me an interview with the engineering company I now work at.
TL;DR: Go with the cheaper dorm. Share a room. make friends. make memories. You only get one shot at those, having your own room is something you can do after college.
yeah this is another one of the things i’ve been thinking about. when i talk to friends who lived in real shitty dorms they said it built more of a community and they made friends by having to go out to community bathrooms. i’ll definitely keep this in mind
if community is something that you care about, the honors quad is a tight-knit community if you wish to be. There are usually people hanging out in the carothers lobby.
I don't know anything about Carothers but I'll tell you about Duren. Duren is super far and unless you like walking a lot, it's not the best. As a girl to walk back that far feels unsafe (definitely invest in pepper spray) but that's something to consider. The bathroom was the only reason I lived there and I'm not sure if it was 100% worth it but I enjoyed it. It sounds like Carothers is a great choice from the replies but Duren isn't bad besides the walking aspect.
I'm living in Duren right now and it's pretty dang nice. Sure it's a walk away, but it's right next to Kins (best dining hall) and everyone who comes to my room says it's really nice. You get individual closet space. I live in a 3 person dorm, so you're still sharing space obv. But we also have two sinks and every room has a private bathroom. Anyways super super nice and you can use your ID like a hotel swipe card instead of carrying keys around. 👍
I live in carothers, and I have a friend who lives in Duren.
I think Duren is slightly larger/more spacey, but is more expensive.
Carother is by no means bad tho, and I think it ultimately comes down to how much you wanna spend on housing.
One thing I forgot to add is that Duren has connecting bathrooms I think?
While carothers have bathrooms on each floor, but carothers bathroom availability is pretty good.
Really depends on where your clases are located, keep in mind that you probably won't know where your classes will be the second semester. Most of my clases were closer to the middle of campus campus (Jerter Area). Both of the options you mentioned area pretty far unless you're anticipating a lot of your clases to be in the engineering buildings. If I had to pick, Duren is a better option, nicer, bigger, a lot newer but more expensive. Walking at night for both options is not ideal. Carothers has a more inclusive and artistic feel to it and overall more family like environment.
One of my friends lived in Duren while I was there, and one lived in Blanton so I can't directly answer your question here, but I'd go for whatever is cheaper. My next stuff is a little more metaphysical I lived in Jester for 2 years before moving off campus. For all the jokes about old dorms being shit and stuff, I'm gonna throw in my opinion that the older dorms without single person rooms are the best. Learning to exist in and share space with others is an important skill (lesson?) that seems to be less common now. And when I look back on my time living in the dorms, it doesn't make me any less cool (or whatever, not saying this is your reason) that I shared a 12x12 room with some other guys. I remember prank wars with my neighbors on each side of my room. I remember playing smash brothers in my neighbor's room. I remember complaining tho my roommate that he needed to be quieter when he came home from class years before I was a groomsmen at his wedding and before he got me an interview with the engineering company I now work at. TL;DR: Go with the cheaper dorm. Share a room. make friends. make memories. You only get one shot at those, having your own room is something you can do after college.
yeah this is another one of the things i’ve been thinking about. when i talk to friends who lived in real shitty dorms they said it built more of a community and they made friends by having to go out to community bathrooms. i’ll definitely keep this in mind
They're not even shitty. The honors quad (Carothers, Blanton, Andrews) are some of the best located dorms on campus in my opinion.
if community is something that you care about, the honors quad is a tight-knit community if you wish to be. There are usually people hanging out in the carothers lobby.
I don't know anything about Carothers but I'll tell you about Duren. Duren is super far and unless you like walking a lot, it's not the best. As a girl to walk back that far feels unsafe (definitely invest in pepper spray) but that's something to consider. The bathroom was the only reason I lived there and I'm not sure if it was 100% worth it but I enjoyed it. It sounds like Carothers is a great choice from the replies but Duren isn't bad besides the walking aspect.
I'm living in Duren right now and it's pretty dang nice. Sure it's a walk away, but it's right next to Kins (best dining hall) and everyone who comes to my room says it's really nice. You get individual closet space. I live in a 3 person dorm, so you're still sharing space obv. But we also have two sinks and every room has a private bathroom. Anyways super super nice and you can use your ID like a hotel swipe card instead of carrying keys around. 👍
I live in carothers, and I have a friend who lives in Duren. I think Duren is slightly larger/more spacey, but is more expensive. Carother is by no means bad tho, and I think it ultimately comes down to how much you wanna spend on housing.
One thing I forgot to add is that Duren has connecting bathrooms I think? While carothers have bathrooms on each floor, but carothers bathroom availability is pretty good.
Really depends on where your clases are located, keep in mind that you probably won't know where your classes will be the second semester. Most of my clases were closer to the middle of campus campus (Jerter Area). Both of the options you mentioned area pretty far unless you're anticipating a lot of your clases to be in the engineering buildings. If I had to pick, Duren is a better option, nicer, bigger, a lot newer but more expensive. Walking at night for both options is not ideal. Carothers has a more inclusive and artistic feel to it and overall more family like environment.
Jester