UW Dorms Ranked

Number 10

"I lived in a 4br2ba apartment at Cedar for the 2019-2020 school year. The building is new and well-maintained but gets very hot during the summer without any air conditioning or decent ventilation. The windows only open a tiny amount. I never interacted with anyone else outside my apartment and the RAs in the building. RA hours are extremely limited and the residential life office is almost never open, and never any help with anything." See all 1 review

Number 9

"Best apartments on West Campus, especially/only if you like/know all your flatmates well. My room is a 4-bedroom, and although the living room/common area in mine is MUCH smaller than the largest rooms in Mercer, it's a comfortable, cozy place to be. The fridge, microwave and oven/cooktop are great, and combined with the fact that you can opt out of the HFS dining plans as a Mercer resident, it means you can save some money by cooking your own food. The rooms themselves are small, but they've got plenty of wall outlets and lots of storage. You've got two private bathrooms per 4-bedroom apartment, and they're alright. The showers are pretty terrible, though; ultra-low-flow showerheads that can't be adjusted, and some unintuitive/weirdly-placed light switches in the bathroom. The thermostats are another problem if you tend to feel chilly often, they don't let you set the temperature above 74°F. Finally, Mercer is quite expensive, so if you're looking for a cheap place to stay on campus, definitely look elsewhere. Overall, Mercer is awesome, and it's right next to the Burke-Gilman and the water (great if you bike, walk or run like me). Just make sure you get a corner room, and you'll be set!" See all 6 reviews

Number 8

"One of the smallest residential halls, so you get pretty familiar with most people's faces.
The rooftop deck is honestly a showstopper in terms of dorm amenities, and probably helps combat the severe Vitamin D deficiency found in all UW students.
Dorms facing the bridge get lots of light.
The only drawbacks for me were that it's the furthest from main campus (so it's an extra two or three minutes to hit Red Square) and it's right next to the off-ramp, so you will hear more traffic sounds than most other dorms do.
If you would be really bothered by having to walk a few minutes out of your dorm to get to the dining hall or mailroom, you should dorm in Willow instead.
If you use a wheelchair, you shouldn't be on West Campus at all because the closest route to Red Square is a set of stairs to the Sky Bridge on 15th, and the other two paths have a pretty decent slope. Crutches during the rain on West Campus are also a recipe for self-loathing, trust me.
All in all, I loved Terry for making it easy to meet people, being a relatively new building (and maintaining that newness), and having beautiful views from every lounge. It's also right in front of the path to the Wall of Death, so great access point for taking a long walk to cry alone on." See all 6 reviews

Number 7

"Poplar Hall is located on West Campus just outside the campus's central area. It is located right beside University Way NE (aka "the Ave"), a popular street full of food, dessert, thrift stores, escape rooms, Target, and the Neptune Concert venue.

You also get a great view of Red Square, the Ave, or nearby west campus dorms depending on your assigned room in Poplar. All Poplar residents have access to the elevator-side relaxation lounges with an excellent view of the Space Needle (SN). (Although Lander Hall = best view of SN)

Singles dorms get their own kitchen, microwave, refrigerator, stovetop, and bathroom + showers ALL included within the room (but it does cost extra).

However, doubles and triples, only have bathrooms + showers included in the room (NO kitchen inside these rooms).

Triples are essentially just doubled but with one extra bed & closet in it. But triples still have enough room for 3 beds and 3 workstation desks. Beds can also be adjusted to be on the highest setting or lower setting (Similar to a bunk bed... this is useful if someone wants to put their desk under their bed and get extra room to store items in the room)

Poplar Hall is the ONLY DORM ON WEST CAMPUS that doesn't have a kitchen on every floor. There is only 1 stovetop on floor 2 which can be used by anyone in Poplar Hall. All other West Campus dorms have 1-3 kitchens on every floor (such as Lander and Maple Hall).

Each floor does have a lounge room with a sink, microwave, couches, and tv to watch movies.
Floor 2 also has a tv lounge room (with a free pool table inside this room as well).

Floor 1 has 2 giant study rooms, each with giant projectors (GREAT for practicing presentations & watching movies in a movie-theater-like setting). Although Floor 1 is called a "Learning Resource Center" with the study rooms built in, FLOOR 1 can be accessed using a UW ID card by anyone who lives in a UW dorm. All other floors can't be accessed by other dorms. This allows ease of use for people to get together at night and watch movies or study together, even if they are from different dorms.

