I have the option of living in the honors dorm with other scholarship recipients (no kitchen) or in my communications learning living community (has a kitchen). I’d love to live in honors but am wondering if having a kitchen in your building should be a deal-breaker or not. Thanks!
Only you can decide. Since it doesn’t seem to be a dealbreaker for you, weigh all the other factors, then throw in having a kitchen and see if it tips the balance.
I can say it’s a convenience but most students probably just use it for minmal stuff that could be accomplished with an in-room fridge and microwave. But a student who really wants to cook would really want a full kitchen.
Other factors that may carry more weight would be:
Distance from classes and dining
Air conditioning (depending on locale)
Size of room
Suite vs room
What the bathrooms are like
How many roommates
Can you bunk the beds if desired
New or old building
Highrise, lowrise, house?
etc.
Since you say you’d love to live in Honors, I’d go with that, unless you think one of the factors mentioned above matters more.
Do you cook often? If you don’t want to deplete your money by eating out all 2-3 meals a day and are good at cooking, having a kitchen will be a great option.
Will you have your own kitchen like in an apartment style suite? If so then if you like to cook you can save a lot compared to a meal plan. However, if it’s a kitchen on the floor shared by many people it may not be that huge a benefit. Can be dirty from poor clean up, or hard to access regularly/daily for all meals.
Generally you won’t use a kitchen unless you are a big fan of baking cookies or something.
You get your meals at the dining hall and you can have a microwave. You will make friends in other dorms and you can visit them and use their kitchen.
I would go with the honors dorm because: 1) It will be quieter 2) You get to know the other honors students
Also consider:1) how sensitive are you to the smells from other people cooking, perhaps using strong seasonings or foods you don’t like.2) will your schedule allow you time to prepare a meal requiring an actual kitchen.
I’d vote for Honors dorm, all else being equal.
If you do like to bake and you go to a school where people generally move off-campus at some point in their tenure, you might be able to use upperclass friends’ kitchens. My dorm building has 6 kitchens, 2 with ovens, but it’s hard to commandeer them, so when I had to bake brownies for a friendsgiving thing I went to a friend’s apartment.