Has anyone felt disappointed by the dorm?

[Anonymous]

I'm guessing OP's head exploded when she learned there was no lazy river either.

[Anonymous]

I would put in a maintenance request about the window not opening. That sounds potentially illegal. From a fire perspective. No AC at all? And the window doesn’t open? I agree that sounds miserable. Being next to the laundry room does suck but somebody’s gotta do it. It would be better if the room next to the laundry room was a lounge

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you want luxury dorms go to High Point. They have fountains and an ice cream truck.

Yes! My friend’s freshman moved in there this week and it’s amazing. My child chose a college with lesser dorms.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My other Kid went to Texas. UT has no requirement to live on campus Freshman year. We spoiled him, but look at his "dorm":

https://www.americancampus.com/student-apartments/tx/austin/the-callaway-house-austin#gallery

Those are nice! UT has some nice dorms. I can't wait until I visit UT with my child. Thanks for sharing!

GA Tech doesn't require freshmen to live in dorms either, however their dorms are not this nice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid is no snowflake, and we are just an ordinary MC family. For the past 18 years they have had their own room and bathroom, a full-sized bed, and air conditioning. Now they are at a supposed to be "elite" college, sharing a tiny room that barely fits two twin beds and two small desks, using crappy drawers that were literally tucked in the tiny closet, having no A/C in the 90 degrees weather with a useless window that doesn't open (maybe because it's on the first floor), and trekking down to the communal bathrooms 100 ft down the hallway at night. The noise from the laundry room next door doesn't make it easy to get a good sleep. The tiny beds are awkwardly placed in the middle of the room, and I can definitely see DC rolling down the bed at night, but it's impossible to make both beds against a wall due to the size of the room. Overall, it's worse than a motel.

My kid is tired and excited right now and it hasn't hit them yet that they are going to need to fit in a fridge, a microwave, and storage for various supplies. I am sure they will figure it out by themselves later (or happily living in a chaos), but as a parent I am disappointed. Those Youtube dorm tours are so deceiving! I can only hope the education they are getting there will be worth it.

Have you seen VCU's dorms this year? My friend posted one and there is no room for desks and one closet. Two beds crammed in a tiny room. No A/C. I'd be PISSED if I were paying for that.

All the dorms at vcu have a/c. Vcu had to close a dorm last year, so space is tight this year. They are probably in grc 3, which was built for lgbtq kids who needed a private room. They are using that dorm for all kids as doubles this year. My kid lived in grc 1 last year. Beautiful dorm room, high floor overlooking downtown Richmond.

Yes all the VCU dorms have AC. Not sure they’ve made any progress on the dorm they had to close - my daughter lived near it last year and said she never saw anyone working on it.

VCU overenrolled this year. Singles in GRC (very small) converted to doubles. My daughter stayed in one this summer - very small shared suite space and one bathroom, was for two but now for four. I think some rooms also converted to triples and quads. Also 80 kids will be living at The Graduate hotel which doesn’t have laundry facilities. Not ideal but I feel like every college has had a year when they have a crunch.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
I'm a foreigner who has never had to live in a dorm (students either commute from home or rent apartments), and I do not encourage my kids to apply somewhere with a high risk of getting a tiny dysfunctional space. My oldest just moved into a nice single at GW... the doubles are a bit cramped, but the dorms are overall on the nicer side - renovated, A/C, amenities, etc. I am NOT paying these American prices for my kids to get poor quality sleep for 4 years. Comfort matters. And we live in a tiny, old house! But it's still comfortable and well laid-out.

I entirely reject the notion that discomfort is "part of the college experience". Not at those prices.

Couldn't agree with you more.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid is no snowflake, and we are just an ordinary MC family. For the past 18 years they have had their own room and bathroom, a full-sized bed, and air conditioning. Now they are at a supposed to be "elite" college, sharing a tiny room that barely fits two twin beds and two small desks, using crappy drawers that were literally tucked in the tiny closet, having no A/C in the 90 degrees weather with a useless window that doesn't open (maybe because it's on the first floor), and trekking down to the communal bathrooms 100 ft down the hallway at night. The noise from the laundry room next door doesn't make it easy to get a good sleep. The tiny beds are awkwardly placed in the middle of the room, and I can definitely see DC rolling down the bed at night, but it's impossible to make both beds against a wall due to the size of the room. Overall, it's worse than a motel.

