<p>Any current U Del students willing to give the scoop on where to live? Pros and cons? I may attend Udel. Was just admitted.</p>
<p>First the bad news:
At UD you can not choose which dorm you will reside in. Freshman are assigned their dorm by UD. Now you can “request” (when you fill out the Housing form) a specific dorm and/or roommate but there are no guarantees. You will find out in early August where you have been assigned. At least this has been the way it has been done in past years.</p>
<p>Now the good news:
UD has just completed a 750+ bed new dorm on its East Campus. It will house the about 450 Honors Program students and 300+ non-honors students. It looks like about 450 non-honors freshman will be housed in the Russell complex on East campus as well where the Honors students had previously been assigned. The East Campus is more centrally located so it is an ideal location.</p>
<p>In the past most freshman were housed in two large large dorm complexes, Rodney and Dickenson, on the West Campus. With the opening of the new dorm I believe one of these complexes will close (I have heard Dickenson but this is not confirmed). At least Rodney is air-conditioned. There are train tracks running along side of Rodney and train whistles can be loud at times (but you get used to them after a while). Rodney also has had a reputation of being more of a party dorm.</p>
<p>A small number of freshman in the past have been housed on the North (Laird) campus. These are suite rooms with two rooms sharing a bathroom. It is a slight walk from this area to most of the classrooms but bus transportation is available.</p>
<p>The new dorm might be your best “request” but I suspect many other freshman will have the same idea. I hope this general information helps a bit. Good luck.</p>
<p>My d loves living in East Campus. She is in Harrington. Very old. Needs updating, but she is happy. The new dorm under construction looks great. That whole area will now be all frosh. Russell will lose the honors students, and will also be a good option now on East Campus. They will take in more frosh.
West Campus is very nice and new. My d was impressed with the accommodation, but felt it was too remote and separate for a frosh.<br>
She was not of fan of Rodney. Known as the rodjects…</p>
<p>Unfortunately the Harrington Complex is scheduled to be closed for a two year renovation project beginning this Summer so it does not look like it will be available to freshman in the Fall. If a non-honors student requests a single room the odds are probably reasonably high that they would end up in Rodney, which has a fairly large number of single rooms. Rodney is your typical older type college dorm with single and double rooms and communal bathrooms. It is actually relatively close to a number of classroom buildings. It has a convenience store, a small gym/workout area, and has its own cafeteria ( I suspect many college dorms at other schools do not have all these thing so easily available). While it has been named the “Rodjects” I know of many students who actually liked living there very much. So if you end up being assigned to Rodney I would not go “bananas” and assume you will hate it there.</p>
<p>The scoop from my D, who is an RA in Dickinson, is that both west campus dorms will be open for at least another year. Although there is a new east campus building, Harrington is closing for renovation. She has been told she will be working in Dickinson again. It is true that the west campus dorms are not as nice as the newer complexes. However, the location is good for lots of classes and students will almost inevitably enjoy where they are.</p>
<p>correct momof2giants both Dickenson and Rodney being kept open another year. Only one correction to socaldad. west campus is NOT new! lol! Old and run down… that being said, my “princess” has loved her time there. She has made nice friends and despite being in a room so small the furniture barely fits. (only place for fridge is the the closet… er I mean opening on the wall…) no wardrobe, very small dresser, more like the size of a large night stand… etc… She has decorated it cute and made it work. She is a business major so being on that side of campus has been a plus for her. Has she been on East Campus as she had hoped, it was have been a HUGE hike to her classes. Dining hall at rodney is close by and decent. All in all I don’t think you’ll get a bad spot. Of course the NEW dorms would be ideal for anyone but it’s all what you make of it. North Campus, George Reed is newer and offers only freshman suite style living on campus but is a bit removed. Again, it’s all what you make of it. :)</p>
<p>Momof2giants, my D is in dickenson A, where is yours? :)</p>
<p>Lefty, You are correct. I meant Laird campus, which I thought was west of campus…My bad…</p>
<p>This sounds very interesting if they plan on keeping both Rodney and Dickenson fully open next year. Perhaps I am wrong but with the new 750+ new dorm spaces and even with the closing of Harrington it does seem mathematically that they will have more dorm spaces then they will need just for freshman (unless they are taking a much larger freshman class this year). Has anyone heard of any other possible changes? (i.e. no longer housing any freshman on Laird campus, opening up Russell dorm spaces to upperclassmen, only opening up parts of Rodney/Dickenson etc.). Just wondering if anyone has heard anything?</p>
<p>Mwallenmd I’ve been trying to figure out the same thing… I was also curious if the school was accepting more freshman this year due to more housing. I only know a handful of kids personally that have applied and they have all been accepted. Usually runs about 1/3-1/2 of the applicants at our high school that get in. One of my friend’s has no clue how her kid got in! Not a terrible applicant but a little bit of a reach. I don’t care enough to call and ask but it has me curious! :)</p>