I am gonna be starting college soon, and I was wondering about dorm life and what its like to live with roommates. My main question is how open are people to nudity most of the time?
But I also have other questions…
Do people usually respect the lights out time?
Do people visit each other’s rooms a lot, or is that usually reserved for settings outside the rooms?
What is the shower and bathroom situation usually like?
Please add any other bits of info too!
come on people, Im looking for some advise and experience here! Please and thank you
What “lights out time”? It’s college.
Complete nudity is highly inappropriate. If you’re thinking about doing this, don’t.
“What “lights out time”? It’s college.” My roommate eats dinner at 12:00am and sleeps around 3:00am while leaving the lights on. Simply cover your head with your blanket.
Visitations are usually an agreement you’ll sign and, depending on your college, you may have the ability to ban any visitors from coming into your room if it makes you uncomfortable.
Bathroom and shower depends on your college. You’ll likely have a community bathroom, but I have no clue what those are like as I have a private one I share with my roommate.
So the whole nudity thing… Not sure whether you mean wandering around the hallways or inside the room, because those are very different things. In my room, we tend to change with our backs turned to each other but none of us particularly cares whether we are seen by each other. We will kick others out of the room though. Nudity outside the room is a huge no-no, but I am on a coed floor so it makes sense. Guys will often walk around shirtless and go to and from showers in boxers and a towel, but girls usually wear pajamas and/or a bathrobe to and from showers. Also on that note, make sure your pajamas are appropriate for going outside. Fire drills can happen at any time.
We don’t have a set lights out time, but some rooms do. It all depends on your roommates. Usually we turn off the room lights when we are going to bed and ask the others to use their desk lamps. But don’t expect people to go to bed when you tell them to or even turn out the lights.
In my hall people spend a lot of time in others’ rooms, partly because our floor lacks a common room or lounge. We often form large study circles in someone’s room on weekends. But there is an understanding that if the group is in your room you have the right to kick people out if you need to, like if you are changing or going to bed. Also there is always at least one of the room’s actual residents there if visitors are present. Overnight visitors are on a case by case basis depending on your roommates and your wishes.
Bathrooms vary greatly depending on the “format” of the dorms (suites vs doubles, triples, etc) and the college or building. The bathrooms at my college are just barely adequate for the number of girls on the floor,but they are reasonably clean and there is always toilet paper and stuff.
While I’ve never heard of a “lights out” time, many schools do have “quiet hours” in dorms.
Thanks a lot, that was really helpful! The one question I have is about the fire drills. So what do u wear to bed if u r constantly worried about the alarms? Where is your college, I assume that determines a lot of what is suitable for going outside. Thanks again
oops, that post was directed at @GoatGirl19
You wear whatever you’d normally wear and throw on flip-flops and a jacket (or pants and a shirt) when you hear the alarm. You don’t have to run right out the second you hear it, you do have a few minutes to look decent.
In 4 years of boarding school and my first year in college, I’ve never had a fire alarm go off in the middle of the night. Should it occur, that’s what bathrobes are for. 
Whatever you chose to wear or not wear to bed, if you can’t figure out how to have a robe or something else at hand in case of an emergency, I’m not sure you’re ready for college.
If you have a shared bathroom with the hall/floor beware of towel theft. College costs are at an all time high, and due to all of the political instability in Egypt cotton is quite expensive. Some students just can’t afford towels and will come for those left lying around like vultures. To prevent this, keep your towel in your room and just walk down to the showers naked. Nothing to be embarrassed about, even if it’s a co-ed floor, girls do it too, you won’t see them though because they usually all shower very early in the morning and are fairly quiet about it.
In my freshman college dorm, fire alarms were pulled in the middle of the night regularly. At least once a month, including in the winter. We were required to wait outside until the fire department checked the dorm, often 30 minutes. In January. In the snow. Our RAs keyed every room to make sure we went out, too. So when it went off, people pulled on sweats and winter coats and hats/gloves. I think students from the dorm across the street did it. I hear it still happens often in that dorm. So… could happen to you.
@Mandalorian is that what happened in your dorm? people stole towels and walked through the dorm naked?
Not sure where Mandalorian goes to school, but that is definitely not the norm. If there is a community shower, you would most likely keep your towel in your room. Most people would be grossed out if someone else used their towel so it’s just easier to keep it in the room. And few people would walk down to the showers naked, especially in a co-ed dorm. BTW, it is a common misconception that girls take quiet showers very early in the morning. I have 2 daughters. I know.
@Mandalorian is clearly being facetious.
My dorm already had 2 fire alarms go off… at midnight in both cases.
True story: somebody threw a flip flop at a ceiling sprinkler at 3 AM in the winter last semester. Sprinklers went off. Fire alarm went off. My entire dorm was told to go sleep somewhere else, on a school night, when it was snowing, at 3 AM.
You don’t have to look like a model when you go to bed, but definitely keep a wrap handy. 
I know a student who was an RA in his dorm. He came back after a night of partying and threw up on the floor. So he sprayed a bunch of Febreeze to try to get the smell out – and set off the fire alarm. Dorm evacuated. Student mortified.
Ancient history, but we had middle of the night fire drills in cold weather due to students pulling a fire alarm for “fun”. . We even had one when a few streakers decided to force us all outdoors to be their audience.
It’s up to you to be prepared to go outside in all sorts of weather and be out there long enough for firefighters to clear the building. Plan to be outside 30 minutes and dress appropriately.