This dorm is BEST located for 1-street access to the major amenities nearby:
* Husky Grind West (UW grocery store & cafe)
* Local Point Dining Hall (UW Dining Hall with international food, American food, Pagliacci Pizza, and free Soda Machines)
* Area 01 (FREE Console and PC Gaming + Free 3D-printing + Free Pool Table, Foosball, Ping Pong)
* "the Ave" for great foods and great nightlife
* University Bridge (quick and easy access to Odegaard Library, Suzallo "Harry Potter" Library, Starbucks, and classrooms on west campus)

The one downside to West campus dorms, in general, is that it takes about 10 minutes to get to a majority of classrooms at UW, compared to an average of 2-5 minutes for North campus dorms. Also, west campus dorms will sometimes hear noisy ambulances at night. However, the north campus is exposed to loud parties from the nearby sororities + fraternities on Greek Row." See all 10 reviews

Number 6

"The side walls are soundproof but the ceiling and ground walls are thin so you can hear every single footstep someone makes above you. The rooms are very dusty but I personally haven't had a problem with asbestos or mold. I would not recommend getting a triple if your roommate stays in the dorm all the time because you will go crazy. Building amenities are fine, but once in a while some drunk person will destroy the elevator or burst the lounge pipeline and maintenance takes their sweet sweet time trying to fix it. Bathrooms are nice, the hot water comes fast but the shower head is kind of meh, but you can replace it with your own if you'd like. The heater smells like burnt noodles. The washing machine and dryer work fine, it's less crowded during mid-day of weekdays. Since the building is close to Greek row, you'll hear parties being thrown at a Tuesday night with very loud music. I find it a bit far from my classes but most of my classes are on the south end on campus and I am a lazy person. North campus is closer to U village if you like shopping." See all 10 reviews

Number 5

"Good dorm that has pretty much everything you want. Has clean private bathrooms (showerhead strength could be stronger) and also has Area 01 in the building which is a pretty cool space to hang out and play play ping pong. There are also 2+ study rooms on every floor but most of them are taken during midterm/finals season. There are also 2 kitchens on every floor with a TV so you can cook and watch movies. The kitchens can get a little bit messy depending on who lives on your floor but someone comes and cleans it up every morning.

The rooms themselves aren't bad but in a triple it gets extremely cramped so I recommend going for a double or a single." See all 12 reviews

Number 4

"Alder was the second dorm I stayed in, and was pretty nice. The District Market at the bottom is the most obvious perk, as it is open pretty late and sells basic needs and foods, accepting the dining plan money. Alder Commons, frequently used by student groups and students, is also in the building. There were 3-4 study rooms on every floor which was super nice. If you cook a lot though, there is only a double kitchen on the second floor for the whole building, so it might be a hassle to use if you want to use it frequently." See all 3 reviews

Number 3

"To preface, if we were not living in COVID times my rating would likely be different. I am in a triple with one roommate. COVID situation isn't great in Elm. Sure, the RAs are trying their best (which I appreciate), but the other students don't seem to care about the safety of the community (not wearing masks, gathering when they're not supposed to, etc). The dining hall within Elm is closed because of COVID. There is only one kitchen on the ground floor which has been a major pain, especially since classes are online and it would be much more convenient to cook. Other West campus dorms have kitchens on each floor. Elm does have a microwave on each floor. Elm is quiet and cleanly which I appreciate. I like that Elm has private bathrooms, but all West campus dorms do. There are many study rooms on each floor which is convenient. There are two music rooms and one laundry room on the ground floor which is nice. The location is also fine, as a gym is in the building and food is right across the street. The package center is across the street in Lander. I would not recommend this dorm to a friend due to the lack of building amenities compared to the other West campus dorms, however I would take it over the North campus dorms, purly for the private bathrooms." See all 4 reviews

Number 2

"The building itself is very comfortable and clean and the dining hall in the basement is super convenient. Since North campus is relatively secluded it takes longer to get to the Ave or any shopping area, but if you ask me it's worth it for the relative quiet and feeling of safety. Some of the other amenities available included music practice rooms, stoves in common areas, easy access to the mail desk and Center Table, and a makerspace in a neighboring building. Can't say that I'd recommend living on campus in a pandemic though. The room desks aren't all that comfortable, there's almost no places to study outside your room that are open, and meeting people is still relatively difficult. If things were normal, however, Willow definitely is a solid choice as a place to live. It's not all that different from the other newer buildings on north aside from having the dining hall." See all 5 reviews

Number 1

"Last year, I lived on the 7th floor of Madrona Hall, a dorm on North Campus with 8 floors and an L-shaped layout. My 3 bed, 1 private bathroom dorm overlooked Denny Field, and sometimes I still wish I lived in the dorms. The hallways in Madrona Hall are divided into two, with one hallway having rooms that share a communal bathroom and the other hallway having rooms with private bathrooms. Each room in the dorm comes with beds, desks, and dressers for every resident, and the room layout is ultimately up to the students. In addition, the ends of each floor have one study room and one kitchen that are both accessible 24/7. Other amenities include washer and dryer units, vending machines, a piano room, and public and private study tables for students within the dorm, all available on the first floor of the hall.

Madrona Hall is located on North Campus (within campus grounds) compared to West Campus dorms (off campus grounds). For this reason, North Campus is safer and more social for students. There is an RA on call 24/7 as well as security guards on patrol during all night hours. My overall experience living in the dorms during my freshman year is 5/5 stars :)" See all 4 reviews