Shreve Residence Hall
Written: Sep 15 '00 (Updated Jan 21 '08)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Convenient; Clean; Positive Social Atmosphere; Great Food Service
Cons: No A/C; Communal Bathrooms; No Exercise Room; Long walk to Classes
The Bottom Line: A great atmosphere and place to learn in Indiana, close to Indianapolis and Chicagoland.
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| dsmeyer's Full Review: Purdue University-West Lafayette |
dsmeyer's Note: This review is several years out of date. Some parts may be accurate, however lots has changed... i.e. Shreve now has air conditioning and fire sprinklers, and no longer has food service.
Everything you wanted to know about Shreve Hall
Shreve Hall is a co-ed University residence hall located in Purdue's Central Housing Neighborhood, about a 5-10 minute walk away from most academic buildings. The hall opened in 1970 and houses around 850 undergraduate students on 8 floors with two separate wings, with women in the east wing and men on the west. The term Shreve Wellness Hall comes from the facility's Lifestyle Plus program which focuses on 6 elements of wellness. While Shreve is also known by some as the "Health Hall" due to its strict non-smoking policies and wellness program, the student health here is just the same as about any other dorm on campus.
Shreve is not the newest dorm at Purdue. It is more than 30 years old, but it's the most recent of all the H-shaped halls and is maintained pretty well. Hillenbrand is the newest and nicest, and opened in 1993. However, freshmen are not allowed to live in Hillenbrand, so Shreve is naturally a good second or third choice for upperclassmen when filling out the dorm request after being accepted to Purdue.
Social Life and Activities
Shreve Hall offers many activities, events, and fun things to do for its residents throughout the year. There is a recreational lounge with two ping-pong tables, pool tables, a few arcade games, and a television. There are also couches in there and seating for large groups when necessary. As a member of Shreve Club, you get to vote on issues in the dorm... for example, what amount of money should be spent on new equipment and such. Shreve Hall also has its own radio station, located in the basement. Unfortunately, to get good reception for the radio station, you must install a tacky splitter device on your Cable TV outlet. The radio station is quite underutilized. Each floor on both wings of the dorm has its own activities and plans. Floor meetings generally happen about 3 or 4 times per semester, more or less depending on the counselor. Shreve has many social activities and events. Keeping the door open and meeting new friends in surrounding rooms is encouraged, just like in most other dorms (except Hillenbrand)!
I lived on the 6th floor of the west wing of Shreve Hall. The other men I lived near were a group like no other. They were a rowdy bunch, but we all had a good time. Shreve is a great residence hall to live in to meet lots of new people and develop your college experience in.
The Rooms
Life in Shreve isn't as spacious as home, but you would be surprised how much stuff you can fit into your dorm room. The room dimensions are 16'w x 11'l x 8'h, which is much bigger than the rooms in the old Cary Quad dorms, but is about the same as the other H-shaped halls. To make the most out of your available space, you and your room mate should consider a double loft. You can also get a bunk bed kit if you prefer not to hassle with lofts. Two desks and desk chairs are provided in the room, and unfortunately they cannot be removed from your room. The two closets, however, are very spacious and you can hide the hard wooden chair atop the shelf in there and provide your own comfy chair. Dressers are also built into the area by the door, and each side of the room has 5 book shelves by the window.
To make life most convenient in your room, you should consider sharing a refrigerator with your room mate to store beverages and snacks in. Also, bring lots of extension cords and power strips. There are only 10 power plugs available in the room. If you're like me and have tons of computer equipment, you should bring at least 2 power strips (surge protectors).
As with almost all the other residence halls, there is no Air Conditioning in the majority of rooms at Shreve, however they are planning on having each room fully air conditioned by 2003. A box fan for the window is an absolute must for Indiana's summer months when it can get very hot and humid with little if no breeze blowing through the building. Many people bring several fans to keep cool. The rest of the hall, such as the lounges, is fully air conditioned.
Lighting is poor in the rooms. Having the light turned on is sometimes not enough, so many people bring their own lamps. One rule for the residences here is that halogen lamps are prohibited.
Each room in Shreve Hall has a cable TV outlet as well as two Ethernet jacks for Internet access, and a phone jack. You should bring a computer and plug in to the ResNet. It costs $50 to activate but the actual cost is built into your room & board. There is almost enough space on the desks for a 17" monitor, keyboard, telephone, speakers, and a mouse. A laptop will fit in much better if you want to be able to transport your computer.
The Floor
Life on the floor is enjoyable once you make friends and meet your neighbors. You will best get to know the people living in surrounding rooms, unless their door is always closed. On school nights, quiet hours are from 8pm-8am. On the weekends, it's 10pm-10am, which I think is a little too conservative. People are often horsing around even during quiet hours as well as playing loud music. Some counselors are more strict about this than others.
There are 28 rooms per floor which means you get to share the facilities with up to 56 other men, or women. There are either 4 or 6 showers in each bathroom. Cleanliness usually isn't much to worry about, because the service staff keeps the restrooms pretty clean. After extensive use and on the weekends, the showers start to feel slimy and dirty. They only get deep cleaned once a week. In the morning when everyone takes a shower, there is sometimes a shortage of showers.
Each floor in the wing has a pressing room, a kitchenette with microwave, a trash room, cleaning closet, and a single room for those who want to live in their own room. Counselors get their own double-size single room.
Dining
Shreve Hall has its own dining facility with three very large dining rooms. Meals are served three times a day. During the week, breakfast is served 6:30-9:45, Lunch is 11:00-2:00, and dinner is 5:00-7:00. The disadvantage to Shreve Dining is that breakfast is not served on either Saturday or Sunday. On Sundays, there is no dinner in ANY of the dorms. The food here is all-you-can-eat, but you are not allowed to carry food out.