My kid is tired and excited right now and it hasn't hit them yet that they are going to need to fit in a fridge, a microwave, and storage for various supplies. I am sure they will figure it out by themselves later (or happily living in a chaos), but as a parent I am disappointed. Those Youtube dorm tours are so deceiving! I can only hope the education they are getting there will be worth it.

Have you seen VCU's dorms this year? My friend posted one and there is no room for desks and one closet. Two beds crammed in a tiny room. No A/C. I'd be PISSED if I were paying for that.

All the dorms at vcu have a/c. Vcu had to close a dorm last year, so space is tight this year. They are probably in grc 3, which was built for lgbtq kids who needed a private room. They are using that dorm for all kids as doubles this year. My kid lived in grc 1 last year. Beautiful dorm room, high floor overlooking downtown Richmond.

Yes all the VCU dorms have AC. Not sure they’ve made any progress on the dorm they had to close - my daughter lived near it last year and said she never saw anyone working on it.

VCU overenrolled this year. Singles in GRC (very small) converted to doubles. My daughter stayed in one this summer - very small shared suite space and one bathroom, was for two but now for four. I think some rooms also converted to triples and quads. Also 80 kids will be living at The Graduate hotel which doesn’t have laundry facilities. Not ideal but I feel like every college has had a year when they have a crunch.

Have to give VCU some credit. Of all the hotel chains universities pick to put overflow students in, The Graduate is a top notch choice.

[Anonymous]

Why Virginia state schools have the best dorms for freshman? Which are the worst?

[Anonymous]

My kid's freshmen dorm room was similar. We were all taken aback by how small it was.

But he survived and thrived! It actually prompted him to get out and about, he spent a lot of time outside of his dorm room meeting new people, signing up for activities and intramural sports. He had a great first year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why Virginia state schools have the best dorms for freshman? Which are the worst?

It can be hard to generalize. DS is at VT and they have some really nice dorms but also some really awful ones. He was in a nice LLC dorm, a suite-style with AC.

[Anonymous]

University financials are so mismanaged. Read the recent either WSJ or NYT piece on this (it has nothing to do with dorms specifically, but given the mismanagement and mis-prioritization of $ at universities, it is not surprising that an issue like mold in dorms is not being adequately addressed. But that football locker room is shiny and new!)

[Anonymous]

Dorms are usually spartan and lackluster. If possible it can be helpful to move out of dorms after 1-2 years.

But what's not acceptable is any kind of genuine health or safety concern - mold, exposed wiring, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid's freshmen dorm room was similar. We were all taken aback by how small it was.

But he survived and thrived! It actually prompted him to get out and about, he spent a lot of time outside of his dorm room meeting new people, signing up for activities and intramural sports. He had a great first year.

Exactly. You’re not supposed to spend a lot of time in your dorm.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:FFS, folks. Grow up.
During my entire freshman year, I lived in a single that was turned into a double. We had bunk beds. It was miserably cramped. The shower was disgusting. It was dark and your feet sunk into the rotting concrete when you stepped inside. It was in the basement of a century old dorm at a very prestigious liberal arts college.

Why do your little snowflakes need their own room, their own bathroom, their nice comfy double bed, all the cozies and tidiness and oomphieness of home when they are in college?? This is real life. Mommy and Daddy are paying now, but not forever (unless you suck at parenting), so start getting used to some deprivations, kiddos.

My kid's dorm room is so small, she is supposed to have bunk beds, but she refuses, so she and her roommate are working out a floor plan so they can squeeze two twin beds in their. One of them is going to put her desk in the hall because she doesn't study at a desk.

Yeah, $80k for this!! Whine away, parents. This is college as it's always been and likely always will be.

+1

Well said. Some people are truly out of touch. People don't attend decent colleges to have a posh dorm.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid's freshmen dorm room was similar. We were all taken aback by how small it was.

But he survived and thrived! It actually prompted him to get out and about, he spent a lot of time outside of his dorm room meeting new people, signing up for activities and intramural sports. He had a great first year.

Exactly. You’re not supposed to spend a lot of time in your dorm.

+1

Totally agree!