Ridgecrest South Residential - Tuscaloosa, Alabama

Steven S

Ridgecrest South , North tower is the best housing I have seen on campus. Covered Parking deck connected to the dorm is so convenient. 4 bedroom suite style dorm room. Each student has a single occupancy private room. A private bathroom shared by 2 students at each end. A kitchen with a full sized refrigerator sink and microwave. Common living area with a sectional couch and coffee table and TV stand. A small dinette table and chairs. Great for a freshman dorm room. Thanks UA! RTR!

Sam Wight

Pretty great place to live. I lived here my freshman year and had very few complaints. The people here are all extremely nice, including the cleaning staff and RAs, and things are almost always quiet. It's a suite style dorm, so you have your own room and share a common area with 2-4 roommates. A good bit of furniture is provided, but I'd recommend bringing a card table at least for the main area, as well as a coffee table, as the provided side desk isn't very good. My room had a few different problems, including smelly air conditioning, a closet that smelled literally like cat pee, and a main area light that was extremely dim (had to buy three different lights to evenly light the room). I submitted all three of these problems as work orders, and the first two were solved really quickly (the next day). The light, however, literally took two weeks to get a replacement for, and is still unusually dim. Water pressure is also routinely a problem if you're on the fifth floor. The trash chutes are never open, which means that people leave their trash in the trash rooms and it smells whenever you walk by. Other than all this, though, this is probably the best place to live while on campus. If you have a bad roommate here, it's not as much of a problem as it is having one at new freshman or even Ridgecrest East as the two sides are separated. 10/10 would stay again.

John Glidden

Honestly the best looking college dorm I've ever seen. And it's for Freshmen and on campus! This review is for the Ridgecrest Village as a whole, including South, East and West.
All three buildings are honors only dorms (that is, only students in the honors college) with 4 bedroom suites: in South (which houses both the North and South tower), each person gets their own 9' by 11' private bedroom (twin XL bed, desk, dresser, nightstand with drawer and locking cabinet, tv jack, Ethernet, phone line) and the suite shares a 12' by 14' living room (tv stand, tv jack, Ethernet, phone jack, high table with 2 tall chairs, couch, and 2 side tables) and a kitchenette (full refrigerator, microwave, and ample counter and cabinet space) amongst the 4 total roommates. Each suite also has 2 full bathrooms, which you share with one of your roommates. Before you move in, you fill out a roommate profile on the housing match site, where you can talk with several others with similar interests/living habits/study schedules/etc., and pick who you want to live with. As you get to know your roommates (generally several months) before you move in, most people will discuss who will bring what for the room (TV, wall hangings, curtains, whatever else you may want). East and West give you a little bit more room (but with a slightly smaller kitchen and showers) and an extra storage room. East and West are also a bit quieter, but South had nicer common areas, like the atrium, game room, and media room.
In all 3 buildings, there are a few 2 bedroom suites, however these are very limited and full up quickly. They are also smaller, and I personally prefer the 4 bedroom.
All 3 buildings also have several handicap accessible rooms, with larger bedrooms, bathrooms, accessible shower, and doorbell with a bright flashing light inside. There are also 2 elevators in each tower and multiple in East and West if they are needed. There may be additional accessibility features I am not aware of at this point.
In South, the laundry ($1.50 per wash and $1.25 per dryer- same across campus except international student living) and community kitchens (2 full ranges, 2 ovens, fire suppression system, 2 full refrigerators, and a seating area) are on the 2nd and 4th floors. The second floor also houses the atrium (used for several larger events put on by the college, and also used for group projects and studying), game and media rooms, so these suites fill up quickly. The 5th floor rooms all have extra tall ceilings, and several have an extra foot or 2 on the living room and bedrooms as they extend outwards from the building.
If you bring a car/truck, (which Alabama actually allows freshman to do) and you stay in any of the Ridgecrest dorms, you will be parking it in the parking garage underneath South, but it isn't more than a 90 second walk from either of the other 2 buildings. If you prefer, there are several other lots you can park in if your vehicle doesn't fit, but the clearance is 7'8" with fairly large spots so most cars/trucks will fit. In all of the other dorms I can think of, you have to park elsewhere. Ridgecrest is the only dorm village with built in parking for students (except handicap).
Many of then off campus housing options (which almost everybody takes with the exception of RAs and athletes) are nicer and less expensive, but as far as freshman dorms, Ridgecrest is by far my favorite.
Overall, you honestly can't go wrong with any place in the Ridgecrest village. The other suite style dorms (presidential, lakeside, riverside) are very similar, and very nice, but are for both honors and non-honors students. ROLL TIDE!

Bruce Brown

as a parent, this is a nice dorm

Kimmie McGaha

Kristie Aughtman

Pamela Ingram

Dan W.