You are also not allowed to use your own portable beverage container. The quality of the food is typical, but there is usually a large selection, with plenty of snacks, fruits, vegetables, with a Salad Bar. Chicken is on the menu at least 5 to 8 times a week, along with lots of pasta. Payment methods include your BoilerExpress (Student ID) card, Meal Plan, or Dining Dollars (electronic money that automatically comes with your meal plan). Since almost every residence hall has a dining facility, you can go to any other dorm to eat if you don't like what Shreve has on the menu that day.
A disadvantage to Shreve is that it does not have its own "grill" cash-op service. Many of the other halls, such as Meredith, Harrison and McCutcheon, have retail operations right in the dorm itself. For this reason, you won't find yourself going downstairs to get breadsticks or a fountain Coke on a Saturday night in Shreve Hall.
Purdue will be permanently closing down Shreve Dining in 2003 as part of the $48 million dining "expansion" plan at Purdue.
Amenities
Activities and an open atmosphere in Shreve can be found on the main, or 2nd floor. These include a large study lounge with tables, chairs, and couches. There is also a vending lounge with several vending machines and tables to study or eat at. A big formal lounge is located in the front of the building, with a grand piano and several couches and seating areas. The basement, first floor, and second floors are all air conditioned (except the living areas), so in the summer these are good places to go to cool off, escape the noise, or just shoot the breeze with friends. There is also a computer lab with 8 machines and a printer located on the 2nd floor, in a nice quiet setting to write a paper or read your e-mail. The downside to this is that you must reserve time in the lab and leave the main office your student ID card whenever you check out a key for the lab. If you are in a hurry and just need to check e-mail real quick, there are two network computers in the hallway behind the main office and post office area.
To seek refuge from the noise and music that can often be found coming out of other rooms on your floor, you have several options. As I mentioned above, you can go to Shreve's formal lounge, vending lounge, study lounge, or even the basement to study. There is a large quiet study room in the basement that some people choose to take advantage of.
Shreve has a music room in the basement where you can practice with your band, since this is not allowed in student rooms. Many people still play their guitars in their dorm rooms, though. There is a another piano in there as well as the one in the formal lounge.
Despite being a "Wellness Hall" there is no exercise room in Shreve Hall. This must be had by going to Purdue's Recreational Sports Center (RSC), also known as the Co-Rec. The Co-Rec is across the street, just a few minutes walk.
Laundry facilities are also provided in the building. There are 6 washers and 6 dryers on either wing of Shreve in the basement. There are often shortages of washers and dryers during peak usage. Home Game days are good days to do laundry. To pay to use washers and dryers, you can use quarters, or your Student ID (BoilerExpress) card. There are doors separating the men's and women's side, so late at night and on holidays these are closed to prevent you from entering the side of the opposite sex. This also hampers your ability to use the machines on the other side.
Which brings me to the point that being in the wing of the opposite sex without an escort is an absolute no-no in any co-ed residence hall at Purdue University. You are not allowed to go to the girls side of the dorm if you are going to go visit a girlfriend. Instead, you must phone her room first so she or someone else can come and get you.
Accessibility
Shreve Hall is located in Central Neighborhood at Third and McArthur Streets. Even though "Central" is in no sense the center of Campus, it is just a few minutes walk to Purdue West where you can find several fast-food restaurants, a grocery store, bank, hair/tanning studio, bookstore, and more. The "campus loop" bus service runs past Shreve every 10 minutes during school hours, and as a Purdue student you can also take advantage of Lafayette's City Bus for free when you show your ID card.
Since Shreve Hall and most of the other dorms are located on the west side of Purdue, the walk time to class is about 10 minutes depending on the weather. If you ride your bike it is generally good to leave 10 minutes before class, and if you walk you should leave 15-20 minutes before class.
Located across Third Street is the Co-Rec. This is the sports and athletic complex with a new aquatic center. There are also baseball diamonds, a soccer field, and tennis courts just right across the street. During the fall, it's also real easy to hear the Purdue Marching Band play several times a week since they practice right across the street. This sometimes gets annoying.
All in all, Shreve Hall is just a few minutes away from food, exercise and fun in most cases.
Costs
It isn't cheap to live in Shreve. The 2001-2002- 10 meals/week plan costs $5,232, while the 20 meals/week plan costs $5,908. The 15 meals/week plan is the most popular, costing $5,480. While this may be more expensive than living in an apartment off campus, the meals are cooked for you, dishes are washed for you, and you don't have to pay Cable TV, Telephone, and Utility bills. The only thing you have to do is your own laundry, which for some people like me is a new reality. By the way, it is .75 per washer cycle and .25 per dryer cycle. That isn't included in your housing fee.
If you need extra spending money, you can also get a job right at Shreve Hall. Whether it's in the food service, service staff, or office staff, it pays enough just to get you some clothes money or whatever. I would recommend it if it does not interfere with your class schedule or study habits. They can be flexible around your schedule, so it's easy to get a job at Shreve.
Summary
All undergraduate students should at least consider Shreve Wellness Hall as one of their first choices when deciding on a residence hall at Purdue. Aside from the 1 or 2 false fire alarms per year, and frequent elevator breakdowns, life in this dorm can't be much better. Shreve offers in-house dining, lots of lounging, social life, well-kept facilities, recreation, and an above-average living space compared to the more older dorms at Purdue. While it isn't necessarily the luxury of Hillenbrand, and no air conditioning to boot, it still is far from the privacy and space of apartment life. If you are looking for other specifications, be sure to check out Purdue's website. They have excellent material and resources for those looking into dorm life.
-Shrever Beaver since 2000
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
dsmeyer
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Member: Doug Meyer
Location: Austin TX
Reviews written: 39
Trusted by: 13 members
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