<p>It all depends on what you want out of College:</p>
<p>If you want the standardized “College experience” described in the Television shows and movies then you will definitely need to live on Campus. Living on Campus makes it so much easier to meet people; but living in the dormitories can be the same amount of money as tuition.</p>
<p>From my experience(From Living in the Dormitories for 2 years) you definitely can enjoy it. Keep in mind that I care much more about academics than my social life, I don’t drink or do drugs, I don’t party, and most of my free time in College was spent reading and doing homework assignments. Hardly the typical profile of the American College student. And I enjoyed living in the dormitories most of the time. The first year I roomed with 3 different roommates and I enjoyed it. We would watch movies, go to the gym, argue about pointless things, play board games, and other things to pass the time.</p>
<p>The next year I spent living in the dormitories I hated it. I was stuck with a Freshman roommate as a Sophomore and all he did was play Halo on the weekdays and party on the weekends. I got out of that situation immediately and then found a better roommate to dorm with.</p>
<p>Part of the College transition is becoming an adult. And since <10% of the population in College are adults you can at least pretend to act like one. Stick it out and stay in the dormitories kiddo.</p>
<p>ugh, I just can’t get myself to like being here. Am I supposed to have to convince myself I like it here? I don’t know how I’m supposed to feel. Axion, I kindof sound like you I guess, as far as focusing on academics more than the ‘college social life’. I’m REALLY not into partying and such. I don’t have much of a problem adjusting my schedule, but I like to have one where, when I know I need to get up at a certain time the next day, I go to sleep when I want and get up early. I guess I’m starting to realize that my roommate does tend to create uncomfortable situations, but I’m really not worried about it. We tend to just do our own thing.
As far as the acting like an adult comment, it’s hard to act like an adult in a building filled with kids who like to run up and down the halls yelling random ****.
What I like to do, is get my work done, and relax. I just haven’t found the dorms here to be relaxing yet. At all. Until I fall asleep and don’t want to get up in the morning… lol.</p>
<p>You are overanalyzing yourself, I think. It seems like every negative thought you have you use it as an excuse to wonder if your entire college life is wrong. Your attitude is going to convince yourself to leave whether you could have enjoyed the experience or not. Decide if you are going to stick it out for the semester. If you decide yes, stop complaining. Seriously. Just stop. Take the good with the bad, as EVERYONE else has to do. Let life happen. Otherwise you are just going to stay wishy washy and wobble back and forth and never make a decision or never be happy with what you pick. If you make it to the end of the semester having taken an optimistic outlook and still do not enjoy it, then you know for sure how you feel and can reconsider your options and make a more educated choice. There is no reason to go back and forth throughout the day, especially while you are still adjusting and your mind is going to change every four minutes. You can’t let every little feeling about your new college life completely sway your perceptions. College is a lot of good and bad, you have to learn to accept both without damning the whole institution-- just like dorm life.</p>
<p>MANY college students do not party. Many do not like to stay out late and be loud. Many like to stay home and do their homework. The freshmen are not usually among this group the first month or two of the semester, if not longer, because it is a new experience to them and they are testing their limits-- as children always do, and they are still transitioning from children to adults. Your situation will get better, and sooner or later you won’t be forced to be around so many freshmen even if you do stay on campus. You could move into an upperclassmen dorm next semester, or any dorm that isn’t the freshmen dorm. You could move into an apartment on or near campus-- my school has apartments as a housing option that are run just like dorms in that you pay for them by the semester and can use financial aid, rather than paying rent. You could make some friends this semester (eventually you will if you haven’t already) and if they are more like you you could try dorming with them next semester. Some of the other buildings are going to be quieter than others and you will learn which ones those are and apply to live there next time. You could get good grades this semester and apply to live in honors housing, where they typically have longer quiet hours if not 24 hour and they are actually enforced. You are going to have TONS of living options throughout your college experience. They are ALL going to have drawbacks. If you don’t give them a chance you are never going to be satisfied with anything. So if you have decided to stick it out for a semester, tell the little voice in your head that keeps questioning whether or not you like dorm life to SHUT UP, tell yourself you are going to enjoy the good parts and live with the bad, and go do it. It might not be as bad as you think, and if it is then you will have your answer.</p>
<p>It sounds like your dorm is not a good fit - I second the idea to talk to your RA - see what your options are for moving to a quieter floor/dorm. You probably just need a little more quiet and some sleep. Living at home should be your last option. I do think learning to live with other people and sometimes in uncomfortable situations is good for character however in your case, it sounds like you definitely need a quieter environment.
My S is a very private person, loves to socialize but absolutely has to have down time and quiet time to survive. He is starting his 5th year in dorms including 3 in boarding school. It has been torture at times but overall the experience has helped him to grow.
