Living in E-House (Engineering House)

E-House, or McKee Hall as it’s actually called, is the Special Living Option (SLO) for engineering students in West. As an engineer who’s about to live there for the 4^th year in a row, I can tell you that it’s great. The building is on the corner of N Burrowes Street and Curtin Road and faces the Lion Shrine and Rec Hall. Even though the dorm is called Engineering House, students with other majors sometimes live there, too, if they switch while still living there or if there’s nowhere else to put them. Students who are in the colleges of Earth & Mineral Science and IST can also occasionally live in E-House.

The main thing about E-House is that it’s kind of like a club. There are monthly house meetings that everyone has to attend (or e-mail the president with a valid excuse and then take a make-up quiz), occasional floor meetings, events that give you points, and committees to be on. The points are what matter the most. In years past, every student living in E-House has had to obtain 3 academic points and 3 social points per semester in order to be eligible for a housing contract to live in McKee again the next year. It’s easy, but make sure you get the points early since the deadlines are usually in October and March. There are also some students who don’t live in McKee that want to who need to meet all of the requirements; they’re called associate members. This means that if you applied and didn’t get in (or if you didn’t even know there was a special application process), you can still try to live there in the spring semester (if any spots open up) or your sophomore year. The best part of the system is that it makes it really easy to study abroad or intern/co-op for a semester. So long as you get the points the semester before you leave, you’re guaranteed housing in McKee when you come back.

McKee Hall is a co-ed dorm, meaning that both guys and girls live there. Five of the six floors in the building have dorm rooms. Floors B and 4 are only for guys, while floors 1, 2, and 3 are for guys and girls. One weird thing is since McKee used to be an all guy’s dorm building, all of the bathrooms have urinals and straight razor deposits. My advice is to just pretend they’re not there. Most freshmen women will live on the third floor, but some will end up on the second and first floors. Freshmen guys are usually on B-level (that’s what we call floor B). The side of the hall that the girl’s dorms are on alternate from floor to floor, so if you need to use the bathroom but yours is closed, DO NOT go straight down. On the first floor, girls are on the north side, second floor is south side, and third floor is north side again.

There are a few lounges in E-House. The two main ones are A-Level lounge and the Piano lounge. The A-Level lounge, as its name says, is on A-Level (floor A, the very bottom-most floor). It has vending machines, a ping-pong table, a pool table, couches, tables, and a large TV. Your first RA floor meeting will probably occur here. The Piano lounge is the other main lounge. It is on the first floor and is called the Piano lounge because there is a piano there. It also has couches and tables and a white board. There is a stairwell that goes between the two lounges, but it’s not used very often. There is a small lounge on B-Level that has tables, chairs, and a chalkboard, but it is windowless and has poor ventilation. There is a lounge that is the entrance to the laundry room on A-Level that has tables, chairs, and a TV. The last “lounge” isn’t really a lounge. It used to be called the Half Moon Desk because there was a semi-circular desk that was attached to the wall, but it was remodeled last year and a permanent name hasn’t been picked yet. It may be referred to as the study nook, the study bar, or the old Half Moon Desk area. It’s right beside the front doors and the Piano lounge.

The best thing about McKee is that you’ll never have to struggle through homework or exam stress alone. Since (pretty much) everyone is an engineering student, there will always be someone to study with or an upperclassman to ask for help. We’ve all been through the physics and math and chemistry (and econ and English) classes, so don’t be afraid to ask around if anyone remembers how to do those things. If you’re not sure who to ask about engineering related topics, going to an RA, someone on the executive board, your E-House mentor, or a WEPO mentor is your best bet. If you have housing questions, you should ask John Norris, the Upper West housing coordinator (whose office is on A-Level in McKee) or an RA. I hope you enjoy your time in E-house. It’s a great place to live!

Chloe Nagle is a senior in Aerospace Engineering, and she is a Mentor for WEPO '14!