Addy / Ban Righ Hall is a fairy tale all-girls residence located right in the heart of campus.

You Asked: “How do they determine which residence room I get? How is my rez room assigned? How does Queen’s decide which dorm room I get? etc, etc!”

We Answered: The short and sweet answer is: by lottery. However, it does get slightly more complicated than this. For all of you control freaks, read on – we’ve got the inside scoop to help seal your dream residence fate!

Note: The majority of the below advice we stole from the oh-so-helpful Queen’s University Residence website. If you haven’t already prowled around this site for hours on end, get thee over there! They’ve got answers – and official ones.

To save you some time, and to weigh in with our personal touch, below is a rundown of how the heck Queen’s decides which room you get:

What we know for sure:

• First year students are assigned rooms on both main and west campus by a random computer lottery process
• Your order in this lottery determines your chances of getting the preferences noted on your application (single vs double / theme floors / co-ed vs single sex / shared washroom etc.)
• The system runs through all students’ 1st preference, if the first preference listed on the application form is available then the student is assigned.  Then the system will move on to the second preference and so forth until all students have been assigned. This continues until the student is assigned to one of their preferences. (Remember, all 1st years are guaranteed a spot in rez)
• During this process, the computer also checks to see if the student has applied for a theme floor and/or whether a request for a roommate was made. Some of these options (such as an all-female ) will take precedence over a listed preference if the two are not compatible.

What we gather based on anecdotal evidence:

• Scholarship winners are more likely to get their room of choice.
• Major entrance award winners are guaranteed a single room (although the choice of a theme floor can disrupt the lottery system, so be sure to choose single rooms first if you so choose).
• Not ALL applications go through the lottery process.
• You can influence the potential type of room or building you will get by changing your rankings (eg: far less people are likely to choose a single sex single than a co-ed single. If it’s a single you want most, be strategic)

Boo Hoo the Bear is the Queen’s Mascot. He is a part of the Queen’s Bands and is seen often around the Queen’s campus, at football games, at frosh week and at homecoming.

Boo Hoo wears a vest and tam in the Royal Stewart tartan pattern. He does not wear a Queen’s Tam.

Apparently, Boo Hoo was a originally a real bear who was paraded around at football games and kept in the basement of Grant Hall. #weird The first bear was a pet of Bill Hughes who brought him to Queen’s when he was hired as a boxing trainer. This was the first of a succession of 5 bears who lived at the stadium until the 1950s until animal rights activists on campus put the kibosh on it.

The mascot as we know it today was revived in its present form in the 1980s by the Queen’s Bands and is so popular today that he has graced the cover of many a Queen’s publication and even has his own Facebook Page.

Ever wonder what a “Queen’s Tam” is? If you haven’t, you should, as you’ll be faced with fugly sightings of these things day in and day out from the moment you arrive on the Queen’s campus.

A tam, officially known as a Tam o’ Shanter by no one other than wikipedia, is a Scottish style hat. Simply put, it’s a beret like hat. The Queen’s Tam is a navy blue beret, with a giant red pom pom and the queen’s colours knitted in a checkered pattern around the bottom edge.

Frosh are given a “Queen’s Tam” during their first week of school. Most people wear Tams during football games, Homecoming, or other Queen’s celebrations, often accompanied by a pair of Queen’s coveralls (a beer cup does nicely as an accessory as well).

BooHoo the Bear, the Queen’s Mascot, often wears a Tam.

You Asked: “What should I pack for the next 8 months in residence at Queen’s? What do I need to bring for first year? What can I leave behind at home?”

We Answered: If you haven’t thought about these questions ad nauseum, you are a rare breed of chill.

Thankfully, with a strong pre college packing list and a few last minute trips to the Kingston Walmart or the Shoppers Drug Mart, you’ll be set up for 8 months of dorm living success. Remember, almost anything you forget you can buy in Kingston – and most people arrive with far more than they really need. If you arrived with only flip flops for the shower and a surge protector you’d survive just fine.

