Going off to college soon? Be prepared for a deluge of information and opportunities. At the University of Oklahoma (OU), the issue of where you will live is simplified. With a few exceptions, all single freshmen students under 20 years of age must live in a University residence hall for the academic year at the University of Oklahoma. The following is a simplified cheat sheet to the dorms on the OU campus.
The Three Towers: Adams, Walker, and Couch
Adams Center
Adams is one of the three towers where most students who reside in dorms on campus live. Adams contains four connected towers, which include Johnson, McCasland, Muldrow, and Tarman towers.
Every two dorms have a connected semi-private bathroom. Depending on the occupancy of the two dorms, a minimum of one person (if the adjoining dorm is vacant) to a maximum of four people share the bathroom. For example, if both dorm rooms connected to the bathroom are double occupancy, that means four people share the bathroom.
Notable Amenities: The ‘Housing Learning Center’, located on the first floor of Adams, provides free tutoring sessions for almost any academic course. Burger King and the Sooner Malt Shop are also located on the first floor of Adams Center. All dorms in Adams are ‘premium style rooms’ with moveable twin beds, dressers, desks, chairs, wardrobes, and pedestals, which can be stacked and rearranged as desired.
Walker Center
Walker is another of the three towers where most students who reside in dorms on campus live. Walker is the place where all your living situation concerns can be addressed because the main Housing and Food Services Office is located on the first floor.
Walker is the most self-contained of the dorm buildings, including a convenience store on the first floor.
Like Adams, every two dorms have a connected semi-private bathroom. Depending on the occupancy of the two dorms, a minimum of one person (if the adjoining dorm is vacant) to a maximum of four people share the bathroom.
Notable Amenities: The first floor of Walker is where Xcetera, the on-campus convenience store, is located. There is also a large lounge, a ping-pong table, pool tables, and a 24-hour computer lab.
Couch Center
Couch is the third of the three towers where most students who reside in dorms on campus live.
Couch has a snack shop called Couch Express, which is home to the “infamous grilled ham and cheese sandwiches.” Couch also has the ‘premium style rooms’ like Adams has.
Like Adams and Walker towers, every two dorms have a connected semi-private bathroom. Depending on the occupancy of the two dorms, a minimum of one person (if the adjoining dorm is vacant) to a maximum of four people share the bathroom.
Notable Amenities: Infamous grilled ham & cheese sandwiches . . . need more be said?
Bonus: If stumbling out of bed and walking only a very short distance to breakfast at the campus cafeteria sounds good, Couch tower is the place to live. In case following your nose to the food does not work for you before you have had your morning coffee, Couch Cafeteria is that round building practically connected to the Couch dorm tower.
Cate
Cate is referred to as the Quads, comprised of four different four-story buildings. The “Academic Arts Community” (see below) is a separate fifth building that is essentially the Honors dorms, which looks like a mini-tower building.
Cate has community bathrooms, which are down the hall from the individual dorm rooms and are cleaned by maintenance staff.
Notable Amenities: These buildings are older with lots of character. A strong sense of community can be felt at the Cate dorms. These are the closest dorms to the main campus area on the South Oval just across Lindsey Street. However, the tower dorms are not much farther away. Cate Main, a stand-alone building, contains a food court with Roscoe’s Coffee Shop, Block & Barrel, Crimson Crust, Taco Mayo, and Cinnabon. The students’ mailboxes are located in this building as well.
Academic Arts Community
These are the Honors Dorms, offering state of the art amenities in the lounge areas for OU’s brightest. The building was fairly recently remodeled to include a beautiful clock tower as part of the exterior of the building.
Notable Amenities: There is 24-hour quiet study lounge in the David L. Boren Library and Lounge.
Sooner Housing Center
The Sooner Housing Center dorms are the athletic dorms.
Notable Amenities: The Sooner Housing Center is located close to the athletic facilities, across from Owen Field, the football stadium.
Loyalty Program Discounts
For each additional year a student chooses to live in OU university housing, the new ‘Loyalty Program’ offers discount rates.
