Hey Everyone!
I recently learned that I’ve been accepted into the Carlson School of Management at the uofm and I really could use some advice on the dorm situation. What dorm would you suggest for a freshman student that is a little bit on the quieter side? Also, if you had to do it over again, would you commute instead of living on campus? I currently live about 40 mins away (20 min car other 20 min bus) and I’m wondering if the dorm with its pros and cons outweigh the lower cost of commuting.
Also, I would greatly appreciate any other tips you think I should know about the uofm or carlson!
Thanks in advance for your responses!!
Well, Middlebrook is on the west bank near Carlson and houses the honors LLC so I suspect that is probably a bit quieter than the super block dorms and probably attractive to Carlson students. Hopefully someone will weigh in with more specific dorm info.
So you would have a 40 minute commute one way? 1 hr 20 round trip? Does that take in to account rush hour traffic at times, etc? I think that is a dorm worthy distance myself at least for freshman year if you can afford it. However, it would require extra student loans, I might not. My kid lives WAY closer and would dorm at least freshman year if he chooses the U. Statistically students on campus are more successful than commuting students. You might want to do the math on gas, transit, parking, meals on the road, etc to see what makes the most sense. Commuting isn’t necessarily cheap either. It really doesn’t make sense to have a car at the U of MN.
Congratulations on your acceptance to Carlson!
I’m a first-year commuter student in CLA, and I enjoy it for the most part. If I could afford it I definitely would stay on campus, but I just couldn’t rationalize taking on $10,000 extra a year in debt just to live a half hour away from home. It is more difficult to make friends, and you will have to make an effort if this is something that’s important to you.
I take academics pretty seriously, so the major upside for me is being able to focus on schoolwork at home with minimal distractions.
It really just depends on your financial situation and what you want to get out of college. Your decision isn’t permanent, you can always choose to move back home or decide to live on campus.
Congratulations!
Unless it is a financial matter, I wouldn’t commute. My husband went to college as a commuter and never really got attached to the school or the students (not UMTC, but point still holds). He just wasn’t around for impromptu gatherings, study sessions or fun. That is a lot of time just plain lost every day.
Of course, if it is a matter of money, don’t listen to me.
@baileyng01 - should you opt for the res. halls, there are two options that come to mind: Middlebrook, as mentioned, which has a quieter reputation than some of the other dorms, and the Carlson House LLC in Territorial: https://housing.umn.edu/llcs/carlson