Read on for our ultimate Queen’s residence packing list:

For the shower:

• Shower shoes or thongs: the showers get disgusting
• Bucket or bath tote: to lug your shower stuff around
• Towels: pack lots as you will not be doing your laundry as often as you think
• Bathrobe: for the mad dash back and forth to the shower
• Toiletries: don’t buy them in bulk containers, as you have to lug them around a lot, but buy a good supply before arriving at Queen’s, as it’s annoying to come without the basics.

For your room:

• Sheets, a pillow, and warm comforter: your bed will double as your couch.
• A fan: it’s hot and humid in Kingston.
• Mirror: your room doesn’t come with a full length one.
• A huge laundry bag or basket: trust me, you’ll do your laundry less than you think.
• Loonies and quarters: for the washers and dryers.
• Laundry soap / Dryer sheets
• Coat hangers
• A surge protector: or a powerbar with extra outlets
• An alarm clock: a loud one, preferably with a small snooze button
• Storage containers: get ones that fit under the bed

What clothes to pack:

• Winter boots: Make sure they are waterproof
• Warm Coat: I had a decent one, but it’s worth investing in a great one
• Normal set of clothes for a year: the crowd is generally fairly pretty (aka lots of Sevens Jeans and lululemon pants) but pack what you have and what makes you feel comfortable.
• Formal clothes: there are lots of opportunities to dress up big at Queen’s
• Bathing suit: when summer hits it’s great to tan by the beach, or play beach volleyball outide of Gord Brock
• Gym stuff: At the PEC they have a washing service and I highly suggest you bite the bullet and do it. It will make you more likely to go to the gym, and less likely to where the same smelly unwashed socks five gym days in a row.

Other items I wish I’d packed:

• Febreeze: I cannot stress this item enough. You will use it on your clothes, dirty dishes, roomate, everything.
• Dishes: you don’t need much, maybe just a bowl, spoon, fork, knife, and a cup.
• Medicine: stock up before you come to Queen’s, while the health services is awesome, it’s still annoying to have to buy it when you can just steal it from home.
• Food: trust me, the 2am munchies will hit. Beg your parents for a Costco run and stock up on ready made food, the kitchens in rez are fairly small and gross, so avoid cooking at all costs.
• Kettle: for late night hot cocoa, soups, oatmeal etc.
• Thermal Mug: to fill up with coffee at the CoGro
• Nalgene bottle: to fill up with juice or water in the caf and lug it around all day
• Condoms: don’t assume everyone is sexually active at Queen’s, but those who are better get it on with a rubber. As ‘clean’ as everyone seems at Queen’s, stds are all over the place. So buy them big, in bulk, whatever, just have them on hand.

Desk / Study Supplies:

• Computer: I’d suggest a laptop, as you can take notes in class, bring it to the library, and it’s easy to move in upper years. Also, theft is VERY low at Queen’s. I’d like to say it’s because it’s such a safe campus, and it is, but in reality, everyone is just too rich to steal. Read more about this subject here.
• Printer: don’t buy a piece of crap , they end up costing more than they are worth when you have to buy $100 ink refills. Invest in a decent one or simply email your assignments to yourself and print them off at the PC&C. It’s cheaper and more social. (ps: the guys working there are notoriously cute)
• Pens, notepads, stapler
• A big bulletin board: or get a dry erase board & markers

Banking:

• It best to set up an account with TD Canada Trust. There are TD Green machines all over campus as well as a major banking location downtown on Princess Street. If you bank with another company, now’s the time to switch – it’s worth it to save the debit fees.

Other things you can live without, but might want to buy:

• Coffee maker / Bodum
• Iron
• Wall tacks or masking tape
• Slippers: for wandering around the rez halls at night
• Plants and decorations
• A fridge: I had one and never used it. They rent them at the beginning of the year and are disgusting and crappy. For like 20 bucks more you can buy a decent one and then sell it in second year.
• Stereo, tv, dvd player: you’ll be the most popular kid on the floor
• Brita filter: to keep in your fridge

Things that you DON’T need:

