Is Mallory Hall the best dorm at UF?

Honestly one of my biggest regrets freshman year was living here. While the location is great because it’s close to sorority row and Marston/ Turlington, the actual “living” there part is terrible. The floors are like high school cafeteria floors, the communal bathrooms are gross, the laundry is in the basement (I lived on the fourth floor) and the building is just not at all well kept. The AC unit in the rooms are so ugly and gross, they’re huge white boxes that hover above one of the beds. The kitchen/ lounge area barely holds 4 people in it and it’s so hot in there. I’d always go to my friends’ place in the Simpson area because of much nice their dorms were (& right next to Chomp it). I highly, highly recommend choosing a dorm based on how the actual rooms are, not on location. You can walk an extra ten minutes or take the bus. The environment you live in is so much more crucial to your mental health and freshman experience.

I lived in a single room in Mallory 4th. The AC unit is terrible regardless of the room you're in, and the kitchen area isn't big enough for the amount of people living on the floor. I didn't have a problem with the bathrooms because the people on my floor were clean too, and I never really had to wait to shower or use the bathroom. Doing laundry is a nightmare because all the machines are in the basement so you have to carry your clothes up and down. The location in relation to my classes and Broward Dining was great. I didn't have high expectations for living in a dorm because I was told they weren't great to begin with. If I'd grade Mallory I'd give it a C- because everything about it is bearable, but it's just not great. Depending on your floor, you'll meet people and have a community or you literally won't know anybody. There's no natural way for you to meet people from different floors like there is in other dorms like Jennings.

I lived on the ground floor, which is underground, sad, and dark (and flooded once during a sudden bad storm). Because maintenance supplies were down there, sometimes I would walk down the hall in a towel while maintenance guys were getting supplies. My room was the smallest single in the hall, about the size of a storage closet, and I had almost no natural light. Despite that, the ground floor bathroom was the largest and nicest of any of the floors, the ground floor kitchen was extremely spacious and had a big TV, and I would always be in the 1st floor lounge which was also really big. The location of the building was really good. It's an old building, so there's not much to be expected. If you have really high expectations, this isn't the place for you, but I spent a lot of time out of my dorm and it was a private space for me, so I honestly didn't mind it. I'll be living there again for the 2020-2021 year because I wanted a single again, and I didn't mind all the issues too much.

I lived in a triple during my freshman year which you may think was crowded but it wasn’t too bad at all. The triple room is the biggest room compared to the singles and doubles. There was two bathrooms at each end of the hall which would be regularly cleaned daily except for the weekends. The location is great! It’s near Cypress which is where you pick up your larger packages, sorority row, Marston, and the bus stops to get to Butler Plaza. I honestly enjoyed my freshman year there before it was cut short but if you have the means to spend money I suggest getting an apartment or a different dorm with a private bathroom.