The official names for the dorms are Mildred E. Mudd ("East"), West, North, Marks ("South"), Atwood, Case, Linde, and Sontag. Atwood and Case were occasionally referred to as New Dorm and New Dorm II up until the addition of Linde and Sontag; Mildred E. Mudd Hall and Marks Hall are almost invariably referred to as East and South.

When Case was being built some students decided as a prank to move all of the survey stakes exactly six inches to the north. They did such a precise job that the construction crew didn't notice until after they had laid the foundation, but California earthquake law forced them to reinspect the new location at some significant expense. Furthermore, the plumbing has never worked quite right. Case is also very occasionally known as Seventh dorm (despite being the sixth dorm built) or as the Pink Dorm due to the fact that the cinder blocks used in its construction are rather shrimp-colored.

It is notable that South Dorm is in the northwest corner of the quad. "East" was the first dorm, but it wasn't until West was built to the west of it that it was actually referred to as East. Then North was built, north of East. When the fourth dorm (Marks) was built, there was one corner of the quad available (the northwest) and one directional name (South) left. It got both, and to this day South is more 'north' on the compass than North dorm is.

The fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth dorms are Atwood, Case, Linde, and Sontag, respectively. They were collectively referred to as "the Colonies" by some students, a reference to the fact that they are newer and are at the far end of the campus, a full two blocks away from the academic buildings; these dorms are now more commonly referred to as "the Outer Dorms." The college purchased an apartment building adjacent to the newer dorms to house additional students, but it was demolished to make room for the newest dorm, Sontag.