Have you ever lived in a dorm? How was it? If you haven't, do you think you could?

-- Anonymous, March 12, 2001

Answers

I think it'd be fu. think of all the people you'd meet

-- Anonymous, March 12, 2001

I've sort of lived in a dorm. I spend some weekends, and even spent over a week once with my boyfriend in his dorm room. (Thankfully, his roommate spends nights at his girlfriend's, so that's never a problem.) It is kind of funky. The hall usually smells like pot, or vomit, or sometimes both. Trash sits outside doors for days on end. People piss all over the damn toilet seat and never flush. The water at my bf's dorm isn't bad, but in the shower it comes out really fast, and practically tears my skin off with the sheer force of the it. And I've heard in other dorms, not his, people are always puking and (ugh) taking shits in the showers. Not Fun.

-- Anonymous, March 12, 2001

Dorms are the quickest and best way to learn how awful people can be. For those who don't know, most dorms have an R.A.(Resident Assistant). This is a student who gets paid to, well, enforce the rules I guess. Within a week my dorm was split between the pro-R.A. people who were willing to cooperate with her, and the anti-R.A. people who thought she was a bitch. I thought she was a bitch but I was willing to cooperate with her. That made everyone hate me (except for the R.A. of course). I mean, how you felt about this woman was very very very serious in this dorm. It was how everyone determined if you were on their side or not.

This was just the first in a series of dorm soap operas that showed me just how silly people can be before they grow up.

-- Anonymous, March 12, 2001

I've been here two years, lived in the dorm both years, going back for a third (unless I buy a house, which I might). My first year and a half was not bad at all, because I was in honors housing. They loooooooove us honors kids, and we have a most wonderful dorm. Also, I had a corner room, which meant more space, and a bathtub (not a disgusting communal one, either). We had carpet, a/c, elevators, and vegetarian dorm food.

Now I live in a ghetto, ghetto, ghetto dorm, and I hate it. No carpets, no elevators (which makes moving in suck), everyone's a frat boy or sorority girl, people barf in the hallways, people throw beer around, the trash never gets taken out, and best of all, ONE shower for 15 people. The saving grace is that I have a single. Mmmm.

But I like living in my old dorm. Really. That's why I'm going back....

-- Anonymous, March 12, 2001

Bree where do you go to school? The dorms sound really nice

-- Anonymous, March 12, 2001

I think I could, but I'd be miserable. I hate seeing half the people I do everyday, but at least I get to come home. It would be horrible to have to see them day and night- every single second; there they are.. right there huddling over you.

-- Anonymous, March 13, 2001

I go to college in Canada, and here the college residence is really nice. It's sort of like an apartment, minus the living room area. I have a roommate, and we share a kitchen and bathroom, but we have our own seperate bedrooms, which are pretty big. They come with double beds, a desk, chairs, cable tv, phones, etc. The kitchen comes with a fridge, microwave, table, chairs, etc.

HOWEVER, I have stayed in a dorm like the one you mentioned...basically a box with 2 beds, 2 desks and a window. I hated it immensely.

-- Anonymous, March 13, 2001

Yeah, I had the box with two beds, two desks, two dressers, and two closets. Which were painted a lovely shade of puke green. The worst thing was that my dorm didn't have air conditioning, and that year, the fall of 1998, summer in Georgia stretched well into October. My roommate and I sweated ourselves through those first few months. Everything was all right after that, except that the roommate NEVER cleaned (and she still doesn't. But I can stand that now, since she lives in the bedroom next door to mine and I don't have to look at her mess if I don't want to).

I was so happy to get an apartment my sophomore year. I know things could have been worse in the dorm, and sometimes I miss living on campus, but having privacy and our own kitchen is worth a whole lot to me.

