<p>Do you have any idea how likely it is that an entering freshman could get stuck in a triple room (a room designed for 2 people)?</p>
<p>I recall some posts about that last year, and I just read it in the admissions packet (in really fine print lol), and I got wondering if anybody knows how big of a problem this really is.</p>
<p>Thanks.</p>
<p>Weenie: My son is in a triple in Barton this year. It is a little tight, but not too bad. One bed is set up as a loft, the other as a bunk bed. The rooms are rather large. He did get a letter last summer asking if he would be willing to go into a triple and we did get a reduced room rate.</p>
<p>palermo: Thank you for your response. Was the letter presented as a choice? I'm asking because my kid is really tall (6'5") and he has nightmares about being jammed in a too-small room and a top bunk! LOL Seriously, I think he'd rule out a school because of it. (Maybe I should be thankful about that, as he seems to have no other ideas about how to pick a school. Ha.)</p>
<p>palermo,</p>
<p>I am a sophmore, and when I was a freshman I was also given the letter about Barton having triples. Barton is the first dorm that they would triple up. The other dorms are usually doubles (with 3 singles and 2 triples). The letter is sent to everyone who wants Barton, and in a year when rooms are going to be tripled there. In the letter, a choice is given to the student whether they want to stay in Barton (having a chance to get a triple) or go to another dorm (where there is a VERY low chance of getting a triple). The doubles can be lofted, but are given as a choice to the student. The rooms are not small at all at Barton, and only about half of the rooms are tripled (my year at least).</p>
<p>I asked my son and he didn't know if anyone was put in a triple who did not request it. However, only the first two floors of Barton are triples this year. The other floors are doubles. Everyprincess: My daughter had heard that only Medal winners get Barton. Do you know if that is true? Thanks</p>
<p>I don't think that it is true at all. I wasn't a medal winner and I was sent that letter. I think it is more on the basis of how early you send in your sheet with housing preference. The earlier you send it in, the more of a chance to get into Barton.</p>
<p>Thanks, everyprincess. One more question - I know RPI does not guarantee housing after freshmen year. Do you know whether they guarantee it for women, however? My daughter went on the tour by herself and forgot to ask that. Thanks again for your help.</p>
<p>So what is the scoop with Barton? What makes it the preferred dorm? Thanks.</p>
<p>Barton Hall is the newest of the freshmen dorms. It looks like a hotel and is in very good condition. Most of the rooms have semi-private bathrooms. The only negative I have seen as the parent of a quiet son, it is harder to meet people. He still doesn't know everyone on his wing and he is on the wing where four rooms share a bathroom.</p>
<p>Oh OK. I remember that dorm from the tour. And I remember the tour guide saying it was sort of a quiet dorm. (I believe he called it "closed door" which describes those dorms well, doesn't it?)</p>
<p>Except for the risk of getting tripled, I'd mostly encourage my kid to overlook dorm "amenities" and go for a friendly environment. (The only exception to that is if he ends up at a big time party school - which one of his school choices is.) </p>
<p>Son #1 ended up in a newly rehabbed dorm (not at RPI) - and it was a lovely dorm. But he really wished he was living across the green at the big freshman "good times" dorm. Oh well.</p>
<p>Barton is the worst for meeting people.
If you want to avoid being in a triple, you should probably not pick Barton as a top choice. You should not pick barton as any choice in any case, actually. Yeah so the lobby has a chandelier... big deal. I can elaborate if you want to know why I feel this way, but for the greater half of freshman its their biggest regret.</p>
<p>I was in a Cary triple room freshman year but there were only 2 of us. Odds are low that you get a triple in Cary, Bray, Hall, etc. Odds are greater if you choose Quad.</p>
<p>Housing isn't guaranteed after freshman year but there's usually more than enough for everyone. Some of the lower-quality upperclass dorms people move out of in favor of off-campus, and I do not know anyone who actually did not get housing if they went into the lottery.</p>
<p>Guarantee it for a girl? The first time I saw this question I laughed hysterically, because it sounded comparable to asking if a minority would get a guaranteed room because he's a minority. But the more I thought about it, the odds actually are greater because there are probably more girls without female roommates (which is required of course) just because there arent as many on campus. It's still not "guaranteed" though.</p>
<p>seg9585: The only reason I asked about quarantees for females is for safety concerns. From what I heard, the campus is very safe, but I am less sure of the safety off-campus. When we drove through Troy, some parts seem a bit sketchy. Some of the other schools we toured in cities did guarantee housing for female students. </p>
<p>One other question does Barton work for a more out-going student? We never see other students when we visit. Thanks for giving a student's perspective.</p>
<p>RPI does not gaurantee housing for non-freshman, but still about 90% will get it. I only know of 1-2 people who didn't get housing at first, but they waited it out, and then they ended up getting housing i believe. There are also things called "scoutting" where when its time to choose housing, you can be scouted into a dorm. That means that if you are friends with someone, and they are also going to keep the same room (or even if they are going to live in the same area) they can be brought into that dorm, but most likely you would have to be roomates with that person. My friend did that and he is having a blast with his new roomate. Also, once someone found an upperclassroom dorm that they liked, they are able to keep it for the rest of their undergraduate career. Another thing that can happen is when choosing for upper class room dorms/apartment that are on campus, a group of people can put their name on an index card, then "scout" together. That means that when the lottery happens, the person with the highest card number can take everyone from below them and bring them to the place where room selection is taken place. From then, whether that many people can get a room(s) together may still be a chance, one can have a the highest number, but if they signed with friends, then they are most likely going to have a room, and with friends. I have a friend who did this with 4 other people and 3/4 where able to get rooms in the same area, with only one of them not being able to get a room in that area.</p>
<p>Barton may or may not work out for everyone. I know that it did for some, while it didn't for others.</p>
<p>Barton is by nature less social than the rest of the dorms. I suppose if you are very outgoing you would find your own social scenes there and elsewhere, but I'd also imagine an outgoing person would want to live in a more social environment in the first place.</p>
<p>Anyway, by "scouting" you are probably referring to "squatting", where an upperclassmen can keep their on-campus residence, or intra-hall squat to somewhere else in that same dorm. And they can invite anyone they choose into the room with them.</p>
<p>When you put your name down with other people for the lottery, the goal is to get 2 or more rooms next to eachother. For example, in freshmen year me and 3 others wanted to have the same "suite" which in nugent is 2 rooms next to eachother and a shared bathroom. We accomplished this by filling out 2 lottery cards and putting the person who is NOT your roommate on the card with you. This way, when you are picked you both can pick each room in the suite and then invite your roommate in.</p>
<p>The only reason I asked about quarantees for females is for safety concerns. From what I heard, the campus is very safe, but I am less sure of the safety off-campus. When we drove through Troy, some parts seem a bit sketchy. Some of the other schools we toured in cities did guarantee housing for female students.</p>
<hr>
<p>Palermo, we visited in the fall and had some of the same concerns. We had just visited Vassar, where the security system is similar to the one at RPI, except at Vassar, they make a pretty convincing case that the system works. Our Vassar tour guide said the emergency blue-light buttons had only been used once in living memory...when a parent asked a tour guide if the buttons really worked, and the tour guide said, "Let's find out!" and smacked the button. Security was there in under 75 seconds. </p>
<p>At RPI our tour guide was like, "Yeah, yeah. There are these buttons. They're all over the place. You'll never need them!" He really brushed off all the parents' security questions, yet there were actually some WANTED posters posted around the school with sketches of men who had mugged a student.</p>