Choosing the right housing Part 1: Dorms

Congrats. You're in. That fat envelope is sitting in your lap. You've chosen your school and given your deposit. Now comes time for another choice: where will you live at college. This may not be that big a choice for some. The university may have chosen housing for you or only given you limited options to begin with. But if you do have options, you should seriously think about each one before you make your decision.

Any marketing student will tell you: its all about Location Location Location. Sure location is important. But there are a few more things you should think about: transportation, dining, the type of people who live there, costs, facilities, and social activities. Let's start this series by discussing the general choice: dormitory housing.

Dormitories: the tried and true option
Dormitories are the option that most new students are going to take. The generic dormitory consists of a host of rooms, generally housing 2-3, with communal baths, a Residential advisor (RA), and some facilities. Sharing a room can be a new experience and many college have a matching process and give you the name of your roommate before you come, so you can get to know eachother beforehand. Rooms are usually on the small side, but with time you will really make good use of it and make the most out of it. (photo: parentingteensblog)

Dorm rooms are usually convenient, have a good social environment, and are often mandatory for 1-2 years. They are usually well connected to the campus especially libraries and dining halls which makes getting around less problematic. Dorms also usually come equipped with several facilities: bathrooms, cable, internet, telephones, electricity, garbage disposal, parking, and some cleaning. They also usually come equipped with furniture and a bed.

Dorms often also come with other conveniences: study areas, lounges, cafes, kitchens, vending machines, laundry services, rec facilities. Some even have perks like saunas, weight rooms, and pools. Dorms are also usually safer than other options, requiring card access for entry and monitored by college police. Residential advisors are at dorms are also excellent sources of information and can help in making you familiar with college facilities and things to do. There's also a lot of social interaction and it's possible to make friends within the first few hours of moving in. All in all a great place to start getting to know the college and the surrounding area.

Of course not everything is peachy. First off, everything is for everyone. Bathrooms are generally communal and so are TVs, lounges, study areas, washing machines, and almost everything else. So while you get to interact with people while you're in the lounge, it also means you could be stuck watching the news when you really wanted to see the game or waiting an hour before you get to play a game of table tennis. Even your room isn't that private with roommate(s) around and thin walls. This can really be an issue if you don't like your roommate.
However, everyone who goes to college should give dorm housing a try at least once even if just for the experience. This will probably be the only time you get to do it and it's a really good option.

Sometimes choosing which dorm can also be a bit puzzling. If you can visit the college, ask some people where they stayed and what they thought about it. Take a look at the dorms and the different features they may have and where they are located. Even if you can't visit, colleges generally have dorm features accessible online. Take a look at a college map to see where the dorm is located relative to other key locations to get an idea of what you will be living near. Also, see if the dorm is substance-free or has some special interest (such as living green) to see if you will 'fit the mold'. (photo: TIME)

Take a look at your college's website for more information.

Things I wish I knew: College staff

We're starting this new section on The Frosher which will cover factors that you probably wouldn't think of when you're choosing a college but might go on to affect your life there. The first one is college staff.

I'm assuming that you probably do what the average person does when they apply: look at the rankings, the website, maybe visit the college, maybe hear from admissions staff, maybe even stay there for a weekend. Well, unless you ask specifically or dig a little deeper, you might not hear much about college staff changes unless they have just occurred and the positions were quite important.

Nonetheless, college staff - more specifically changes to college staff can really effect how a college works. Let me give you an example, one of the colleges I was at was one of the top ranked party schools for quite a while. It reeked of that 'white frat boy' image and was known for partying pretty hard. That was before the college shuffled the president and other positions. Of course this was pretty big news, but you might not have heard or might not have realized the significance of it.

Let's just say the new staff were not pleased by the image - they wanted to give the school a classier, harder-working, and more marketable 'stereotype'. They ramped up security, started stopping a lot more parties, and started giving a lot more police referrals. This was to the extent that when two drunk frat boys got mugged, the college police first referred them for underage drinking and then worried about their injuries and lost property. Within a year, the college was off the top party colleges list. College rankings also improved (helped by other initiatives taken) and the entire ordeal really redefined, maybe permanently, the school.

Now this is of course an extreme example that would probably only happen rarely. But a lot of schools in the past few years are trying to shrug off the frat boy party image and you should know if one of the schools you are thinking about is. New staff often means new policies and a college that will probably be different compared to what it was in the past. And since it is how the college will be, not how it has been, that will define your life there, knowing about these things can help.

So, how do you find out? A good first step is to read the college newspaper. You can learn a lot just from seeing what students are talking (or in this case writing) about. If you visit the college, try talking to students to find what's new there. Also, look at news about the college (an easy was is google news search the college's name) to see what other people are hearing about.

So take a look. Just something that might help you make the right decision. (photo: hull-college.ac.uk)