-- Anonymous, March 13, 2001

... Oh yeah, and the bathroom factor. I am a germ freak, and just the thought of touching a faucet that someone else had put her hand on tended to gross me out. Of course, sharing a bathroom with Said Roommate probably exposes me to more germs than the communal bathroom in the dorm, but at least I have the power to antibacterialize the bathroom every day. Which I do.

-- Anonymous, March 13, 2001

This is my 2nd year living in a dorm and I wouldn't say it's horrible, but I really can't wait till June when I move into my apartment! I'm glad I had the experience because I've made lots of great friends. My roommate now was my best friend last year, and now..well, she annoys the shit out of me. I can deal with her, but I hope we can be as good of friends as we were before we lived together. (Although I'm living w/her and someone else in the apt. next year..I think it's diff when you have your own room to escape to.)

I can't wait for a kitchen, a bathroom w/a bathtub, and no one pissing on the seats. Honestly, I thought only guys pissed on seats. Apparently not..and once there was shit on the floor. That was disgusting as all hell. I don't even think I wanna know how you can shit on the floor. (Probably drunk..ugh, I'm gagging.)

I was brushing my teeth and some drunk in the shower started puking her guts out. That made me want to take a shower in the morning, let me tell you. Another thing that sucks is when guys below you have masculinity issues and think that loud music at 3:00am makes them cool. Not to mention that they have parties in their room every night and are loud as all fuck. Assholes.

Oh yeah, or when your RAs don't do SHIT to enforce rules, and you're sicker than shit, you have a test the next day, you're trying to sleep, and some loud bitch is talking as loud as she fucking can right outside your doorway. AGH!

But ok, if I was asked to do the whole thing all over again, I would. Just for experience reasons. Plus I have LOTS of stories to tell.

(I'm not checking this for coherence. Just a warning.)

-- Anonymous, March 13, 2001

Oh, I love England! Hardly any universities make you share a room, and although a lot of people end up with cupboards, at both universities I've been to, I got rooms bigger than my bedroom at home. The bed is hard and the radiator gets hot but doesn't give off any heat, but it could be worse.

The first time, I got an ensuite bathroom; this time, I have to share, but only with seven people. Mind you, their lack of hygiene is annoying; the cleaners only provide this rough unabsorbant toilet paper; and a few months ago, our shower leaked into the corridor. You can still smell it now.

The main problems occur every few nights. Either your corridor mates come in at 2 in the morning, giggling and shrieking and knocking stuff over and playing music, or you get a fire alarm. I miss all this by staying with my boyfriend who lives off campus, though. (I've started lending my room to a friend who lives in a worse corridor.)

-- Anonymous, March 13, 2001

I am quite glad I have never attended a school that made its students live in a dorm (though I did the community college thing for freshman and sophmore year anyway.) I have never lived with anyone in anything resembling close quarters (except for about 6 months when I was 12 or 13 that I lived with my mother in a pretty small house, but even that was large enough to be comfortable) and the one time I had house guests in my apartment for four days I was going crazy having them there, though that's largely because I didn't even like one of them and because I wasn't comfortable enough with the one I didn't like as I would be if I had room mates. But I don't do the close quarters thing well regardless. The only way I'd be able to live with someone is if it was a long term SO or a really really really really good friend if we had a good amount of space.

-- Anonymous, March 13, 2001

I lived in a ghetto dorm. Imagine this. . .its August and its unbearably HOT in Richmond and you have no AC. To be honest though I loved it. For most of the time I loved with my best friend, Rachael. There was always so much going on and I learned something very important. . .at any time there is someone in the shower, asleep, and eating. Not all the same person mind you, but go on any floor in any dorm on any normal day and you will find at least 1 person asleep, 1 person in the shower, and 1 person eating. . .and at VCU you could also find at least 1 drunk, and 1 high. . . but then again, I lived in the ghetto

-- Anonymous, March 13, 2001

I lived in a dorm ("lived" meaning slept, showered, dressed, left, and returned to repeat the process) for a total of two and a half days. I was leading an orientation group with Sanford, and we bunked together. Which was good, because Chris and I go way back, so we were used to each other. So I didn't really get the full "Living in a dorm" experience, but I got a good taste of it between that brief period and the amount of time I spent in the dorm when I was dating Tara (my last girlfriend before my lovely fiancee Jessica).

