<p>What are the dorms like in college? Drinking, partying, smoking? Constant blasting of loud music? This is exactly what I do NOT want. What should I expect going into a dorm for the first time? </p>
<p>I am planning on going to WSU(Washington State University). WSU has a wide variety of residence halls, which is nice. I just don't know which one to pick. There are co-ed, single-sex, 19+(can't pick that one), no alcohol, and honors. I definitely want no alcohol, but there is only one building that offers that and it isn't me preference. So I am wondering if the other types of halls that do allow alcohol are constant, partying and drinking. I would like to have a nice, peaceful, relaxing dorm to go "home" to. </p>
<p>My dorm options that I am looking at: </p>
<p>Stevens Hall- all female hall, consists of 80 women
Stephenson East- No alcohol, Co-ed, but single-sex floors(alternating male and female floors) I read that this hall is popular to freshman who like to fool around, which is why this is not my preference
honors hall- doesn't seem like the partying scene and from what I read it is nice</p>
<p>There are other halls, but theses are my preferences and examples of variety. If you were in my position what type of housing would you pick? (Right now I am leaning to Stevens Hall)</p>
<p>And yes I am only a Junior in Highschool, but I just can't get college off my mind, and I am very curious about what to expect what college rolls around.</p>
<p>No. No. and No. a) Most people in dorms are < 21. You get caught you get evicted. b) Dorms have noise limits which eliminate all parties. c) There’s indoor air quality laws…even if your state doesn’t have any then chances are the dorm won’t allow it anyways.</p>
<p>Re: alcohol again. My school allows it if you happen to be >= 21 but you have to drink in your room alone (or only with other people >= 21) with the door closed (seriously). I don’t know any 21 year olds who live in the dorms…everyone goes to apts. after sophomore year.</p>
<p>Re: smoking again. The dorm I lived in fresh/soph yeah was the last “hold out” on campus for smoking allowed in rooms. And it was ended in the mid 90s I think.</p>
<p>I’d go with the co-ed. I don’t foresee an all-female dorm being a good idea…unless it’s made of nothing but mirrors and closets :D</p>
<p>Well if you’re only a junior I would spend less time trying to pick your dorm. I did the same thing as a junior and wound up picking a whole different school.</p>
<p>Some dorms have a lot of people partying and drinking/smoking. However, even if you live on a floor where people are really into it, you will not be forced into it. You can make friends elsewhere, it is very easy, just meet people through classes and clubs. I would not rule out a dorm because it has people who party, I know lots of people who party and they are really great, kind, interesting people, they just happen to party on the weekends. At this point I wouldn’t pick your dorm yet, you have so much time and you might change your top choice school even though you think you won’t. I would pick the biggest dorm that can give you the widest range of people…as I said if you rule out all the people who party you will miss out on a lot of perfectly nice people who might even have the same interests as you.</p>
<p>^ I think you are missing the point. The OP is looking for a peaceful and quiet living environment. Your next-door neighbors might be the most awesome people who have ever walked the planet, but that doesn’t help when they are partying until 4am in the morning while you are trying to sleep. I didn’t get the impression that she would mind dorm mates who go out to drink and party, as long as the dorm itself is quiet.</p>
<p>Personally, I think that the women’s dorm would be her best bet. I went to a women’s college as an undergraduate and most of our dorms were about as quiet as college dorms get because students generally went out to socialize. The main exception was the unofficial center of the lesbian/bi/queer community.</p>
<p>^OP is also assuming what her preferences will be in two years, starting with her main choice of college.</p>
<p>No dorm is going to be unbearably loud. Smoking is prohibited in dorms (you will not find too many people who will risk smoking in dorms, and even if they do, the most you will get is a slight smell), as is underage consumption of alcohol, though more people drink in dorms than smoke. The chances of your neighbors being up until 4am partying constantly, or even occasionally, are quite low; the dorm horror stories are very rare compared to the usual company.</p>
That depends a lot on your noise tolerance and schedule. I thought of the dorms as pretty quiet when I was staying up until 2am. Once I joined a sports team that had practice at 7am in the morning and tried to go to bed at 10pm, my perception of the noise level changed dramatically. My neighbor watching TV or an informal gathering in the common room was enough to keep me awake; anything louder than that (e.g. an actual party or people yelling in the hallways) got me really upset each and every time. </p>
<p>I eventually opted to live off campus to escape the noise in the dorms, in an apartment building with mostly working adults.</p>
<p>It really varies from dorm to dorm and school to school.</p>
<p>I somehow ended up in a quiet dorm on campus, which I LOVE. But there definitely is drinking here. I can basically ignore it and it doesn’t cause problems.</p>
<p>On the other hand, there are several party dorms at my school which I’ve heard horror stories about. Like in dorm, I heard that the guys will come back drunk and go and bang on girl’s doors if they’re locked until they wake them up, and if the door isn’t locked, they’ll barge in and actually go get in their beds and things and tell them to get up and party with them. o.O</p>
<p>I think smaller halls are less likely to have all the noise and partying scene. I think it’s much easier to get away with in a larger dorm. If you want a dorm that doesn’t have a partying scene, single sex is probably the way to go, because although the opposite gender can come over, they usually can’t stay over. That makes everyone who wants to party in that dorm have to go elsewhere for their parties.</p>