South Hall (Somerville, Massachusetts)

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South Hall is a dorm at Tufts University. It is located at the very bottom of the hill and is the closest dorm to Davis Square. South hall houses 367 students at maximum capacity. The dorm is co-ed, with both guys and girls living on all halls. Though it is primarily freshman, South is open to all years. Often times there are a decent number of sophomores and a handful of upperclassmen. South usually has 8-10 RA's and an RD. On each hall there are three or four single, lockable, co-ed bathrooms, rather than communal bathrooms. Each bathroom has one sink, shower, and toilette. Usually 4 or 5 people share one bathroom located close to their rooms, though anyone can use any bathrooms. Each hall also has one or two small lounges that have couches or a table with stools. Most halls have an RA on them that lives in one of the singles.
South is the second newest dorm on campus, built in 1991. The doubles are approximately 9.3'X16.4' and the singles are approximately 9.3'X8.2'. It should be mentioned that corner rooms are wider and more spacious. All rooms have plaster walls and linoleum floors. Rooms have built in closets but all of the other furniture (bed, desk, dresser) is movable. Fourth floor rooms have slanted ceilings. South has a very large common room with a TV, one large communal kitchen, and two large laundry rooms. South also houses the ResLife office and the Off-campus Housing Resource office.
South houses freshmen along with other students who have mediocre lottery numbers. It is also the dumping ground for many of the students who get stuck on the housing waitlist or are involved in other housing dilemmas. While Tufts does not list the exact lottery numbers that historically have had no problem securing a room in South, a double should necessitate an average in the range of just 2100 or so. A single on the other hand demands a much higher number- somewhere around 4500 or a little higher. This does, of course, fluctuate a bit every year.
South has a reputation of being one of the quieter dorms. Due to its extremely large size, there is very little sense of community among all of the students that live there. This fact, combined with the smaller, awkwardly shaped rooms, makes it difficult to hold any sort of social gathering in South. As such, South has inevitably come to be known as one of the least social dorms. That being said, it attracts people due to the creature comforts it offers- things like single bathrooms, new facilities, and (limited) wireless internet. It is a great place to live for someone seeking a comfortable, quieter place to reside.