-- Anonymous, March 13, 2001

Ditto to what Zed said. My room at university isn't bigger than my room at home, but it's big enough and it's fairly comfortable (now I've figured out how the radiator works). I'm 9 floors up, so I also have an amazing view out over the Peaks. Probably the worst points are the bathrooms (we have 3 showers between 19 girls; on nights when everyone's going out, you have to queue and there probably won't be any hot water anyway) and people playing music ridiculously loud at ridiculously late hours (the guy who lives directly above me owns DJing decks. Can we say 'vibrating ceiling'??)

-- Anonymous, March 13, 2001

I go to the University of Minnesota.

I forgot to mention, too, that my old dorm (Middlebrook) to which I am returning had a study lounge, tv lounge, social lounge, sink room, and wash room on each floor. Bathrooms were shared between 2 rooms. We had a dining hall IN the dorm, an oven for when we wanted to make pizzas or something, and free laundry. Yowza.

-- Anonymous, March 13, 2001

I lived in the dorms for a two years and a summer session. Ours weren't air-conditioned (except summer session), and we baked until about October. Two people shared an 11' x 13' box, and 15 people shared the bathroom with 3 showers. I had good roommates- they went home over the weekends and I had the room and the tv to myself. I recommend the dorms- you meet all sorts of people and you have to learn to get along with roommates, which I really didn't learn at all b/c I still hate living with people. Point, though, is that you have to learn to deal with the living arrangement and not having mommy/daddy to clean up after you or tell the people next door to shut up. It's a step towards living on your own. And our dorm food wasn't too bad. There was endless amounts of it and we didn't have to do the dishes. Also, there's always toliet paper. It's much different when you live by yourself- food goes bad, toliet paper runs out, electricity bill has to be paid. Fast computer access nearby. Everyone should live in the dorms for awhile if they're going to a large university/college. It makes everything seem smaller. I graduated from University of Missouri in Columbia in December.

-- Anonymous, March 13, 2001

Hm, well I'm living in a dorm right now as a freshman college student... and no it isn't fun. ^^;; Well, I think I'm not cut out for this dorm life either but right now it's better than home. I don't think it's nearly as bad for me as what you describe at ISU. My suitemates aren't the neatest of people but the bathrooms aren't too bad. I manage to feel clean. ^^;; My dorm is actually cleaner than my room at home. And yeah, my roommate is probably the worst match for me. We don't get along, barely speak for that matter... eh. The funny thing is that a friend of mine has a great roommate. They get along perfectly together and their habits match just right. Weird how that can happen...

-- Anonymous, March 13, 2001

I went to visit my College last week that I will be attending next year. They're trying to get me an RA job but everyone on residence loves the RAs. It's nice. It's a small Catholic Private College in New Jersey. I have a choice between a suite (3 bedrooms, 6 people, and 2 bathrooms) or a normal room (one room, 2 beds, to desks . . . and a joined bathroom with the people next door.)

On my visit I got to stay in a single room by myself and I don't think I could handle a roommate. I'm really trying to press this RA thing (they're just worried no one will listen to a freshman RA, that's why I suggested making my floor all freshman).

Also, each hall on each floor has a kitchen, laundry mat, and huge living room/study room where everyone can have quiet time or just a party.

Little me in Canada going to New Jersey, 5 minutes out of Manhattan. I'm scared . . .

