+1 having roommates etc is a phase of life and requires adjustment for most ppl. It's part of the college experience. Good opportunity for your DD not to be coddled and get over it. |
This is such an Americanized viewpoint. Kids all over the world do just fine with their own room in college. |
| Severe allergies and resulting respiratory infections which require room to be kept free of certain allergens and dust. |
|
Quit being so over-indulgent to your kid - you are NOT doing her a favor.
Next thing will be: "She doesn't want to share the toilet or bathing facilities" and "She wants one-on-one lecturing from the professors" and "She wants her meals brought to her in her (single) room". The solution to your DD's problems are a shrink. |
| I am a normal and well adjusted extrovert and I *wish* I had had a single as a freshman. I had singles sophomore and senior year and was much happier (I had a roommate when I studied abroad and that was no fun). Some people just want their own space. I find that to be totally fine and understandable. Sharing a ROOM with someone is no more preparation for "real life" than sharing an apartment or townhouse with someone; there's nothing sacred about having to sleep in the same room as someone else. |
WTH is wrong with people. This is such ridiculous slippery sloping. |
Kids do all of that anyway even though it’s against the rules. |
|
| tldr but UChicago has singles available for first years. |
Imagine that. A culture that has its own "rite of passage" traditions. Countries all over the world have their own way of marking passage too. Do you denigrate those? |
Dorming is not a “rite of passage” in the U.S. since only upper middle class & wealthier people do it, with few exceptions. I grew up in a very poor area, and of the parents who didn’t outright kid their kids out, the rest commuted to college. Only the rich kids went away to dorm. The average college student is 24 years old. If an American 18 year old is attending college, it’s likely they’re commuting from wherever they live with their parents. Going bar-hopping at 21 or getting your license at 16 might be considered “rites of passage” in the US. |
Just because you are privileged to do something doesn't mean it's not a right of passage. This is meaningless in the context of whether op's daughter should have a roommate or not. |
Most kids don't do this. |
|
I didn’t get along with my freshman roommate and ended up transferring to a single later in the year. That said, it was my own fault as I didn’t really answer my housing questionnaire honestly. And being in a single put me at a real disadvantage for making friends and having an initial peer group.
Even with my experience, I say force her to have a roommate |
I said something like this above as well and I’m surprised so many people disagree. I don’t think it’s spoiled to not want to have your entire living space shared with a total stranger. My DS is concerned about sharing because he’s a very early to bed early to rise kind of person. He’s going to have to develop some flexibility on this in college but even a suite would accomplish that. I shared a room one year in college with someone that blasted music and was on the phone every night talking loudly until 3am. I had an internship every morning at 9 that year. It was awful. I was constantly exhausted. And she was someone I was friends with going in! But she just refused to accommodate my schedule. |