• A phone phone: your phone, voicemail, answering machine etc. is included in your room. You’ll likely just use your cell any way.
• A lamp: you are provided with an overhead light and one lamp, bring more if you need it or are easily depressed
• Your hamster: they aren’t allowed.
• Hot plates or toasters: again, not allowed. I did know a guy on my floor who had a deep fryer and no one found out, but I figure that’s probably banned too.
• Garbage can: one is in your room
• Candles: romance does not involve your curtains going up in flames

What your room already comes with:

• bed with mattress and pillow (this is a single bed, except in Leggett and Watts Hall they have extra long double beds)
• dresser
• desk
• bulletin board
• bookshelf
• desk lamp
• chair (usually fairly ghetto)
• mirror (not floor length usually)
• telephone and data connection

Last but not least, just remember, you aren’t moving to the total boonies. If you forget something you can get it in Kingston, and if you are coming from out of province or country, it’s worth it to arrive a day early, head out to the burbs, do some shopping there and then take a taxi back to rez.

Image courtesy of the Queen's Journal

When friends and family would come visit me in the summer during my time at Queen’s, this meant one of two things:

1) Having them camp out uncomfortably on couches, futons, housemates beds … or spoon with me.

2) Having them cough up big bucks for a hotel or B&B in Kingston, which is a pricey place to stay during the summer months (the cheapest rooms go for $130 a night) … and left less room for dinners and drinks.

My parents and friends often took the “house guest” approach, which meant hours of cleaning, scrambling for clean blankets / towels, and generally a feeling of impending claustrophobia.

Thankfully things are quite different now!  As of this summer, your friends or family can visit you and actually stay in residence for as little as $32 per night. For a dingy room in Vic Hall this might sound a little steep, but imagine nabbing a swank air conditioned room in Watts for a friend … this is definitely an easy sell to get them off your couch!

The ‘Loved Ones Special’ allows friends and family to stay in Victoria Hall for only $32 a night for a single room, $42 a night for a double, or in a two-bedroom air-conditioned unit in Leggett Hall for $89 a night.

For more information about Queen’s Event Services and this offer, visit their website or call (613)533-2223

Chown Hall, arguably one of the nicest residences on campus

Recently one of our readers, Sarah, shared this amazing post about Chown Hall. Read on, for the inside scoop on the poshest residence on campus:

If you’re living in Chown, you’re in for a treat. Sure there are going to be guys that you meet in frosh week who give you the dumb-founded “you live with all girls?!” look every now and then, but you can smile sweetly to yourself because your rez has a lot more perks than theirs.

It’s true about the bathrooms: 2 showers in each wing, with 6 wings per floor means no line-ups for the bathroom on Friday nights. The front spiral staircase is the perfect place for pictures and for Cinderella-like dates. The whole building was also recently renovated so say goodbye to ugly 70s decor and hello to awesome insulation. There’s a full laundry room with cable TV in the basement, good for studying, and expressing your deepset Grey’s addiction. There’s even an activity room with a pool table and a piano. The Music Department also has practice rooms in the basement that you can get a key to.

My favourite part of Chown though was cooking. There’s an oven on the first floor, and in winter there’s always a yummy scent wafting throughout the building. There are also stoves in each wing and at least one microwave per floor, giving you a bunch of options for late night snacks and Sunday night dinners without having to leave the warm comfort of your floor to trek up the hill to the Lazy Scholar. It’s also a really good idea to bring or buy small pots and pans and your own dish detergent.

Feeling safe in your home away from home is important, and there’s an unspoken code in Chown that you don’t let random people into the building. Unlike other residences where each floor is locked, the spiral staircase that connects each floor is really open, so it’s easy to go visit a friend or study buddy from a different floor.

Living in any residence is what you make of it. There are tons of opportunities in frosh week and classes to meet and befriend guys (and girls) from other rezzes. Remember that no matter where you live, everybody else on your floor is likely as nervous about moving in as you are, so you’ll know where to go to find someone to talk to.

Make sure to close your curtains though when you come out of the shower if you live on the South side of your floor, because you never know who’s going to be in the 3rd floor study room in Leggett!

~Sarah

A question we’ve seen posed more than a number of times in our comments is “What do I wear to homecoming parties at Queen’s?” A simple question, one clearly causing undue amounts of anxiety in our beloved Frosh, now goes unanswered no longer.

