Ranking the Dorms at Purdue University

IMO Hilltop has the best living arrangements at its price point for on campus housing.

Room: Quite spacious, both room and living room. Has a kitchen, A/C, semi adjustable heating, curtains can keep the room pitch black.

Building: Laundry room per building. Decent soundproofing. Bit of a climb if you live on the upper floors though.

Bathroom: Each unit has a bathroom with shower and bath.

Location: Similar proximity to campus as other res halls, but only one dining hall at the bottom of the hill. Ford is pretty good though.

Other: If you wanted to drink alcohol, I have never had an RA enter my apartment unit here. Just don't be loud and nobody will ever check. - 4 years ago

It’s a very nice place made very cheaply with terrible service. Walls are so thin. And expect bugs of extremely large size to always be in your apartment. Oh hot water showers none existent and if there is hot water not for more than 5 minutes - 2 years ago

If you're not in the closets, Cary is great! The suite-style rooms are much bigger than my room in McCutcheon and having a semi-private bathroom is handy. Location is great, right next to academic campus and not too far of a walk from most big spots, besides other dorms. I love the atmosphere here too, the quad is nice to walk around and is lively during the warmer months. If you're a big sports fan, Mackey and Ross-Ade are right next door which makes game-day commute easy. Laundry can be a bit rough if you're not in the right building since only 2 of the 4 buildings have a laundry room (East and West iirc). My biggest gripes are that there are no water bottle fillers in East, which makes a Brita a must-have and that singles are extremely hard to come by outside of South. Otherwise, my time in Cary has been great so far. - 2 years ago

Earhart is a very solid dorm, and I'd say well worth it, especially since it's cheap.

Pros:
-DINING COURT IN THE BUILDING. Extremely nice especially when the weather is not. IMO Earhart food is a solid B+, and very consistent day to day.
-Air conditioning. It works. nuff said
-Nothing important is broken for longer than a day, and rarely

Cons:
-Shows its age in some ways. Elevators are sketchy, rooms are a little small, it's not a beautiful building. 100% liveable tho, this is not on the level of Tark.
-Location is a bit out of the way. Pretty central for residential campus, the COREC and Krach are very close, but the engineering mall is a solid hike.
-Sense of community is a solid C. The lobby is not much to look at with not a ton of activities, but nothing major is missing. - 2 years ago

I lived in Wood for my first two years at Purdue. I loved the building; it had so much character to it, there were many places to study, and I liked the tunnels. I never had a problem getting a washer/drying on the weekend. The bathrooms were cleaned well, but my second year some of the girls were so messy and did not clean up after themselves. I thought Windsor was in a great location, kind of in the center of campus. It was close to several dinning courts and had its own. Close to the co rec and 3rd street (Starbucks, mini mart, also Chick-fil-A and jersey mikes id across the street). Since the layout of the building was not a cookie cut-out, some of the rooms were weird.. my room had a lot of curves and nooks and it was awkward and smaller, but I’ve seen a lot of better rooms throughout Windsor! I always felt safe and comfortable at Windsor. It is a quieter dorm which was perfect for me, but if you want to make friends with everyone on your floor, may not be the best dorm. - 2 years ago

I lived here during my freshman year (2019). This was pre-covid. The dining court, during that time, was amazing. It was super nice having a dining court downstairs. A con is how far away the building is from the academic side of campus. It's one of the farthest walks you can make from a residence hall. Loved how close it was to the COREC and other dining courts though. The building itself is new and the rooms are arguably the best on campus. - 2 years ago

Lived in Meredith South my Freshman year. Overall a great dorm to live in as it was built really recently and is very modern. Rooms are great although a little small, but the furniture is really nice. There are study rooms and study areas on every floor and each pod has 2-3 private bathrooms along with a communal bathroom. Bathrooms are really nice although sometimes they do get a little dirty when they haven’t been cleaned for a while. Panera and Qdoba are also on the first floor of the building which is super convenient as they take meal swipes. However Meredith South is pretty pricy compared to many of the other dorms so that’s definitely something to consider - 2 years ago

First Street is a nearly brand new dorm with all single rooms. They’re hella expensive rooms but very nice. Spacious rooms, private bathroom, super clean. It’s a bit far from classes but close to dining halls and Aspire food court. Nice lounges for studying, but there is no community whatsoever. RAs host events but no one shows up, everyone stays inside their rooms, the place is so quiet you can hear a pin drop. If you value community, want to save money, or often get lonely this is not the place for you, but if you really like you own place and nice rooms this is for you. - 4 years ago

Pros:
Very close to campus, about 9 minutes to Armstrong;
Chick-Fil-A and Jersey Mike's downstairs, Wiley next door for easy meals;
New building, bathroom cleaned once a week;
Fixes happen less than 24 hours;
Room is pretty spacious for 2 people(can fit microwave, fridge, tv with space);
3 study rooms, plenty of seats and tv per floor

Cons:
Chick-Fil-A and Jersey Mike's have really long lines during meal swipe hours;
Floor (not carpet) looks dirty no matter how much you clean it;
Room lacks storage (1 4-drawer cabinet, 1 1-drawer cabinet, 1 shelf);
Desk is small;
Drying machines don't always dry all the way;
Less drying machines than washing machines make it very busy on weekends

Tips:
1. If you have a lot of clothes, get clothes hangers and tension rods.
2. You can fit the 4-drawer cabinet under the bed if you raise it to the highest setting.
- 2 years ago

Best freshman dorm on campus. Great location: could wake up, roll out of bed, and walk to class in less than 10 minutes; close to dining courts and has Cosi downstairs; Third Street Markets is right across the street; not too far from any of the other freshman dorms or Mackey/Ross-Ade. You share a bathroom/shower setup with 2-3 other rooms, which is a much better ratio than Shreve or Earhart, and there are plenty of private bathrooms if you're into that. 3 full sized lounges and 5 small lounges per floor in Honors North. There's a computer lab and printer in Honors South too. A half-kitchen (fridge, microwave, oven, sink) in Honors North basement and a full-kitchen (same as North plus a stovetop) in South. Only complaint is the price. Oh and you have AC! - 4 years ago