Your first year residence experience can certainly be a large determinant of how your first year will turn out. Especially once life returns back to normal. Read this article to get a proper grasp on how the ranking system works and what characterizes each residence.
Ranking System
All incoming first-year students are guaranteed a spot in residence. Once you accept your decision to attend Western University, you will be asked to fill out a residence questionnaire, where you will rank all residences from 1 to 7. If your high school entrance average was 95%+, you will be automatically guaranteed one of your top three choices of residence.
No one truly understands how the ranking system to placing system translates. When I went to Western, people who ranked Ontario Hall and Saugeen-Maitland Hall as first got placed into Ontario Hall. Therefore, there really is no way of guaranteeing which residence you will get placed into. Unless you have above a 95% entrance average. However, hopefully this blog post can help provide a sense of the pros and cons of each to help your ranking process.
Types of Residences
- Hybrid Style Buildings
Both Hybrid Style buildings feature double bedrooms which share a washroom with another double bedroom and single bedrooms that share a washroom with a single bedroom.
Ontario Hall
Ontario Hall is the newest residence and was built in 2013. This residence has “hotel-like” attributes with their clean study halls and modern furniture. There are also 1000 students in this building. Ontario Hall also has one of the best cafeterias amongst the first year residences, so the food is great.
Perth Hall
Perth Hall is a smaller and older version of Ontario Hall. It is located right next to the Western Recreation Center. They have an older cafeteria, but still have all of the benefits of a hybrid style building and lots of opportunity for student bonding. People have said given the smaller size of Perth, students on the same floor are able to form tighter bonds.
- Suite Style Buildings
Suite style rooms feature four single rooms, a common living space, two shared bathrooms, and a full kitchen for cooking.
Essex Hall
Essex Hall is on the south-side of campus and features a suite-style building, located right across from the Western Recreation Center.
Elgin Hall
Elgin Hall is located on the north-side of campus, located near Medway-Sydenham residence.
- Traditional Style Buildings
Traditional style buildings feature shared rooms with two beds and shared bathrooms on the floor.
Medway-Sydenham Hall
Medway-Sydenham Hall is located on the north-side of campus and is often touted as the “new” Saugeen-Maitland Hall in terms of student life. They are a smaller residence with 613 beds and they have an older cafeteria. The building has historic finishes.
Saugeen Maitland Hall
Saugeen-Maitland Hall is one of the largest residences with 1252 beds. Saugeen is known to be one of the loudest residences that is known for partying, although that reputation has subsided a bit in recent years. Saugeen is also known to have great food as their cafeteria was newly renovated.
Delaware Hall
Delaware Hall is located right on campus right next to the North Campus Building. Delaware has 450 beds and three rooms to practice music in. Delaware Hall has one of the best locations amongst all residences in terms of closeness to different buildings on campus. It is just a five minute walk away from the North Campus Building, where many first year students have lectures.
The End
We hope this blog post gives you a good idea of what to expect in terms of living as a first year residence student at Western University! Although each residence has its pros and cons, you really can’t go wrong in either of them!
