As someone who has lived at the Modesto A. Maidique Campus (MMC) of Florida International University for two years running, I feel qualified enough to compile a ranked dorm list to help out my fellow Panther community. Although this is just my opinion, I made sure to collect as much information as possible from the FIU community and the web to justify my rankings.
**The new Tamiami Hall will not be included since it has not opened at the time of writing this.**
- Parkview Halls
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Parkview is an apartment style hall which consists of two connected, mostly identical halls—East and West—and is the most new out of the dorms featured on this list. Parkview houses primarily Honors College students and FIU athletes. The layout of every room consists of four private bedrooms, a common area, and two bathrooms. (Pro tip: if you’re looking for a better view, go with Parkview West).
Pros:
- Most convienient/closest parking options (has its own parking garage)
- Cleanest and newest
- Great study spots throughout the building
- Convenient location close to gym, stadium, and health center
- Easy access to Nature Preserve
- Private rooms that come with full mattress
- Laundry room is in the building
- Big windows
Cons
- Most pricey of all the dorm
- Can be loud when events are happening at the stadium
- Farthest from the center of campus
- University towers
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At a very close second, University Towers is another apartment style dorm, but it is primarily for upper-class students. University Towers is similar to Parkview except that it has three different types of room options. At University Towers you can live in either a 4 Bedroom Private, 2 Bedroom Private, or a Studio.
Pros
- Biggest common area and couch space
- Biggest bathroom sink space
- Variety of room options
- Close to the center of campus
- Easy access to Breezeway Marketplace for food
- Laundry room is in the building
- Full mattresses
Cons
- Small windows
- Has a little more run-down/outdated look
- Older appliances
- Less close parking options
- Everglades hall
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Everglades hall consists of three private bedrooms with a kitchen area and one bathroom. It also houses primarily upper-class students.
Pros
- Nicest lobby area with entertainment room
- Big bathroom mirror and sink space
- Laundry room is in the building
- Big closet space
- The center of the housing quad is close to the pool and other buildings
- Spacious common area
Cons
- Small windows that do not come with curtains
- Thin walls (so can hear everything)
- No close parking options
- No couch/living space in common area
- Twin mattresses
- Lakeview halls
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Lakeview is made up of two buildings: North and South, which are mostly identical. Lakeview North is for first-year students, and Lakeview South is for upper-class students and transfer students.
There are two room options in Lakeview Halls. There is the 2 Bedroom Shared, which consists of two twin beds within each bedroom, one bathroom, and a common area with a fridge and small table; and there is the 4 Bedroom Private, which has the same features except the rooms each have one twin bed. If you wanted that normal college experience type of vibe like I did, you might just prefer a 2 Bedroom shared.
Pros
- Common area/kitchen in every room
- Best location, close walk to the most important places
- Big closets
- Community kitchen on every floor
- Friendly RAs and close community
Cons
- Tile floors
- Poor air ventilation/dusty
- One bathroom to share between 4 people
- Twin mattresses
- Laundry room is outside of the building
- Small private rooms and showers
- University Apartments
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The University apartments (UA) are a community of courtyard-style, two-story apartment buildings for upper-class students. There are 4 room options at UA: 1 Bedroom Shared, 2 Bedroom Shared, 2 Bedroom Shared/1 Private, and Studio. Each room contains a full kitchen and twin mattresses. 2 and 4 bedroom apartments also have a living room.
Pros
- Kitchen in the room
- Range of room options
- Wood floors
- Has its own parking lot with many spaces available
- Packaging center open 24 hours
- Decent sized living space
Cons
- Has had bug infestations
- Isolated from campus
- Laundry room is outside the building and washers have frequent repair issues
- Less sense of community
- Outdated/run down look
- Twin mattresses
- Panther hall
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Panther Hall is home to primarily freshman students and consists of 2 Bedroom Shared rooms with twin extra long mattresses. If your looking for the basic first-year college experience dorm, this one is it.
Pros
- Lounge on first floor
- Easy access to pool and close to other buildings
- Family-like bond between students, i.e, everyone knows each other like a neighborhood, which includes friendly RAs
- Only dorm with a full bathroom (shower has a tub)
- Wood floors
- Spacious rooms
Cons
- Poor ventilation causes bad smell on certain floors
- No kitchen in rooms
- No common area in rooms
- Laundry room issues
- Twin mattresses
- Small windows
- One bathroom to share between 4 people
- Lack of room options
At the end of the day, every building has its pros and cons, so my advice to anyone looking to move on campus is to think about your own preferences and see which variables have the most weight to you. No dorm is actually that much worse than any of the others, because they are all different to accommodate different needs. Hopefully, Tamiami Hall will be a great new addition to FIU and house some more happy Panthers.