-- Anonymous, March 13, 2001

I'm jealous of all you people who get the real nice dorms. At the college I'm going to next year, none of the dorms have kitchens (you aren't even allowed to have a crockpot/hotplate or coffee maker, just a microwave, so pretty much the only option is dining hall food or an on-campus restaraunt), and the laundry rooms are like regular laundry mats, it costs a dollar each for the washers and driers. And they tend to break down often, which you sometimes don't find out til after you've lost your dollar (as I found out). There are no cool little suite things, not for underclassmen anyway. They're all traditional style dorms. 5 toilets and 5 showers for 20 or so people.

I can't wait til I get to college, though. I'm trying for a single, but even if I get a roommate, I'll manage. I don't care, anything is better than living at home. It'll be something new, and change is always good.

-- Anonymous, March 13, 2001

I couldn't imagine living in a dorm room at a large college, but I'm going to a small college (1400 students) so the dorms are really nice. I'm going to have a double suite next year which has a living room in the middle and then a bedroom on each side. Also each room has a sink and a mirror. The shared bathrooms aren't bad either...only about 8 people share the bathroom and they are kept pretty clean. The only bad thing is the rooms aren't air conditioned. I stayed over for a few nights last winter and I loved it. I'm really looking forward to next year.

-- Anonymous, March 13, 2001

The dorm rooms here really aren't too bad at all. I live in a suite type deal. Two bedrooms, a living room, and a decent size bathroom (two sinks, but not bathtub). There are two peope in each bedroom and I am in the bigger room, so it isn't bad at all. It also helps that I get along with my roommates and the girls across the hall too. Six of us are living in an apartment together next year. And the benefits of having the Ethernet (T1 internet access) for free. I am going to miss that next year! But that is probably the only thing that I'll miss.

-- Anonymous, March 13, 2001

When I moved up to ISU, my dorm was one of the few left that hadn't been wired for Ethernet.

Naturally.

-- Anonymous, March 14, 2001

Last year my dorm didn't have Ethernet, but we got it over the summer. WOOHOO! Yes, that is probably the main thing I will miss next year living in an apartment..and the fact that most of my friends live down the hall. Oh well.

-- Anonymous, March 14, 2001

I don't live in a dorm. And no I could never ever ever do it. All of my good friends in college do however. The stats? Everyone lives in a pod except for the lucky few, like RA's who get singles. In each pod there are 5 people(in weenie bedrooms.. nothing too outrageous.. but kind of closet like), 2 bathrooms, a large kitchen, living room, no tubs, but decent showers, internet, and cable, if you pay for it. Basically it's like a 5 bedroom apartment. Very cool. There is however, only one set of washers and dryers for every floor. Not so cool.

-- Anonymous, March 14, 2001

Try having about ten washers and ten dryers -- for an entire seventeen-story dorm. Plus, all the guys who live in the all-male dorm next door who come over to have their girlfriends help them with their laundry.

-- Anonymous, March 14, 2001

I just want to say I wish the school I'm going to be going to had dorms! Living in Toronto is definately not cheap, add to the fact that it's a private school and tuition is sky high, all I can say is thank god for OSAP!

-- Anonymous, March 14, 2001

the first semester i lived in the dorms was great. i live in an honors dormitory, and i'm on the top floor, which is also the smallest and a smoking floor. this encouraged some dysfunctional sense of community, but i had fun. i share a bathroom with the room next door, and we have no bathroom conflicts. my suitemate doesn't have a roommate this semester, and all three of us have very different schedules. i have a fairly sizeable room and a great view of the quad and the city. even though i quit smoking, i'm in the same room again this year.

the fun didn't last forever. i had a falling out with a friend, and someone i know from her first days is now the RA on the floor. she's a pothead and a drunk, and she encourages everyone else on the floor to behave this way too. there's a huge drug ring on the floor, and because my boyfriend and i listen to electronic music most of the people think we're okay with the drug deals that go down in my closet. this is my fourth semester in the dorms, and i'm on roommate #5. we get along fine despite the drug deals, and i have no concrete proof that they're not figments of my imagination. i'd rather not know, to be honest. another former roommate that i really liked--even though she was a black panther and told me that, even though she liked me as a person, she would kill me in the race war--stole my credit card when she left the following semester. i had to deal with the charges she ran up and the resulting affadavit while i was super- sick with mono and almost died from the complications. the roommate before that "massaged" old wealthy lawyers in her lingerie for a living, and she ran away to new orleans with a boy she had known for two weeks. all of my roommates except this one (so far) have had sex while i have been in the room (the black panther did it twice that i know of), even though that is my ONLY huge rule that i insist.

