Take yourself back to the summer before your freshman year. You were filled with excitement, nerves, and you probably had no idea what to expect. When it came time to choose your dorm, you might have just picked whatever was available.

At that time, you likely had no clue how much that decision would impact your first-year experience. In the case of Mayflower Hall, recent data shows that first-year students who live in Mayflower are retained at lower rates than any other residence hall and have lower grade point averages, according to Iowa Now.

I lived in Rienow Hall during my freshman year at the University of Iowa. Going into the decision, I was hoping for either Burge or Catlett, mostly because of their locations and dining halls. But when it came time for me to pick my dorm, both of those options were already taken. So, I ended up stuck in Rienow.

I hadn’t even heard of Rienow before and didn’t know it existed. I had no idea where it was, what it looked like, or what was around it when I picked it. The first time I saw Rienow in person was on move-in day. It was then when I found out that the closest dining hall is Hillcrest, which is not the most convenient spot in the world. Although it’s close by, it’s still a hassle to walk from Rienow to Hillcrest, especially in the cold weather.

My first thoughts were, “Wow, this is far,” and “Woah, this is small.”

But after spending the entire school year in Rienow Hall, I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.

Living on the west side of campus forced me to wake up earlier and walk farther. While those two things don’t sound glamorous, they taught me self-discipline. As much as I hated having to get up early and walk 15 minutes to the center of campus, it shaped the work ethic I needed to get through my first year of college.

Another aspect of Rienow that shaped my first year was the condition of the building. To put it simply, Rienow is not the prettiest dorm at the UI. Whenever I visited dorms like Catlett or Petersen, I was blown away by how hotel-like they felt. Rienow Hall is the quintessential freshman dorm because it’s not flashy; it has what you need, not necessarily what you want.

I asked Alondra Bolanos-Lupian, a second-year undergraduate student at the UI, how living in Catlett Hall shaped her first year.

“Living in Catlett made my freshman year so much easier,” Bolanos-Lupian said. “Since I was new on campus, having the dining hall in the building was very accommodating. Also, Catlett being so large made it easier for me to make new friends.”

I also spoke to Edwin Diaz, a fourth-year undergraduate student, about his experience living in Mayflower Hall during his first year.

“Living at Mayflower made my first year a lot more inconvenient,” Diaz said. “I had to rely on the bus to get to campus, and if I didn’t catch the bus, I had to walk 30 minutes. If I could go back and change things, I would have stayed in a different dorm.”

The two quotes from these students are real-life examples of just how directly the dorm you live in affects your first-year experience.

If you or someone you know is about to start college and live in a dorm, make sure to choose a dorm that will make your first-year experience as enjoyable as possible. It’s not always possible to pick your ideal dorm because online room selection is based on the randomized number assigned to each new student after they fill out their housing application. But if you’re lucky enough to have a choice, choose wisely.

When doing research, make sure you look at what surrounds the dorm, the location it’s in, and the other amenities it offers before you make your final decision.