Dorm Basics?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Washington University in St. Louis
1

<p>My first post as a new WUSTL mom... Am wondering if someone could fill us in on the dorm set-up? My son will be in Danforth and though I see the layout of each floor on the ResLife website, the details are very sketchy. There's one bad video of a very basic, undone dorm room in Danforth, along with a very barebones Common Room. There are no dimensions listed. We can't see the size of the closets -- do they have shelves? Room for storage or stackable boxes? I'm assuming each student has his own?</p>

<p>How about the desks (we can't see those in the video either) ... do they have drawers? Bulletin boards? What do people do with those narrow bookcases that I see in the one video? Anyone have a picture of a finished room? </p>

<p>Lamps needed? Area rug? Are there shelves in the bathroom? Any mirrors in the closets?</p>

<p>My son, of course, is not too concerned about any of this. But I'm trying to help him get together a packing list.</p>

<p>Any ideas, video links, descriptions appreciated ...</p>

2

<p>I was there for a campus tour on Thursday. Though I cannot give you details of all the stuff you are looking for maybe I can give you some info to give you peace of mind. The room looked fine to me. Closet wasn’t huge but seemed adequate. No shelves in the closet. No shelves in the bathroom. no mirrors in the closet. Closet doesn’t have room for stackable boxes. Each student gets a closet. Desks do have drawers. Room has 2 beds with a connected bathroom to the next room. ( 2 rooms share a bath). Bathroom looked fine with 2 faucets. Your son is right, nothing for you to worry.</p>

3

<p>I did not live in Danforth, but in my experience most of the moderns have similar features. In my dorm, I had one shelf in my closet which was right above the clothing rod for hangers. Also, we definitely had shelves in our bathroom (although it sounds like Danforth might not have them?) in addition to cabinet space. There will also be shelf space in the small corridor/nook space right when you open the door from the hallway.</p>

<p>As far as the bookshelves go, most people just use them as more storage space for textbooks or other items. I have also seen them placed longways across the desk to make a sideways bookshelf to place textbooks in.</p>

<p>Also, I would definitely advise bringing a lamp or some other type of lighting. The lighting in the dorm rooms themselves is very artificial (sorry that is an awful descriptor, but it is just ugly). </p>

<p>My roommate and I each had our own bulletin board as well in our room.</p>

4

<p>Thanks, Kori and Yet. I’m hoping someone will post some photos. Kori, what do people usually do with those nook shelves when you first come in? I’m sure some (prob. female) students have come up with wonderfully inventive ways to use them …</p>

<p>And Kori, do you recommend a floor lamp as well as a desk lamp?</p>

<p>If anyone has pictures of a typical Modern double decked out, I know we’d all love to see them. The photos on Danforth’s website look pathetic for “best dorms in the nation.”</p>

5

<p>I don’t believe a floor lamp is necessary - I got by fine with just a desk lamp (admittedly, I was in Eliot, not Danforth). As for the shelves, students usually store stuff on them. Like books, or other school supplies, or food.</p>

<p>“The photos on Danforth’s website look pathetic for ‘best dorms in the nation’”</p>

<p>If that is the case, then you must have quite high standards. They are new, clean and insect free, reasonably sized, have tempurpedic mattresses, private bathrooms which are cleaned regularly, common rooms, ample laundry machines, computer room, hammocks on the lawn, free cable, kitchens, music rooms etc. I’m not sure what you were expecting the rooms to look like - 1000 square feet rooms with flat screen tvs and walk-in closets? It’s not my intention to be too rude here, but even the nation’s best dorms ARE still college dormitories…</p>

<p>Finally, if you google “wustl dorm pictures,” you’ll find stuff such as [Student</a> Spotlight: Cameron | WUSTL Admissions: Dera](<a href=“http://wustladmissionsdera.■■■■■■■■■■■■■/2012/10/23/student-spotlight-cameron/]Student”>Student Spotlight: Cameron | WUSTL Admissions: Dera) and [url=&lt;a href=“Campus Experience - Washington University in St. Louis”&gt;Campus Experience - Washington University in St. Louis]Sights</a> & Sounds | About | Washington University in St. Louis<a href=“see%20the%20Jan.%2011%20entry”>/url</a></p>

6

<p>Thanks for the links, Ryan. I had tried to find some, but obviously missed those two, which do shed a bit of light.</p>

<p>By “pathetic” I’m referring to the photos posted on WashU’s official ResLife info site – not the actual dorms themselves, which I haven’t seen. If I were WashU’s marketing department, I would make sure the dorm photos reflected those facts that you outlined. The Common Room posted on the Danforth site, for example, looks very haphazard and utilitarian. The dorm room they chose to photograph has one bare mattress and one with a sheet on it. Bookshelves are lying on the floor, nothing set up. Other schools (this is my 5th college-going student, so I’ve seen many) have full tours online, where an often perky student shows you around his/her room, so you can see the size of the closets, get ideas of what sorts of storage bins will work, let you see wall space, etc. Usually there’s also a tour of the lobby, maybe common rooms with pingpong or pool tables and big-screen TVs… </p>

<p>I know that Danforth has multipurpose rooms on the ground floor (from the floor plan), but I was just curious as to what’s in them. If the Common Room pictured on the Danforth House website is a floor Common Room, it doesn’t appear to have much in there. I’m sort of assuming the photos are just not good representations?</p>

7

<p>The common rooms are definitely more “sit around and talk/watch tv” rooms than they are rec rooms.</p>

