Son recently got freshman dorm assignment at W&M and he’s in one of the Botetourt dorms on 1st floor. Long shot but does anyone here have experience with not just these dorms (Fauquier, Dinwiddie, etc.) but what it’s like to live on the 1st floor? The 1st floor layouts have only 1 freshman room with 2-3 RA rooms and otherwise a lounge and kitchen area. From what we’ve read about the dorms having roach and other pest issues, we aren’t excited at all about this. Also feeling quite anxious about the first year experience when he’s also being isolated from other freshmen instead of being on a larger hall. Would love to hear from others about this.
I lived there my freshman year. If you don’t mind me asking, which one in particular is your son living in? Living on the first floor is actually a great position to be in dorm-wise because the dorm rooms are some of the largest in the building. Some even have their own bathrooms and shower, which means he doesn’t have to share with other dorm mates. Socially speaking, during orientation and hall events he will be paired with freshman from other floors. Also the lounge is a popular place to hang out, especially with ones as big as in botetourt, so it is likely that he will make plenty of good friends if he puts himself out there. I have had a couple of friends in the lounge floor and they have had very little problems integrating socially.
By hall, I assume you are referring an actual floor rather than a residence hall, but in any case living in a smaller freshman dorm likely means that the dorm will have a strong community feel as opposed to a larger dorm where he might not know half the people. And yes, unfortunately the bug issue is one side effect from living so close to the woods. Here is where I would use the advice “Don’t leave food lying around and you will be fine,” but honestly I lived on a guys hall and we were much messier than the girls but we received very little roaches in comparison. My theory is they are attracted to the perfume. During the whole year, I had only one and that was prior to move-in.
In short, your son will be fine. I actually really enjoyed living in botetourt my freshman year, it is right next to the dock where you can enjoy the lake and is in close proximity to both the rec center and the dining hall. It’s much easier to motivate yourself to exercise when you are within walking distance from the rec. Best of luck with everything!
Thank you so much for sharing your experience! That makes us all feel a lot better. I don’t want to share his room location in a public forum but I think you addressed our key concerns.
I just wanted to provide an update in case anyone else is looking for information on dorms or life at W&M in the future. Keep in mind this comes from a parent and not the student but I am providing information directly from our child at W&M. Even though he had reservations about being in the Botetourt complex and having a room off the lounge vs. being on a hallway, he absolutely loves it. Being near the lounge actually puts him in the center of socializing around the dorm. He likes his roommate and made a lot of new friends almost immediately. He’s joined a sport club and he’s even joining a fraternity. When we were moving him in, he was still second guessing his decision to choose W&M over UVA but since then he has completely fallen in love with W&M. Not only that but his friends at UVA have lamented that they think it’s harder to make friends at UVA because of the size and somewhat due to the “bigger party school” reputation. I think they feel like if they don’t want to drink, they don’t have as many opportunities.