Jessica, a 2nd year Econ major shares her tips for dressing for success during Queen’s Homecoming:

• Show your school pride and wear as much tricolour as you can. Red, gold and blue … anything goes! For some reason, the uglier the better.
• Stay comfy. Queen’s sweatshirts or rugby shirts with comfy pants means you can drink copious amounts of beer and still get your Oil Thigh on.
• Wear clothes you are okay with getting dirty. Beer, puke, dirt, pancake syrup – if you had fun, your clothes will come home in rougher shape than you left the house in.
• A head covering! It’s not homecoming without either a tam or a big oversized hood. When you find yourself on someone else’s bed / couch / floor in the morning your bed head is safe from Facebook tagging.
• Tshirts that make fun of other schools. Sleep with it at Western? Step in it at Guelph? Anything that makes you feel superior for choosing Queen’s works. And yes, Guelph was my safety school thankyouverymuch.
• My outfit of choice? Tricolour Queen’s Rugby sweater (a big oversized) comfy black tights, and Hunters or Uggs. I’m warm, dry, and ready to reallocate my energy into cheering for the Gaels and consuming too much keg beer than caring about what I’m wearing.

Still wondering what the heck homecoming is all about? It involves pancake keggers (a Queen’s tradition!) in the morning, followed by drunken cheering at the game. Alumni usually are everywhere, and will often show up at some of the parties, or at least parade around the football field. After the game, more drinking usually occurs, or people take naps to prepare for evening parties.

Sterling Hall on campus at night, notice the "blue light" out front.

You Asked: Is it safe to walk around the Queen’s campus late at night?

We Answered: During my time at Queen’s I never felt unsafe or uneasy walking around late at night on campus. That said, on the Queen’s campus, like anywhere, you should be careful when walking alone at night. Queen’s offers lots of great safety options to ensure that you are safe and feel safe during your late night romps on campus.

One of the things that made me feel safest at Queen’s was the abundance of Emergency Telephones and Blue Lights located throughout the campus. Activating either of these devices will connect you directly to Queen’s Campus Security – and from almost any blue light on campus you can see another blue light. Meaning, you are never far from safety. This service goes a long way towards making a person feel safe. They are also great to use for frisbee golf. Each blue light serves as a hole!

The AMS Walkhome Service is another spectacular safety option that Queen’s offers. This is a free and friendly service run by students, for students. Call 613.533.WALK (9255) and you’ll be escorted wherever you need to go by one male and one female ‘Walkhomer’. I’ve met some pretty cool peeps through Walkhome too. (Tip: the guys are pretty cute)

Some other tips to consider:

• travel along well-lit routes, avoid dark alleys and side streets that are unlit
• you never have to walk alone! If you want someone to walk you anywhere, just call Walkhome – 613.533.WALK (9255).
• the AMS Shuttle Bus also runs nightly, beginning around 10:30 pm on weeknights (earlier on weekends)
• always report suspicious behaviour to Campus Security.

Want to get lots of work done? There is no better place on campus to power away than the Fireplace Reading Room,

Like it or not, you’ll be spending a fair bit of your time at Queen’s studying, and sometimes your rez room with eight million distractions just doesn’t cut it. We’ve compiled a list of the top ten greatest spots on and off to campus to study.

1. Fireside Reading Room (in Stauffer Library)

Located on the second floor of Stauffer Library is a big room filled with large oak tables and warm fireplaces. Honestly, why would you study anywhere else? The room looks out over the corner of Union and University and is a picture perfect spot for studying. It can be hard to find a table in here, especially if you want a whole one to yourself. So go early and stake a claim.

2. The Starbucks in Indigo (Chapters)

For some reason or another one of my favourite study spots is the Starbucks in the Indigo on Princess. Located on the top floor of Indigo there’s a small Starbucks with lots of seating and a great view of Princess street. Sure it’s nothing special, but the atmosphere is really great. They pack lots of little tables into a small space, so you are always bumping, literally, into a friend or a friend of a friend or a classmate. Plus, you are welcome to browse the selection of books at Indigo for inspiration or those well earned study breaks!

