Friday October 2, 2015
Hi Cass! I'm going to dive right in and give you some info. I'll try to be as informative yet brief as possible as I don't want your school/future things to disrupt your regular missionary focus too much!

So, Chrissie and I spent Tuesday and Wednesday of this week up in Logan. Chrissie was a huge help because they've been spending time in Logan on the USU campus the last several summers. We took a campus tour as well as a housing tour and asked as many questions as we could think of. We even talked to many students about how they liked living in certain places, how they got campus jobs, etc.

Before I show you all the housing options let me just say that I felt incredibly calm as well as excited for you as I wandered around the campus. I really think this will be a perfect fit for you and you'll do great there! The campus is beautiful! It is not an overwhelming, huge school but it is still big enough that you have great opportunities/resources.

Also - I'm not sure what Sister Israelson's situation is (already accepted & deferred?) but the housing applications for next Fall are out starting this week and if you want to get your first choice in housing options we need to turn in your application as soon as possible. I can fill yours out for you and put Sis. I's name/info in to room with, but we need to somehow get the info to her so she can forward it on to her mom or something so we can try to get you two together. I'll let you decide how you want to do that but I was thinking maybe you could forward her this email and let her know which apartment/dorm you think is best and see what she thinks. You're welcome to give her my phone # to pass on to her mom and maybe she could just call me and we could work on it. My # is 801-400-9976 - just in case you've forgotten:)

There is A LOT of info I could give you about all kinds of stuff but just know most of it I can take care of before you get here. There is a orientation/register for classes thing that you'll go to in the beginning of the summer. I'll sign you up for a date to do that. Sign ups start in March. I will also request a transcript from UVU to be sent there before you do the orientation.

Here's the housing info...I'll send you the floor plans in this email and some details about each one and then I'll send a few pictures of the actual buildings in my next email. I'm going to include the costs (for this year, they'll go up a little next year) just so you can see the difference, but try not to worry about the $ part too much. You'll need a good job in the summer but I think you'll be fine.

These are in order of what I think you'll think are best to not so best options (though I could be wrong about that)...

Merrill Hall...Apartment style (outside entrance) with 3 shared bedrooms (6 people total)

Pros - right on campus, literally about 25 steps from the Fine Arts bldg. where I think you'll be spending quite a bit of time. About a 3 minute walk to the library, the student center and quad (big grassy activity area). Beautiful view on the back side over the valley, the other side faces campus. Not far from anything. Has a full kitchen so you don't have to have a meal plan. Close enough to everything that you could come home for lunch or even to study in between classes. Lots of storage, decent room sizes. Laundry and exercise rooms as well as lounge areas with ping pong, etc. in the bldg.

Cons - it is for sure NOT new, but not bad either. There's only 1 bathroom so that has to be worked out with your roommates.

We asked a girl that was outside if we could see her apartment, asked a bunch of questions and she was very nice. She loved the storage in the apartment and how close it is to everything. We asked her as well as a few girls in the laundry room & Kimberly Jackson (she lived here) about the bathroom situation. They all seemed like it wasn't a big deal.

Price $1,490 per semester.

Living Learning Community...Suite style, enter the bldg. then your room entrances are inside sort of hotel like (not a full kitchen, but a fridge, sink & microwave) with 3 shared and 2 private bedrooms (8 people total).

Pros - newest housing on campus. Beautiful bldgs. and nicer bedrooms/bathrooms. Right on campus and right next door to the Institute. About a 2 minute walk to the student center, maybe 5 minutes to the library and 7-8 minutes to the Fine Arts bldg. Has a full kitchen on the first floor for anyone to use so you could make cookies or something if you wanted to. Great hang out spots on each floor. Laundry on same floor as apartment.

Cons - even though you have 2 bathrooms there are 8 people to coordinate with. With no full kitchen you are required to have a meal plan.

As part of the housing tour we were able to go in one of these apartments that girls actually live in. It is very nice. The only drawback is having to have a meal plan and if you think that's worth it.

Price for shared room $1,665 plus minimum meal plan $960 for a total of $2,625 per semester.

Snow Hall...Apartment style but with inside entrance. 3 shared bedrooms (6 people total).

Pros - Newer bldg. 2 bathrooms per apartment. Biggest kitchen, no meal plan required. Everyone we talked to that has lived here thought it was awesome. Has fun stuff like sand volleyball/firepits and lounge areas and is kind of a community of its own. 

Cons - Even though its considered "on campus" its really about a 15 minute walk to most buildings. BUT, there is a free shuttle that comes every 10-15 minutes. You'd use the kitchen for breakfast and dinner, but its too far away from campus to really come home during the day. You'd be packing a lunch probably. Has laundry facilities but they are in a different bldg. next door. Smaller closet/storage spaces in bedrooms.

Price $1,720 per semester.

Valley View Tower...Dorm style living. Shared bedroom with about 20 girls on each floor.

Pros - you just share with 1 person. Each floor has a fridge/microwave/sink and a hang out lounge area. Right in the middle of campus. Close to everything.

Cons - Classic dorm style where you share 2 big bathrooms with 20 girls. There are 8 showers and 8 toilets. No fridge or anything in your actual room. Very old. Meal plan required.

Has laundry facilities - not sure where.

Price $1,005 plus minimum meal plan $1,330 (more because you have nothing in your room) for a total of $2,335 per semester.

-------------------------------------------------------

A word about the meal plans...the minimum plan at LLC is 7 meals a week. The meal area is in the student center and it is all you can eat. We ate there and it is very good food with many options. You could eat pretty healthily there or not very healthy at all. Eating there 7 times a week would be plenty for you and probably a little of a rip off because I don't think you'd ever eat $1,000 worth of groceries in a semester if you're buying them for yourself. BUT if living in one of the meal plan places seems the best, that's fine too.

Laundry, internet and cable are all free (TV's are not included). Shuttle bus as well as the city buses are all free for students.

Check out the pictures of the floor plans and let me know what you think. FYI (Hadlie and Colten both watched the virtual tours and both separately said Snow Hall would be their choice. Riley will be living in the LLC (Living Learning Community).

Hope this makes some sense...

Love - Mom