Washington State University Dorms Ranked

"Room: Exactly what you would expect from a freshman dorm. This hall used to be single rooms only, so if you have a double room it might be smaller than usual. The biggest advantage of the rooms here is you get a microfridge included with your room which in other halls you have to pay extra for. Building: The building overall is a lot nicer than other freshman dorms. The outside and interior actually look somewhat nice. The best part is the 12th floor, which is an entire lounge area with a theater room, study room, pool and foosball, and piano. Each floor also has its own lounge, kitchen, and washer/dryer, with extra washer/dryers on the 1st floor. Bathroom: It's one men's and one women's bathroom per floor, but that's also pretty standard with freshman dorms. It gets gross but nothing you wouldn't expect. Location: It may be one of the farthest dorms from the campus center but it's still only a 10 minute walk max. A worse problem with the location is that the closest dining hall is Southside, which is probably the worst one. However there is Southside Market underneath which is a mini mart/coffee shop that is convenient to have nearby. Community: This seems to vary more depending on how social your neighbors are. My section of the floor wasn't as social and had more doors close, which the other side of the floor was much more social and everyone knew everyone. If you're on a floor of single rooms, I would expect your floor to be much less social. Overall, Orton is perfectly okay, there are better dorms but this is also a good place to live. If you're a freshman, Orton is one of the best dorms you actually have a chance of getting into, so that is a major advantage. Freshmen are usually placed in Gannon/Goldsworthy or Stephenson, so getting assigned Orton is the best case scenario as it is actually livable. For older students, Orton would be good if you can get a single room on a lower floor. However as an older student you might also have better options on what dorm to choose, so McEachern may be better if you're looking for a single room, or Olympia, Northside, Global, or any hillside dorm if you're looking for a better dorm overall."

"On move-in the water fountains and community kitchen sink were not working for a few days. Halfway through the semester there was liquid dripping from the ceiling in the study room. If you live in Scott, you will have worse amenities than Coman despite the buildings being the same floor plan. The janitors did not clean the bathrooms for the first semester. Someone left raw meat overnight on top of the fridge and it dripped down the side of the fridge. Residents wouldn’t clean up after themselves in the community kitchen so the RA’s threatened to make the kitchen off limits. Half the showers were broken on our floor and at some point the third floor’s washer was broken. Every night random people would shout outside the dorms and bang on the dumpster lids. Expect your room to be consistently 85 degrees for the first few weeks of the semester, there is no AC. If the fire alarm goes off, you probably won’t be able to hear it in your room. Our dorm window grew something that looked like mold. There are no elevators but there are ramps. The small balcony was nice for watching soccer games. The double rooms are bigger than most double rooms on campus. Overall, an average dorm. "

"I personally loved living in Regents this past year. while it is a bit on the older side, and the bathrooms are entirely pink and have not been updated since the 50s when it first opened, it has so many more pros. I lived in a double and a single room, both are pretty nice and come with a desk, a three-drawer dresser, and a closet that is pretty roomy. some rooms come with a full length mirror that was left by others, but some do not come with a mirror. the heaters also sometimes do not turn off and cause the rooms to become very hot. however, the dinning hall is ony a few feet away from the dorms, and is very nice in the winter as you do not need to walk outside. the market is also not far at all, and all of my walks to classes are less than or around 10 minutes. "

"Great location, close to most classes and a dining hall. Having a convenience store in the building was a great idea. Rooms are pretty small and there aren’t many options for cooking with a shared microwave "

"Overall Olympia is one of the better dorms on campus. One of the few dorms on campus with AC. The building is new and there is a kitchen on each floor. The single rooms come with a private bathroom, but the toilet is aggressively loud and all your neighbors can hear you flush. The sink is also outside the bathroom for some reason, despite how much empty space is in the bathroom. The biggest downside to Olympia is the location. It is far away from everything on campus and on top of a large hill. You need to walk up several flights of stairs every time you come back to your dorm, and climbing the stairs never gets any easier. There is also lots of wildlife around this dorm, but the birds smack into the large glass windows. The front desk will not be surprised when someone reports another dead bird outside the door. The lobby downstairs is very nice."

"I bought out a double in Streit after living in Gannon for a few months. It was an upgrade in every sense. The bathrooms are nicer, the location is better, the elevator actually works. Downsides, washing machine availability is hit or miss, and as a girl, you’re sandwiched between two men’s floors. They definitely have come to our floor and done some dumb stuff and tried to get into our rooms, so doors should probably be locked all the time. Best location on campus."

"Having lived in McEachern for 2 years, definitely one of the better dorms at southside for the price range and privacy. I've enjoyed living here as you get a semi-private bathroom including shower that you share with one other person and a sink which is very convenient, only downside is the water pressure in the shower. This is a relatively quiet dorm and most people keep to themselves since it is a dorm meant for older people so if you enjoy that environment I highly recommend it and you do have chances to socialize as RA's create events where you can interact with others. (No microwaves in room)"

"Clean place but trying to get a private bathroom is always better, the private bathroom gets cleaned every 2 weeks and the reception/quiet rooms, kitchen, and laundry rooms are always clean, the only problem would be the people making noise at night but that's in every dorm."

"A modern, spacious, air-conditioned dorm with Einstein's bagels and a market on the ground floor. It's close to the Chinook and the CUB, but it's a decent walk to the south side of campus. Northside dining center has good food most days but is smaller than Southside."

"I have really enjoyed living here, it is a decent price, and the roommates/neighbors are all chill and quiet. Most of the residents are in the honors college but you don't have to be a member to live in the honors hall. There is a lot of variation in the room styles and sizes according to floor plans online but I really enjoyed the second floor. There is a study room on second floor but the fourth floor has a huge lounge and we also have "the den" in the basement with ping pong, a tv, and pool. I enjoyed having the bathroom in our suite for convenience and a kitchen area to prep food and have breakfast. I was able to store bathroom stuff in the drawers and foodstuff in the kitchen drawer instead of my room. Bathroom was cleaned by custodial staff and depending on the room you could have a total of 4-8 roommates but most have 6 (If there are 8 I believe there are two showers and toilets). Super easy to attend the Honors Student Advisor Council meetings and talk to my honors advisors. I liked that the desks had drawers and a shelf to put stuff on top and we were also allowed to use push pins on the walls. One of the downsides is that Hillside Cafe is closed on weekends and opens at 10:30 am for weekday lunch. "