i'll miss my view and all. last spring this bird hatched eggs on my windowsill, and i have all these memories on the floor. it's just not any fun anymore, though, and it doesn't feel like a home. i'm living in an apartment-dorm on campus instead in the fall. it's brand new, four-bedroom two-bathroom. i know two of the three girls i'll live with, and we all LIKE each other. i'll be sharing my bathroom with one of the girls. we get a full-sized living room and kitchen, fully furnished. full-sized beds. but we also get ethernet, maintenance work, study rooms, a lounge, and laundry rooms. i could go on, i'm in love. SO much better. no more closet drug deals, no sex to be had by other people in my room. yes, there is a magical land called "apartment", virginia.

-- Anonymous, March 15, 2001

I've lived in the dorms for 2 years now. It has really been a great experience. You learn to make friends with people who don't have the same philosophy as you, don't share your background, and don't have the same values. I've made some incredibly great friends that I wouldn't have made if I lived in an apartment or house. Sure at times it can be a pain to share a room, but life isn't all roses.

-- Anonymous, March 15, 2001

Magen, OSAP stinks. I'm going to the US and OSAP won't help me one bit. What private school are you going to in Toronto?

Rierson residence is pretty cheap. Toronto is only expensive if you want to live outside of residence.

-- Anonymous, March 17, 2001

I go to College of the Atlantic, which is a tiny school (300 students). This year I have an apartment, but last year I lived the dorms. They were so great. I lived in Seafox, which is an old summer home with 18 rooms, right on the ocean. 20 people lived in it, and we had a full kitchen, a common living room and a washer and drier. It was terrific.

-- Anonymous, March 17, 2001

Suzie,
Well, OSAP is more for going to school in Ontario. I used to want to go to Alberta for University, and they wouldn't have given me any money either. As it is, the school I'm going to only qualifies for Canada Student Loans, and not Ontario Student Loans. So, I'm only getting help with 60% of it. Which normally would be okay, except tuition is 19,000$ over two years. Then there's living expenses on top of that.
The school is the Randolph Academy for the Performing Arts. It's the best Musical Theatre school in Canada. I was lucky enough to be one of the 10 people to get in. It's sort of like the National Theatre School, only you get to learn more than theatre. I'm really looking forward to it.
What school in the states are you going to?

-- Anonymous, March 22, 2001

I go to Bryn Mawr, which is a little (1000-odd undergraduates) all women's college in Pennsylvania. With the exception of the Louis Kahn creep-fest of a dorm, most of the housing here is exceptionally nice - particularly in the old dorms. As a freshman, I got a two room double, which is little but has tons of neat perks. We've got a window seat, and a leaded glass window in our door which students can paint, and an old fireplace. Plus the actual dorm itself is beautiful - it looks like a castle and has big wide hallways and all sorts of nooks for people to curl up in.

It was built in the era when they really tried to provide students a humane space to live in, and one that would foster community. No one leaves their rooms in the Louis Kahn building. But people actually leave their rooms here and play frisbee or rollerscate in the hall.

I'm giving it all up all the neat stuff like the fireplace and window seat. Next year I want to live in the dorm furthest from campus. It's the smallest hall (80 people) and has a really nice sense of community (although the dorm I'm in now has been a lot of fun), plus my one of my best friends will be living there.

Oh, and our laundry is free! And someone else cooks my food! There isn't a lot to complain about.

-- Anonymous, March 23, 2001