"[In the Quad], no one ever comes by your room," he says.

But Jennings disagrees.

"I find that I have more visitors here than I did when I lived in Kirkland," she says. "People like to get away."

Shuchart says that eating lunch with friends in their River Houses is a good way to keep in touch.

"Winthrop has become my adopted House during the day," she says.

Lindsey says that the burden is more on those living in the Quad to visit those down at the River, but says that new Quadlings won't necessarily lose touch with friends because of the distance.

"If someone is a close enough friend, you will see them," he says.

Quad Culture

Despite being removed from the epicenter of campus, residents maintain that the Quad has its own unique benefits--from late-night dining hall snacks to the Houses' close proximity to Porter Square to attractive House facilities.

"Harvard's older Houses are beautiful, but in my experience, their rooms and facilities can't compare to those in the Quad," Brendan D. Connell '02, who is transferring from Eliot to Pforzheimer, writes in an e-mail message.

The isolation can be a benefit as well, they say.

"It's like having your own smaller campus," says Kaitlyn M. Choi '02, who lives in Cabot House.

Last year, Choi lived in Wigglesworth Hall, alongside Mass. Ave. She remembers seeing fights and car crashes while hearing sirens in the background.

Now at Cabot, she is thankful for the peace and quiet.

"It's nice to see kids and residential neighborhoods," she says.

Shuchart says that the Quad also seems safer than the area down by the River.