<p>While I personally feel that the given photos are adequate and representative, it is glad to hear some suggestions to improve the site. I can’t actually change anything myself, maybe you could send an email to the website development team outlining your reasons for wanting a more in-depth tour? (AKA other colleges are doing it, and you’re more likely to give them money, haha :stuck_out_tongue: ) </p>

<p><a href=“mailto:webteam@wustl.edu”>webteam@wustl.edu</a></p>

8

<p>I didn’t live in Danforth, but I do know the common room on the ground floor has a TV and pool table.</p>

9

<p>Mom: you are way Over-thinking this. Who will live there? you or your son?</p>

10

<p>I’m not really overthinking it, Aunt Bea. I’m having fun with it … sorry if I come across a bit over the top. I’m just curious – I love exploring this website (as all of you too must) and I figured some of the folks on here knew the answers right off the top of their heads. I’m not losing any sleep over it though. I just thought it would be fun to get a sneak preview as we’re waiting around for school to start.</p>

11

<p>Rest assured that WashU is on the top of the list… [The</a> Top 10 Coolest Dorms in the Country | Her Campus](<a href=“http://www.hercampus.com/life/campus-living/top-10-coolest-dorms-country?page=4]The”>http://www.hercampus.com/life/campus-living/top-10-coolest-dorms-country?page=4)</p>

12

<p>This is the advise I received from another mother w/a son: The student needs a desk which the university provides. I say, “so your son studies at his desk?” No, that’s where the electronics go, on top of the desk. And they need a desk chair. That’s where the clothes go.</p>

13

<p>My D stayed in Park for a few weeks this summer. The suite had 4 doubles and 3 bathrooms. Each of the 4 rooms was totally different. Some rooms had mirrors others didn’t. All different closet configurations. Each bath was also different. So it may be difficult to generalize about what a typical room is like in any given dorm. Rest assured that it was very nice.</p>

14

<p>Park is weird like that–it was converted from a sophomore dorm.</p>

15

<p>Oh, OK. I didn’t realize that. Not sure of the differences between freshman and sophomore dorms. Can you clarify?</p>

16

<p>Freshman suites typically have two double rooms connected by a bathroom. I think sophomore suites can be a bit more varied, but they usually have (1) four people, one bathroom, and a common room or (2) six people, two bathrooms, and a common room. Distribution of single and double rooms varies by suite. Most of Park’s suites consist of three double rooms–for a total of six suite-mates, which is unusual–and two bathrooms. That’s because one of the three double rooms used to be the common room for a four-person sophomore suite. It sounds like your daughter’s suite used to be one of the few six-person suites with three double rooms and a common room.</p>

17

<p>I think the reason why most people here are hesitant to describe the furniture is WashU Reslife changes the furniture up every few years or so. I don’t believe WashU even puts those thin bookcases in the rooms anymore (I had them four years ago as a freshman but didn’t see them in my sophomore dorm). When I was a freshman, they had some semi-mediocre desks where the drawers took up 1/3 of the left portion of the desk and where you sat the right 2/3 had a longer drawer. These desks had no bookshelves but they could be extended which was nice. (I’m still not 100% sure if they put these in all of the dorms - Maybe just in Eliot B where I stayed)</p>

<p>The newer desks were alot more spacious but didn’t have the extendable flaps. They had one large drawer extending the whole length of the desk and a bookshelf with one shelf (so technically 3 levels where you could put stuff) as a “backsplash”. There is a bulletin board between the desk surface and the first shelf. That desk was perfect. </p>

<p>Other than that, the dresser was pretty standard - three drawers but were the same level as the desk so you could technically connect them to extend your table space (Very well thought out, I thought). </p>

<p>I remember walking into a friend’s dorm in Danforth (This was about four years ago so I might not be remembering correctly) but they have two closets and I believe there is a small shelf space up there where people stored suitcases, boxes, and whatnot. Covers the length/width of the closets, might be slightly smaller though. hopefully I’m remembering that correctly…</p>

<p>Lets see… trying to answer all your questions (might be repeating, didn’t read the entire thread too carefully)…</p>

<p>Floor lamps are unnecessary (a good desk lamp will be good - the room light, a large central one, is pretty bright). Area rugs are pretty unnecessary. I believe you can borrow a vacuum from any RA so those are unnecessary too. (I thought the room carpet was fine but I guess I could see how some wouldn’t like the feel of it on their feet, then you might want to invest in a bath rug or two) Area rugs might end up being a hassle, especially if your roommate dislikes it or something…</p>

<p>There are definitely going to be shelves in the bathroom but they’re probably going to be relatively small (enough space to put your toothbrush toothpaste and 2 other small items). Might want to split a small metal rack to split with the roommates. </p>

<p>Some dorms have closets that actually have mirrored sliding doors but I’m not sure if Danforth does (My gut says no) but I’d wait to purchase an extra one just in case. </p>

<p>Hope that helps.</p>

<p>Edit: I realize its the parent that is asking but its late at night and it was just alot easier writing it as a direct address.</p>

18

<p>@LittleMomma, i have to say you come across as a helicopter parent. I lived in modern double in Elliot. The best advice is to move your son into his dorm and then go to Target near by. If you want high end, you can go to Bed Bath & Beyond. </p>

<p>Some basic info:
Bring a desk lamp
An extension cord
You can store boxes or cases under the bed - they have lifts
He can store all his bathroom stuff - towels etc in the common area for his suite<br>
He can also put some books etc in the shared space
Buy some limited desk stuff
Together with his roommate they will want a TV and frig
No need for a rug in my opinion
Posters for walls
Door hanger for towel</p>