Penn State WEPO: SLO Introduction & Engineering House

Throughout this series of blog posts Team E will be introducing special living options on campus and how you can get involved. A special living option or SLO, is a dorm on campus that houses students who share similar interests or majors. You may apply before your first year (some of them may still be open to you) or research this fall and become a member for next year! Each member of team E has had experience in three different special living options across campus. I will be discussing Engineering House located on West Campus, Makaela will talk about Scheryer’s Honors living on South Campus, and Caitlyn will explain First Year in Science and Engineering in Pollock. We will be going into detail about our living experiences; if you are interested in learning about more SLO’s visit the Penn State Special Living Option website!

ABOUT EHOUSE

Ehouse is in McKee Hall which is on the corner of N Burrows Street and Curtin Road, across the street from Rec Hall and the Lion Shrine on the West side of Campus. This SLO is a co-ed all engineering student dorm that offers housing for each of undergrad education. To apply you can use the link below to fill out a form and write a short essay. To live in Ehouse your second year, you have to become an associate member. To do this you have to attend one of the monthly house meetings and at least one house event a semester. This does not guarantee you a spot but it does put you in front of many other students; this is how I was able to get housing my second year.

If you live in Ehouse you will be assigned to a committee: social, academic, or THON. Throughout the semester you have to host an event to keep active status as well as getting the required amount of points from the other committees per semester. There are a lot of great opportunities to earn your points through events, from career fair prep to study groups or joining an intramural team. This is also a great time to meet more members of Ehouse and create your engineering network.

PRIME LOCATION

Engineering House (McKee) is right next to Rec Hall where you can workout or go watch many sporting events that are often free to attend. Rec Hall has a regular gym as well as basketball courts and workout class rooms. It is also very close to the Hammond Building and Forum Building. Hammond, which houses the Engineering Library, also hosts many engineering classes. One of which is engineering design, arguably the most important first year class. Forum Building is a common first year class spot. For example many first year chemistry classes occur in Forum. Ehouse is also a less than five minute walk from the Pattee and Paterno Library, the largest and main library on campus. At the library you can study alone or book study rooms which I highly recommend. The library also just got a brand new Starbucks which is a very popular study spot! Finally Ehouse is right next to West Food District, or Waring Commons, which has a dining hall, made to order food, a convenience store, and it’s own coffee/smoothie/bagel shop. West is also a great lunch spot for in between classes since it has a study lounge and lots of seating (and also the best cookies on campus). It might be a good place to consider meeting your friends for lunch or dinner!

LASTING IMPRESSION

Engineering House as allowed me to meet more individuals with the same goals and interests as me. Living around others in the same classes allows you to make quick bonds and have friends for the rest of your college career. Ehouse is also a great opportunity to get leadership experience by being on the board. Many members of the WEPO Leadership Team have taken advantage of this opportunity. In addition to being a great experience, the location has made my life a lot easier. Especially because it was less than a ten minute walk from my AE studio. My ArchE girls should look into Ehouse because it made those early morning and late night walks home so easy! If anyone has questions about Ehouse or SLOs in general please reach out to me I would love to talk about it with you!