Seems like most college dorms are either rooms off a hall with shared bathrooms, or apartment/suite style.
Do many colleges have dorms that are rooms off a hall with several one-person bathrooms on the floor? Seems like that would alleviate the concerns about shared bathrooms.
The honors college dorms at Drexel are like you describe. Made sense to me when we visited with D1.
Syracuse has been changing its bathrooms over to single person use as it does renovations. It looks like they change each community bathroom into about 6 individual ones.
Ball State has a newer dorm with double rooms (two students to a room) and not an attached bathroom, but instead a locked, secure bathroom nearby for two rooms (four students) to share. The card that opens their dorm room door also opens the bathroom door. There are two shower stalls, two toilets for four people.
When my older DD and I looked at Arizona State, the dorm we toured was an older one, but it had 2 rooms and a locking bathroom between them. I think it had only 1 toilet and one shower, though.
You know, some people grow to like the gang bathrooms because you never have to wait. Then, when they move into apartments, they remember what it’s like to have to “hold it” in desperation because someone’s in the shower.
One dorm at Fordham had double rooms with a bathroom for each room – my S lived there sophomore year and it was nice, But IMO (and I recognize that everyone is different in this regard) private bathrooms are not a negative , especially for freshman. My freshman dorm many many years ago had a hall bathroom as did both of my kids’ freshman dorm. It makes the hall a more social place because people are always in the halls going to and from the bathrooms. Also, hall bathrooms are cleaned by the school while bathrooms attached to a room generally are not which is nice for a new student.
We’d talk to each other over brushing teeth. Communal bathrooms always seemed more friendly to me. And yes, nt having to wait is a definite plus!
My D at Cornell has a sink in her room, with vanity mirror/medicine cabinet, outlets, light, and towel rack. So she only goes down the hall to shower and use the toilet. Otherwise, she dries her hair, brushes her teeth, washes her face in her room. She loves it.
When my D was a freshman at Brown, there was a private full bathroom that every two rooms shared (but the door to it was outside the two rooms). Each room was a double, so that is four people to one full bathroom.
I’ve never heard the term gang bathroom but I loved communal bathrooms. Never had to wait, always clean, etc.
What “concerns” do people have around communal bathrooms?
My daughter stayed at Indiana State U this past summer for a band camp. She stayed in a high-rise dorm with traditional double rooms, but - each room had it’s own bathroom that the two roommates shared.
It was apparently the only dorm on campus like that.
However, she attended another camp at a small LAC with the traditional double room and one communal bathroom per hall. Obviously, she preferred the former, but was able to cope just fine with the latter.
She also made friends with more girls at the latter. Don’t know if there was a direct correlation but I do know, from my own past experience, that a lot of small talk, communal makeup and hair sessions before going out on weekends, etc., takes place in the communal girls’ bathrooms. I can see where it’d be different for boys.
in my opinion every student should have a single room. it is a place to escape to and have privacy. a shared living area and bathroom for 3-4 students is good. having a roommate freshman year is not ideal. people do go to college to grow and learn but, navigating living with a stranger who may have multiple issues (or maybe you are the ones with issues or both of you) is not part of why a person goes to college. if I stay in a hotel I do not stay with a stranger assigned to me by the front desk.
@zobroward I think the main reason colleges have doubles (and triples) is cost. Doubling the number of dorm rooms so everyone gets a single is probably going to make college more expensive than adding a lazy river or fancy student center.
D is in a double. This is set up as 3 rooms in a 12x24" room–each room is 8’x12’. They each have a bedroom with a sink, and there is a common room in the middle. There are communal bathrooms with multiple toilets and showers. Most of the rooms in this dorm are singles, but D and I thought it would be best as a freshman to have a double. She likes this set-up very well as it allows for privacy as well as the advantages of a double.
As a college freshman, I can’t imagine not having a roommate. Going to a large university without knowing anybody will make for a challenging few weeks. Navigating shared space is a life skill; if the student had not experienced it with a sibling, it would be advantageous to know how to navigate these situations in advance of marriage/living with a SO. There’s certainly enough time for living on one’s own as an upperclassman and/or post-graduation.
Some have sink in the room like at USC.
skieurope… a common living area for 3 or 4 students is in my opinion is just as effective but with privacy. a door to the semi apartment and another door to your room.
Having a roommate can build character, i.e. those life skills mentioned upthread. And I am always glad to hear a story about old friends who met as Freshman roommates. In the movie ‘Sideways,’ the reason Paul Giamatti tolerated Thomas Haden Church’s antics was because they had been friends since being Freshman roommates at San Diego State.
Except for first semester freshman year, I had a single every year but shared a communal coed bathroom with the entire floor. I thought that was the best setup. I had my own room for privacy and a never-wait on the bathroom. And boyfriend (now DH) and I could brush our teeth, comb our hair, etc. together before heading out on a date. 