<p>What are the dorms like at Rutgers? Do you have to room in certain dorms if you are majoring in engineering? Also how many people live in each dorm room? And can you have your car on campus if you are a freshman?</p>
<p>If you want a broad overview of housing options, check out the Rutgers Housing website. I’ll stick to just dorms for now.</p>
<p>So dorms are the traditional college housing where you live in a room with one roommate (called a double room) and you share a bathroom with all the people on your floor. Single rooms are very uncommon and not offered to freshmen. Most dorms have coed floors, some are specialized single sex dorms. For example, the Douglass Residential College for women has some buildings that are all female as well as one floor in Barr Hall for female engineers in the DRC program. Mattia Hall is an all male dorm for engineers. Some dorms such as the BAMM dorms on Busch Campus are air-cooled, meaning that they have air conditioning from September to mid October and then again in May. Most do not have AC, so a fan is essential. As an engineer, you are not required to live in a specific dorm, although Barr and Mattia are designated as all engineering dorms and I really recommend that you try to live there if you choose engineering. Otherwise, most freshman are assigned to dorms on Livingston (the Towers or the Quads). There are also dorms on College Ave and Cook/Douglas.</p>
<p>Dorm life is fairly exciting. In general, people tend to keep their doors open, especially in the first weeks of school, and students are always looking to do something. The “feel” of the dorm can vary from year to year based on the personalities of the people living there, but I would say most people are open to meeting new people. Dorms can get loud, so sometimes you will need to study outside of your own room. I personally was able to study in my own room practically all the time (I lived in Barr Hall when I was a freshman), but noise levels can vary from dorm to dorm. The dorms also have lounges and study rooms where you can meet with people to do homework or whatever. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed my dorm experience. I met many friends who I still have today, I was able to get help from people in my classes since I was living in an all-engineer dorm, and I got to experience a wide range of cultural backgrounds and interests.</p>
<p>Yes, you can have a car on campus as a freshman. You have to obtain a resident parking permit for $210, which gives you the ability to park in certain lots near your dorm. Note that you will not be able to use your car to get to and from classes as you can only park in the specific lot near your dorm. If your classes are on multiple campuses (which they will be at some point), you will have to use the university bus system, which is relatively good outside of rush hour traffic in New Brunswick.</p>
<p>No you do not have to live in a specific place based on major. You might just find that coincidentally some people do because many times most classes for any given subject are all held on the same campus and people just find it easier to live close to class. I imagine people also want to be around other students who share the same major. Dont worry though- live wherever you want. Most kids indeed do not choose housing just based on major.</p>
<p>The RU website can be a little misleading in the sense that of course it will glorify everything. Even residence halls that are not glorified on the website will not contain little negative details that may be important for you as a student to know. If you want a real honest opinion you should ask a student. I’d be happy to answer any specific questions for you.</p>