1838 Chicago is one of Northwestern’s newest dorms – it opened up just last year for the 2016-2017 academic year. With a mix of doubles and singles, 1838 is the only dorm on campus to have a gym in its basement. It has 120 mixed-grade residents across four floors, most of whom will be freshmen (although it was entirely freshmen for its first year). If you’re a South Campus person, it has prime location: Allison dining hall and the Shepard Engagement Center are right next door and the campus shuttle can pick you up or drop you off all of fifty feet from your front door. The best part of 1838, though? According to almost every person who has set foot in the dorm, it’s the bathrooms: they’re about twice as nice as your average hotel restroom. 1838 is part of a “Residential Community” with Allison and Shepard, meaning residents get a chance to participate in activities and events with residents of those two dorms.
“I'd say it's the best South Campus dorm. It has the best amenities like Shepard and Allison but since it's a little smaller it's more social than either one (however my experience is based on the fact that it's all freshman. It might change next year). The best part is probably having the gym in the building and having access to Shepard.”
Sydney Yockey, Communication freshman
“I think that 1838 Chicago is probably one of the nicest buildings that a freshman can live in; however, I also think that if a freshman is looking for a dorm that is predicated on sociality as opposed to privacy, 1838 Chicago is not the building you're looking for. The automatically locking doors, and the distance from North Campus – the usual center of antics – makes 1838 a very isolating place, especially for someone with a desire to get into Greek Life. The bathrooms are lit, though.”
Gordon Dunbar, SESP freshman
“The dorm has really nice facilities and a lot of great social spaces. Despite that, I feel like 1838's size lends itself to smaller friendship groups instead of a larger dorm community. South campus is great because it makes access to Evanston really convenient, and puts Medill and Comm kids right next to their classes. That being said, the walk up Sheridan does make you feel like you're missing out on most of the social happenings on campus.”
Luke Holey, Communication freshman
“1838 is a clean and modern dorm with a mix of social and quiet people. It's easy to hang out with friends in the common areas and lounges or just keep to yourself in your room. I'd recommend it to freshmen that have South Campus classes and prefer a quieter community rather than a more social dorm like Elder.”
Laurel Wholihan, Communication freshman
“I think 1838 (and Shepard) has definitely replaced Allison as the nicest dorm on campus. It's super clean, the bathrooms are really nice and the gym in the basement is convenient, especially for people too lazy to walk to SPAC like me. I also think it's really easy to get to know and be friends with your neighbors in 1838 because it is an all freshman dorm and relatively small.”
Olivia Winn, Communication freshman
“It has nice study rooms and lounges, but the best part is easily the gym in the basement. Even though I don’t live there, I go to the gym at least three times a week and it’s never too crowded. I’d recommend living there because some of the rooms are huge, the bathrooms are clean and it’s near Allison dining hall.”
Grace Wade, Medill freshman
“The varying room size can leave you with an abnormally small room, but the quality of the rooms and facilities is great. I would recommend this dorm to freshman.”
Jake LaPres, McCormick freshman
Reporting by Rachel Oh, Justin Curto, Trevor Lystad, Meg Pisarczyk, Robert Bell, Claire Toomey, Alena Prcela, Mia Zanzucchi, Victoria Alfred-Levow, Kate Salvidio, Elly Rivera, Rachel Epstein, Jakob Lazzaro, Yoonjie Park, David Gleisner
Photos by Rachel Oh, Justin Curto, Emma Kumer, Meg Pisarczyk, Virginia Nowakowski, Claire Toomey, Alena Prcela, Victoria Alfred-Levow, Kate Salvidio, Mia Zanzucchi, Elly Rivera, Rachel Epstein, Jakob Lazzaro, Brian Quistberg, Yoonjie Park, David Gleisner
Videos by Mia Zanzucchi, Emma Kumer, Meg Pisarczyk, Virginia Nowakowski, Helen Lee, David Gordon, Jesus Campos, Helen Lee, Elissa Gray, Gabrielle Bienasz, Andy Brown, Elizabeth Guthrie, David Gleisner, Poppy Shen
Editing by Libby Berry, Lila Reynolds, Maxine Whitely, Helen Lee, Virginia Nowakowski, Mia Zanzucchi, Jesus Campos, Isabella Jiao and Rachel Frazin
Design and development by Alex Duner, Tyler Fisher, Hilary Fung, Dan Hill, KK Rebecca Lai, Maxine Whitely, Sheng Wu and Katie Zhu
This project is open source. Check it out on GitHub.
Data provided by Northwestern University Residential Services