Anonymous
Post 07/25/2024 15:08     Subject: Horrible dorm assignment!
Anonymous wrote:This is Southern CA folks so your blithe attitude about AC is unfounded. School can more than afford to provide it too. The basement part is what gets me the most-how a school of this caliber can get away with throwing kids in a dungeon and pretending that’s ok is beyond me!

To OP, these comments are wrong. I went to a So Cal school in "desertucky" according to DCUM. The weather is amazing! It is not that hot outside of the first 2 or 3 weeks, but a fan will do the trick. It is not Texas. The temperature drops like a bullet the second the sun goes down, and it's more likely you'll underpack jackets like I did freshman year. She will be fine!
Anonymous
Post 07/25/2024 15:05     Subject: Horrible dorm assignment!
Many, many college freshman hate their dorm assignment for one reason or another. You just have to let it go and realize that this is one very tangible aspect of letting go and appreciating the growth that comes with your student learning how to endure discomfort and solve problems on their own. If something is really terrible, encourage the student to go to their RA. Other than that, it is the parent's job to be neutral or positive and communicate to your student that this is nothing they can't handle.
Anonymous
Post 07/25/2024 15:03     Subject: Horrible dorm assignment!
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:People lived without air conditioning for thousands of years. Your snowflake will survive.


Studies done *on college students* show that sleeping in temperatures that are too warm cause lower math scores on tests. Authors compared math scores from students in dorms with A/C and dorms without.

So this is academically important. A/C is not a frivolous demand these days.


Fortunately for my CS and math major, he was able to survive with no AC and finish freshman year with a 4.0.
Anonymous
Post 07/25/2024 15:00     Subject: Horrible dorm assignment!
Why did you choose a school where you knew dorms with no a/c would be a possibility?
Anonymous
Post 07/25/2024 14:56     Subject: Horrible dorm assignment!
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:People lived without air conditioning for thousands of years. Your snowflake will survive.


Studies done *on college students* show that sleeping in temperatures that are too warm cause lower math scores on tests. Authors compared math scores from students in dorms with A/C and dorms without.

So this is academically important. A/C is not a frivolous demand these days.



I'm so curious about this. Can you cite the study?

Some questions I would have:
1. Who funded the study?
2. Was it peer-reviewed?
3. Did it control for other variables?
4. What was the magnitude of impact on test scores?
Anonymous
Post 07/25/2024 14:54     Subject: Horrible dorm assignment!
If he was late in filling out the housing portal.........this is what happens.
Anonymous
Post 07/25/2024 14:51     Subject: Re:Horrible dorm assignment!
Anonymous wrote:I hear you. My very quiet kid has been assigned to a triple. He had read that his college has a lengthy questionnaire for incoming freshmen to match roommates and assign people to hall sections, including a free response essay about interests and the opportunity to request a single. But when the housing form came out this year, it asked exactly two questions: one about sleeping habits and another about visitors. Then it took until near the end of July for the college to even tell him where he's living. Not sure how random assignments took that long. He's not happy, not excited, and not optimistic. I am starting to regret the horror stories I've told him over the years about my own experience in a freshman year triple. Not good.


Did you agree to pay for a double? I'm curious if colleges honor requests if you ask for double or single and are willing to pay the higher rate.
Anonymous
Post 07/25/2024 14:50     Subject: Horrible dorm assignment!
Neither of my kids colleges ha e A/C, and they've survived with fans, as do millions of other kids every year. You need to get over this mom, and not let your negative vibes infect you kid. Chances are, they and others in the dorm will bond over their basement rooms.

One friend's child in a basement dorm in a very highly regarded LAC, had to put rolled up towels under doors at night, so that the mice didn't come in under the door
Anonymous
Post 07/25/2024 14:49     Subject: Re:Horrible dorm assignment!
i'd be really bummed about the lack of a roommate. My kids are social and I think living with a roommate is a rite of passage of college. Good, bad and ugly.

The air conditioning can be lived without.

Can't your kid call about the lack of a roommate? Surely there is another kid would would love a single?
Anonymous
Post 07/25/2024 14:49     Subject: Horrible dorm assignment!
If it is a lower level or below ground basement room without AC, se won't feel the heat. It will be a lot cooler than other dorm rooms. Heat rises. Also a single room can be a blessing in disguise.

I live in Northern CA without AC and ground floor of our 3-level house is usually fine if the windows are shaded, even when temps go into the 90s (which is rare but does happen).

Anonymous
Post 07/25/2024 14:46     Subject: Horrible dorm assignment!
Anonymous wrote:It's a couple weeks of warm. I had an unairconditioned dorm along with most of the rest of the country back in the 80. I still managed to not fail calculus. And basements are cooler anyway.

I hope you realize that "back in my day..." comparisons are really inappropriate when it comes to climate.

OP, have your daughter contact housing office after a few weeks if it is really unbearable. And tell her to leave the door open as much as she can to show she wants to be social.
Anonymous
Post 07/25/2024 14:46     Subject: Horrible dorm assignment!
Yale has lots of rooms in basements on Old Campus where many freshman live. I cleaned dorms in the summer there in the late 90s and noticed the wide disparity in room quality. There is also one suite that was built for any Vanderbilt family member to live in while attending in Vanderbilt Hall. Luck of the draw, but I bet a well-connected admit isn’t getting stuck in the basement…and most are just happy to have been admitted.

https://yaledailynews.com/blog/2005/02/04/legendary-vanderbilt-suite-is-the-sweetest-of-on-campus-abodes/
Anonymous
Post 07/25/2024 14:46     Subject: Horrible dorm assignment!
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:People lived without air conditioning for thousands of years. Your snowflake will survive.


For the tuition and fees paid at these schools, people should not have to do so.


+1

Raise hell. Not acceptable.
Anonymous
Post 07/25/2024 14:43     Subject: Horrible dorm assignment!
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:This is Southern CA folks so your blithe attitude about AC is unfounded. School can more than afford to provide it too. The basement part is what gets me the most-how a school of this caliber can get away with throwing kids in a dungeon and pretending that’s ok is beyond me!


USC?
Pomona?
CMC?
Pepperdine?
LMU?


My kid is at USC and IIRC there were a minuscule amount of singles for Frosh year. Something like 20 singles across the entire campus. If this is the school OP, I'm sorry, you got really really unlucky!
Anonymous
Post 07/25/2024 14:43     Subject: Horrible dorm assignment!
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:People lived without air conditioning for thousands of years. Your snowflake will survive.


For the tuition and fees paid at these schools, people should not have to do so.

Did OP and their kid research dorms when they applied? If not, then caveat emptor. If they did, then they must've known that there was a chance that their kid could get the crappy room.