With these dorm buildings being home to primarily only students inside these colleges, it can make campus feel a bit smaller. Outside of these programs, there still seems to be a pattern of placing certain students that are studying similar materials in the same buildings. 

"There actually are a lot of girls with the same major as me and similar majors in my dorm hall," biomedical laboratory sciences freshman and Yakeley Hall resident Jordan Machesky said. "North Neighborhood seems to have a lot of STEM majors, which is nice because we are in pretty close proximity to the STEM building and library."

"There is not a specific major focus in my dorm," hospitality business freshman and Akers Hall resident Claire Rosenberry said. "Although I know there are a lot of people in my dorm that are business and/or exploratory majors, but I think that is pretty common."

Most assume this randomization is based on how close the residence hall is to the major's main faculties that hold the majority of its classes. The common stereotype idea behind this theory is that the River Trail Neighborhood has all business majors, South Neighborhood has the engineering majors, North Neighborhood has the STEM majors and East Neighborhood is a mixture of all. 

"I feel as if River Trail and East Neighborhood have a lot of business and marketing majors because it’s very close to the business college," Machesky said.

This has been theorized by many students, given the proximity of these residence halls to the buildings that are utilized most by its inhabitants. It doesn’t just stop at areas of study either, it seems like most athletes are placed either in Brody Neighborhood or the 1855 Place apartments directly west of campus and adjacent to the training facilities. 

"I associate Brody with a lot of athletes, I lived there as a freshman and the baseball team was across the hall from me," packaging sophomore and Williams Hall resident Anna Safford said. "North Neighborhood is very academic to me, maybe because of the more old-school, original academia styled buildings."

The idea of assigning all majors to a certain dorm building was not very popular with students. They shared the thought that it would alter the experience of having something to talk about when first meeting someone who lived in the same dorm.

"As a freshman, I thrived meeting new people with different interests than my own," Safford said. "I appreciated the diversity among majors, classes and career paths that my friends and I had … When it comes to the dorms, I find the variety exciting."

"I don’t think MSU would benefit from separating freshmen into dorms specified by their major because that’s how you get to know people," Machesky said. "Learning about different majors helps you learn more about others and the other programs that state offers."

Regardless of if these patterns are intentional because of proximity or a simple coincidence, housing at MSU has proven to be more than just a place to sleep. The very first connections formed for students are within the wall of the dormitory halls, making them the heart as well as the starting point of the freshmen experience.