South Campus 

Here are a few more photos of the South Campus dorm: big windows, loft-esque house lounges, loads of light. 

Breckinridge

Named for Sophonisba Preston Breckinridge, the first woman to receive a PhD from the University in political science and founder of the School of Social Service Administration, Breck is a house with a pretty powerful history. Breckies commemorate awesome Sophonisba with their annual celebration of Sophie Day, in which unnameably cool events happen on an immeasurably cool day (it’s all very secret). But what isn’t secret is that all floors one-gendered and all bathrooms single-sex. One of the largest Houses on campus, Breck fun-loving, quirky, and social - and almost everyone has a bike.

The Burrow

Breckenridge is filled to the brim, magical and welcoming - just like the place the Weasleys call home. If you wander down into the basement you’ll find everything from sofas to study-guide murals, old arcade games to ping-pong tables, to a ginormous communal kitchen…and maybe even a red-haired wizard or two.

Broadview

Broadview Hall is the last surviving luxury hotel converted into dormitories by the University, where about 200 lucky students live in three houses. It’s steps away from the #6 bus (the express route downtown), three blocks from Lake Michigan and right near the restaurants and stores on 55th Street. The ballroom on the first floor is the hangout spot of choice. Ball. Room.

The Leaky Cauldron

Singles, private bathrooms, and a block north of the world-famous Museum of Science and Industry, this leaky location doesn’t actually leak. But it is definitely a hub of social life - students hang out in the beautiful ballroom, are a five-ish-minute bus ride from campus, and have a well-stocked community kitchen…in fact, its just as well stocked as the Leaky Cauldron. Hah! This analogy works!

Resident Masters

Drawn from the senior faculty and staff ranks, Resident Masters live in the six largest residence halls and sometimes have cute kids and animals. They also organize a rich program of social and cultural events (with food!). These include guest lectures and discussions with luminaries from all corners of University and public life, catered dinners, residence hall special events, and outings to the symphony, theater, opera or sporting events. 

Maclean

Maclean is located in the heart of Hyde Park, just a block from Ratner. The 100 students who hang out in six huge communal areas (game room, dining room, kitchen, TV room, solarium and assembly room) also have space to themselves - the dorm is mostly singles. With poetic, artistic and funny quotes scrawled all over the walls, Maclean draws those with a love for both privacy and community - and an appreciation for a home just a few minutes from campus. 

Durmstrang

A five-minute walk to Pierce dining commons and traditions like a quarterly BBQ, this dorm is eclectic, diverse and tight-knit. Like Dumbledore says, its also home to “our friends from the North” – but they don’t practice the dark arts, unless you mean the dark art of fun!

South

South is the newest dorm on campus, a glass-lined treasure trove of light-filled rooms, multi-level houses and grassy inner courtyards. It’s just across the Midway from the main quads (by the Law School), and shares its dining hall with Burton-Judson. There’s a buzzing social atmosphere inside the hallways - they have a big house-lounge culture, and also also also a snack mart in the basement. Yum. 

Beauxbatons French Academy

New and shiny, blue and silver, glassy and pretty. Kind of like France? Except this isn’t just a place for girls like Beauxbatons, and they don’t run around their gorgeous dining hall like they’re skipping. The food’s good too.

Snell-Hitchcock

For some of us, this is the UChicago dorm - it’s got ivy, it’s got mainly single rooms, it’s got an awesome name. It’s primarily for students who cherish privacy and location, and a tire swing right in their own garden. Snell and Hitchcock were originally built separately in the late 1800s, and are now connected by a huge underground hang-out space. Snell is singles, Hitchcock is doubles for first years. 

Slytherin

Traditional, beautiful, ivy-covered, and the closest any of us can get to living on the main quad. Truth be told, there’s a lot to like about this dormitory. But we’re pretty sure that Draco Malfoy might like it too, if you’re cool with that. The large basement (with ping pong and pool tables) is perfect for hiding your Basilisks in, and the signature cunningness of a Snell-Hitchcockian leads to their constant victory in Scav. 

Pierce

Pierce kids are arguably the tightest knit on campus. Their doors are always left open, and their house lounges always packed. In a good way. The 10-story building is three blocks north of the main quads (right off 55th street, where the 55 bus runs!) and pretty darn close to Starbucks. It has its own dining hall on the first floor, with a MONGOLIAN BBQ - seriously, that stuff is good - and four houses with large two-story lounges. The bathrooms are communal, and almost all first years share dorm rooms, but there are plenty of roomy single options for you come second-year. 

The Tent where Harry and Ron and Hermione live in the woods

Not really much to look at on the outside, the cavernous bee-hive-esque inside of Pierce is actually packed with wonder. You’ll find a dining room, large two-story lounges, kitchens and double bedrooms with bay windows. Those who live here swear by their house spirit, and occasionally try to run down University Avenue to avoid Death Eaters (read: get to class). 

Burton-Judson

A beautiful, Oxford-style building across the Midway from the main quads, BJ has seven houses and both single and double dorms (more singles than doubles though), and even its own dining hall. Woo! You can catch the 171 - free to UChicago students - right outside, or wander over to the ice skating rink if that’s your preferred mode of transportation. The House Lounges are pretty sweet, and the bathrooms are shared and co-ed. 

Ravenclaw

That neo-gothic architecture, stunning dining-room, and riddle you need to answer before you enter! Okay, no riddle, but the academic motivation of BJ students, their talents at Karaoke, and their domination in Scav make them our campus’s Ravenclaw. 

Max Palevsky

Max was my first-year dorm, and I chose it because it’s close to Ratner and Henry Crown gyms, Bartlett Dining Hall and the Regenstein Library, the 55 bus and the Reynold’s Club, and I am a ‘five-minutes to get anywhere’ kind of girl. In fact, it’s one of the most central dorms on campus - and sticks out like a beautiful colorful lego building, which residents will tell you is a welcome sight in the white Chicago winter. Home to a very social sector of UChicago, students live primarily in two-to-a-bedroom suites with two beds and two half-bathrooms, and house life is vibrant. People are always sitting out in the hallways studying, chatting, and having water fights (did I just say that?). 

Gryffindor

“Gold” colored hallways, camaraderie and brave domination in Intramural sports, Max P is forever known as the lion-hearted house, and a giant underground tunnel links the East, Central and West buildings (so you can sneak out at night and go to Hogsmeade, of course). Plus, I lived there and I am Hermione. So…

Note: top photo credited to Jamie Manley - Class of 2014 - http://www.flickr.com/photos/jamiemanley/