He mostly always roomed with relatively quiet people on relatively quiet floors though. He would not make it on a floor where people were running around screaming and yelling at all hours. You need to move - but not home.</p>
<p>eh, I feel like moving rooms or home would be like deserting my roommate (a HS friend) and hallmates who I’ve become aquainted with (not really friends but they know who I am and I don’t want to be bombarded with the whole “omg why did you move out? you hate us? lolol?)”. I just let things like that hold me back I guess.</p>
College life is great ( this is coming from a senior), I suppose you could commute if you prefer, though who knows if thats just wouldn’t be ten times worst than now.</p>
<p>Coolbrezze, that’s my thought as well. I’m weighing so many pro’s and con’s. As far as schedule, I wouldn’t mind commuting. It’s probably easier for me to find stuff to do in between my classes than end up sitting in my dorm room all day. I think the biggest thing that is keeping me here is my stupid fear of disappointing people. I really don’t know man, I really don’t know</p>
<p>TwistedXKiss, Agree with cbr27- Excellent post. ar31791, there seem to be some good ideas in the post that could be helpful to you. Best of luck in adjusting to college life.</p>
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[Quote=OP]
ugh, I just can’t get myself to like being here. Am I supposed to have to convince myself I like it here? I don’t know how I’m supposed to feel. Axion, I kindof sound like you I guess, as far as focusing on academics more than the ‘college social life’. I’m REALLY not into partying and such. I don’t have much of a problem adjusting my schedule, but I like to have one where, when I know I need to get up at a certain time the next day, I go to sleep when I want and get up early. I guess I’m starting to realize that my roommate does tend to create uncomfortable situations, but I’m really not worried about it. We tend to just do our own thing.
As far as the acting like an adult comment, it’s hard to act like an adult in a building filled with kids who like to run up and down the halls yelling random ****.
What I like to do, is get my work done, and relax. I just haven’t found the dorms here to be relaxing yet. At all. Until I fall asleep and don’t want to get up in the morning… lol.
[/Quote]
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<p>You are over-generalizing everything. You have only been in College for 3 weeks so you cannot make a clear decision about what College dorm life is all about.</p>
<p>Once the semester ends and you are in the dormitory for 3-4 months then you can make a much more accurate generalization.</p>
<p>First of all; make sure you talk to your roommate about your own sleeping schedule. There is nothing more aggravating than having a roommate who just doesn’t care and will go to bed at 3AM every evening when you need to wake up at 7:30AM the next morning. This is essential, you should immediately talk to the other person about working things out.</p>
<p>Second, if you like your roommate try to befriend them. If you don’t like your roommate and haven’t been liking them for the past 1-2 months then it is time for someone to move out. Don’t get stuck living with someone that you don’t like; in College you are suppose to become an adult and you just can’t do this with an incompatible roommate. I know that is being rather black and white, but from personal experience it works.</p>
<p>Third, don’t get too judgmental about what the other students are doing. Do people scream in the Halls at 2 AM every morning, play loud music at 8 AM in the morning, and come stumbling back to the dorm rooms over the weekends? Guess what; welcome to reality. If you want College to be an extremely intellectualizing experience then go to the library and start reading books. If you want to have as much fun as possible try to befriend as many people as you can and just imitate what everyone else does. If you came to College expecting an extremely active intellectual community; you’ve been fooled. People go to College to get jobs, the grand majority don’t care about the concept of learning.</p>
<p>Fourth, you have only been in College for three weeks. Hardly enough time to make any clear distinction about what you want. Stop worrying so much about all of this useless babble and decide what you want out of College- And then act accordingly.</p>
<p>I agreed with everything you said until imitating what everyone else does (are we in middle school?) and this little gem: “People go to College to get jobs, the** grand majority don’t care about the concept of learning.”**</p>
<p>I don’t know what the hell college you go to, but it is pretty ill advised to make such a sweeping generalizations. Neither of the two colleges I have been to have been like that at all. While there are definitely partiers at nearly every college if not every one, saying the grand majority of college students don’t care about education is probably the most ridiculous thing I have yet heard on this forum.</p>
<p>Actually the desire to learn is much greater than it ever was at my high school, but it’s true in a sense (at least for my college) that people are not really here for the intellectual stimulation. But again, it depends on <em>who</em> you hang out with…just find the right people, OP, that’s the key.</p>
<p>My tip is to stick it out until the end of the semester, and then consider your situation over winter break. If and only if your academics are affected by your residence in the dorms, switch over to commuting immediately. In my opinion, it’s worth a little discomfort to meet new people and experience college life, even if you can only handle it for a semester. Don’t drop something just because it doesn’t work at first.</p>