When Adam Amaro filled out his housing form in the spring, the Medill freshman selected 1835 Hinman as his fourth choice — or so he thought.

Amaro actually chose Hinman-Lincoln House, the first all-freshman residence hall on campus.

“I thought, ‘Hinman is Hinman,’ Amaro said, “so I put that down and I got put in here.”

Amaro would have preferred to live on South Campus, he said, but his placement in Northwestern’s pilot all-freshman hall has worked out well.

Many residents of the 80-person dorm say living only with freshmen has helped ease their transition into college.

“It’s slightly less intimidating to not have sophomores walking around,” said Shannon Binder, a McCormick freshman.

Hinman-Lincoln formerly was two buildings, 600 Lincoln and Hinman House, some of NU’s smallest residence halls. But the second- and third-floor hallways always have linked the two dorms, making it easier to combine them.

Binder called the building “close-knit,” adding, “I have friends in Elder and it’s just not the same (there).”

Introducing herself to hallmates was easy, Binder said, because she knew everyone was in her position.

“We’re all on a level playing field,” Binder said.

Other residents acknowledged the possible benefits of living with older students.

“I probably would like living with older students,” said Monica Guevara, an Education freshman. “They can help you with study tips.”

Shane Carlin, the senior area coordinator for University Residential Life, said the freshmen enjoy being able to “relate to the highs and lows of being a first-year student.”

Because of the building’s proximity to athletic facilities, many hall residents are student athletes.

“The athletes have all been bonding for a month and a half,” said Weinberg junior Brandon Ray, one of Hinman-Lincoln’s two resident assistants. “They’re really close and all of the other people in the residence hall have gotten really close. We’ve been working on getting the two sides mixed together.”

Ray said he encourages residents to support their hallmates by attending athletic events. They’ll try to herd everyone possible to this weekend’s football game against the Minnesota Golden Gophers.

“Eventually,” Ray said, “when other people have other interests like a cappella or plays, we’ll go support those.”

Activities such as “munchies” bring the freshmen closer together, said Communication senior Libby Aronson, the residence hall coordinator of Hinman-Lincoln, but an overabundance of plans during New Student Week left Aronson re-evaluating the programming.

The athletes were “swamped from the beginning” with their training schedules, Aronson said. “We had a schematic plan for the year, but once our students got here we realized that they are a lot busier than we imagined they would be.

“They’re self-motivated and going out and doing (activities) without anyone guiding them.”

Many residents say they would recommend all-freshman housing to next year’s batch, but some say a different location would work better.

“The halls are kind of small and separated,” Amaro said. “If we had more common rooms where people could hang out, that would do a lot to help out.”