Howdy!
Maybe an odd question, but my student LOVES baking. Do dorms usually have communal kitchens equipped with ovens or are those a rare commodity? Do you have experience with colleges and universities that give students access to ovens as part of their living arrangements? Thanks!
I think most have communal kitchens - Tufts does.
Many of the dorms at Williams have communal kitchens. Haverford owns a garden apartment complex; each unit has its own kitchen.
The suites usually have an oven for the four roommates.
It depends on the university.
The dorm common rooms sometimes have ovens, but because of possible fire hazards, and students not knowing how to use them properly, the schools mostly have microwaves.
(My daughter’s dorm, at SUNY Buffalo, had ovens, in the common room, on each floor.
My really large, in-state University had, what we used to call, Home EC rooms because our university had a restaurant/catering minor. Students were allowed to reserve a kitchen to bake for our clubs.
That’s a question for you to check before applying, if it’s really important to her. At my middle daughter’s college they had a baking club. The club baked for themselves to try out new recipes, but they also were really popular with the professors since the club brought in baked goods to departmental staff meetings.
Most schools I have visited have communal kitchens in residence halls — sometimes one per floor, sometimes one per dorm (but not necessarily every dorm).
Carleton College also has the Dacie Moses house, which was donated as a place for students to hang out and bake cookies :
Our experience is that yes, most dorms have a communal kitchen with an oven that are available to anyone in the dorm.
Hamilton describes all of its first-year residence halls as having kitchens, kitchenettes, or kitchen facilities. Wallace Johnson, with a capacity of 20 students, appears especially suited to home-style living:
Slideshows of all of Hamilton’s first-year halls can be viewed here:
I love this thread. It was not something my D21 had on her list of priorities, but she has loved having a kitchen in their dorm and used it weekly - even during finals when they realized they needed to use up some ingredients. She has made meals and treats with new friends. She has had me send hard to find regional ingredients from home since she is far away and shared the food. Great bonding.
Most dorms at UNH where she is have a kitchen from what was said at Orientation.
From other tours, I only remember Champlain College in Burlington making a big deal of it - and there was a nice kitchen in a dorm we saw with S19.
I believe if there are food allergies or sensitivities you could request an accommodation to be in a dorm with a kitchen, too.
Boy, even my dorm in the 1970s had a kitchen in the basement of each (identical, cinderblock) building.
My daughter’s much more modern college dorm was a suite with a kitchenette but didn’t have a stove or burners - too much fire danger. They weren’t allowed to have any appliances that didn’t have an auto shut off, not even a toaster (but they did and just didn’t keep it in the kitchen, as the kitchens were inspected).
So ask.
My FD lives is in a dorm at Penn State. They have a full common room kitchen and eating area at their disposal. Kids do use it to bake or make food. The whole dorm gets together and does a Thanksgiving dinner before break. They only have microwaves in their rooms. I don’t know that all the dorms have this perk though.