Luxury Dorms

The College Dorm Survival Guide: How to Survive and Thrive in Your New Home Away from Home
by Julia DeVillers

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The luxury hall is mainly a newer trend to attract students who want to live well, though some have been around for a while. These are otherwise known as "glam housing." The amenities can include:

• Spacious single or double rooms
• Private bathrooms
• Maid service
• Laundry service
• Beautiful views, overlooking the water or city skylines
• Pools with sundecks, hot tubs
• Bathroom TVs
• Art and music studios
• Cafes, ultramodern gyms, and computer rooms

Pros: Hello? Just check out the amenities list!

Cons: These dorms can be way more expensive. They also might not allow freshmen or underclassmen. Luxury dorms may be considered too exclusive and sometimes have reputations as being snobby. You may have to enter a lottery to try to get a spot.

Suites

Suites include several single or double rooms surrounding a common space and a bathroom shared only by the suitemates. More and more schools are offering suite dorms.

Where's Your Dorm?

Your dorm location can have a surprisingly big impact on your daily routine. You don't always think about it before you move in, but when you compare notes with students on other parts of campus, you might realize that if your dorm is:

• near your classes, you can leave later or run back and get a book you forgot
• near the bars, you might be easily tempted to go out spontaneously and have people crash at your place
• near the library, you might use it to study more
• in another part of town or far away from the buildings you have classes in, you'll have to factor in commuting time
• near a parking lot, you'll have quicker access to your car, and if it's far away, you might go off campus less
• near a sports arena, you might be on the site of some tailgating
• near a shopping area, you might have to realllly watch your budget
• near a fraternity row, you'll have a shorter walk if you're pledging
• near a gym, it might make it more likely that you'll work out

Pros: Suites offer more bedroom privacy. It's nice to have a common area to hang out in, especially when guests come over. You're not sharing a bathroom with too many strangers. And if you don't bond with your roommate, you might with a suitemate instead.

Cons: Not having to share a bathroom or television with forty other people can actually be isolating - you only have the chance to become really close to your suitemates. There's also the possibility of disagreements over the common areas (i.e., who cleans them?).

The best thing about living in the dorms is the location, I think. If you're off campus, you're far away from things, even if you live right next door to the school. The dorms are sacred spaces where things happen that don't happen outside ... there's more information there, more action, and more accommodations, like security, food, socialization ...

-Joi, Emerson College (MA)

Living-Learning Communities

If you want to connect with other students who have similar interests, you may want to live in a living-learning community or special-interest housing. These houses or halls focus on a certain theme or concept, linking some type of special interest or academic field to both in-class and out-of-class experiences. Faculty and staff often work directly with the students to support the themes. Classes geared toward the theme might be held in the hall. Tutoring and mentoring may be available. Be sure to ask when applying for residence if there are any theme halls available. Here are some examples:

Many schools like Ohio University offer substance- free housing where residents sign a contract saying they'll abstain from alcohol or illegal drug use while living there.

Students at Central Michigan University who are interested in campus leadership can live in the Leadership Hall.

Schools like Texas Tech University and Rutgers University (NJ) offer special housing and support for students in recovery from alcohol and other drug addiction.

Wesleyan University (CT) offers the first gender-free floor, where students aren't required to identify as male or female; the school welcomes both transgender and nontransgender individuals.

Schools like the University of Maryland, College Park, have an International Hall where international students and students from the United States can live and learn together.

The McLean Environmental Living and Learning Hall at Northland College (WI) is a "green" hall where students use wind generators, solar panels, and more to meet their environmentally friendly mission.

Students at Cornell University (NY) can live in the Just About Music (JAM) dorm, which is for students with a passion for music, whether they be "an avid listener and lover of music, a shower singer, or those who have a more serious desire to become an accomplished musician."

In Iowa, Cornell College's communities consist of a group of students with a common interest who live in a block of rooms together on campus. Their communities include service such as Kids Kare, which provides care for the children of homeless single mothers, and Smiles for Seniors, in which students volunteer with the elderly.

University of Minnesota students can live in the American Indian Cultural House if they're interested in past and contemporary American Indian issues and intercultural learning.

Pros: You'll learn more about your interests. You'll meet others with similar interests. And you might feel more comfortable from day one.

Cons: There will be less variety and less chance to meet people with different interests.

Copyright © 2006 by Julia DeVillers. Excerpted by permission of Three Rivers Press, a division of Random House, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.

About the Author

Julia DeVillers is the author of several books, including Girlwise: How to Be Confident, Capable, Cool, and In Control and How My Private, Personal Journal Became a Bestseller. She lives in Columbus, Ohio.