3. Starbucks at Johnson & Division

This Starbucks is one of the nicest coffee shops I have ever seen, as it is located inside a beautiful, old limestone building- something that was well incorporated into the store’s design. Here you will encounter the usual Starbucks fare, free wireless, and many, many students. This is a good place to study in the evenings, and is always a great place to enjoy an overly complicated drink while surfing the Internet.

4. The Sleepless Goat

Located at 91 Princess Street, the Sleepless Goat, or just ‘the goat’ as regulars call it, is a workers cooperative coffee house serving up affordable fair trade coffees, desserts and vegan fare. They showcase local art on the walls and have lots of tables and chairs.

The most boring and nondescript study room you've ever seen. Aka: a recipe for productivity!

5. Mac-Corry Study Room

Across from the cafe in Mac-Corry, right on campus, is a small study room that is great if you really want to get some work done. It’s never very busy, it’s open late, and best of all, people who are there are there to work. Basically, you’ll feel guilty sitting there rocking out to your iPod when you should be learning about supply side controversies. Yes, it does kind of smell sometimes – this may be because it’s located right beside the Mac-Corry washrooms. However, you are there to work, dammit, stop wasting your precious study minutes smelling.

There is also little to distract you in Mac-Corry other than food in the cafeteria, and this room is on the first floor, so you won’t find yourself gazing endlessly out the window. You’ll sit, you’ll stay, you’ll study: the makings of a perfect study spot, no?

6. The Grad Club

A bar and music venues in the evenings, the Grad Club is an overlooked spot to get some daytime studying done. It’s a huge old mansion right on campus on the corner of Barrie and Union and has three floors filled with nooks and crannies for studying in. They have a limited lunch menu and cheap drinkings that flow all day long. So if that Pot Shard labelling is getting you down, just grab a tall one.

Note: Each week in our Asked & Answered series we’ll be choosing one of your questions and answering them. Pop your questions in the comment section below.

You Asked: “What is the best kind of computer to bring to Queen’s?”

We Answered: These days, almost every student on campus has a computer. While there are ample public machines to use, and free wifi on every corner, bringing your own will make your life a lot easier.

You have a couple of options to decide between, but our vote is for a fast, light, and uber portable machine!

Mac vs PC:

Our top pick for your college machine is the Apple MacBook. That said, if your faculty requires special programs, a PC might work best for you (overall, Arts students are safe using a Mac, and almost all other students can always run Windows on their’s). Commerce students, who pretty much live in Excel and Powerpoint might prefer the Window’s version of Office. Otherwise, the warranty, portability, and user friendly nature of the MacBook has us at hello!

Laptop vs Desktop:

While a laptop is more likely to be lost or stolen, you are an adult in a campus full of other wealthy adults. Theft is low. Free wifi is everywhere on campus, as are power outlets. Meaning you pretty much have zero excuses not to be doing work if you have a laptop. Pro or con, you decide?

While the keyboards and monitors of desktop machines offer a bit more of a luxurious working environment, why not pair your lappy with a cheap big screen and keyboard. You’ll have the best of both worlds. Note: all rez rooms come full connected with speedy reznet.

Shiny and New vs Used:

You will be spending more time on your computer than you can imagine. For Facebook, for fun, for downloading, oh yeah, and for work. If you invest in one thing (other than your college tuition) during your time at Queen’s – a solid machine should be it. Invest in the warranty if you get a laptop, and always buy new. These is nothing worse than a slow, virused machine.

Overall:

Buy new, get a laptop, and get a Mac if your program allows. If you are feeling extra geeky, get a monitor, speakers, and a keyboard to hook up to your mobile beauty. That way you’ll have a home office and home theatre all from the confines of your rez room.

Last Word:

The Queen’s Campus Computer Store offers some great discounts on both buying and renting machines, and are your best bet for quick and friendly repairs. Be sure to take advantage of their deals, or check out if your preferred vendor offers a student discount. Each year (towards back to school time) Apple offers some killer student pricing.