<p>What can anyone tell me about freshmen dorms, is there much room, can you loft, and which is best located?</p>
<p>The dorms are pretty small (compare to the other school I visited).</p>
<p>And I don't think you can get a single person dorm easily</p>
<p>Waveswatcher,</p>
<p>My daughter attends Gettysburg currently. Your freshman dorm placement is determined by the Freshman Seminar class you select. You'll be placed in the same dorm/floor as the other students in your Seminar. This is done intentionally to create a sense of "bonding" with the other kids. This seemed to be very successful, at least for my D, who didn't know a single person at Gettysburg when she started, and her freshman floor mates are still her best friends.</p>
<p>Her freshman room was spacious enough and had a big, walk-in closet. Her current (sophomore) room is pretty big and has tons of built-in storage. She and her roommate have crammed an incredible amount of stuff in there. That being said, my D has been in some other dorm rooms that she considered quite small. Upperclass housing is determined by some kind of lottery system.</p>
<p>And yes, you can loft the beds. Or you can put them on risers which allows you to store a lot stuff under the bed. All dorm rooms also have a combination fridge/microwave which is a great convenience.</p>
<p>My daughter is student at Gettysburg and she was in the worst freshman dorm--the one they show you on the tour and say "These rooms are the worst you could get on campus." Three dorm buildings Stine, Rice and Paul fall into that category; Huber, Patrick and Hanson have bigger rooms and better closet space. You cannot express a preference. There are no questions about roommate compatibility (a mistake if you ask me) and you can pick a first year seminar, but not get anything you wanted. My daughter selected from a laundry list of possibilitites and wound up in a plain old freshman composition class with an adjunct professor. She had a great time last year with her floormates, but honestly it's a crapshoot. They were a hodgepodge of people with different interests who were thrown together and as a result she doesn't have the clique of best friends that some people have. This year is not going well and she's considering transfering. She's had adjuncts, visiting professors and one prof this semester told her class that she wouldn't see them for extra help until they saw her TA. Since that wasn't supposed to be an issue at Gburg (no grad students, no TAs we were told a million times) we were surprised.</p>
<p>The lottery system for upperclass selection is based on grades. The higher your GPA the better your number to pick a room. You can loft the beds...it's almost a necessity in the smaller rooms. The three dorms with the less desireable rooms also have no communal kitchen. Her current dorm room has peeling paint, a broken screen and old light fixture...it's a large room, but it's nothing special.</p>
<p>Oh, and there are no designated singles for freshmen.</p>
<p>hey librarymom123,</p>
<p>sounds like a very disappointing experience. and yes, the tour guide told us "These rooms are the worst you could get on campus." too. </p>
<p>So where is your daughter planning to transfer? I'm still deciding between Richmond and Gettysburg. Thank you very much for giving me all these info.</p>
<p>Hi Smalllab,</p>
<p>D isn't sure what to do. Part of her wants to stay, but I don't like that she is so unhappy.</p>
<p>There are many happy people at GBurg, I'm sure, but my D doesn't fall into that group. The school has been a major disappointment and it all (possibly)could have been avoided if she had been in a seminar with people who thought like her. The school dropped the ball and has treated her like an afterthought from day one.</p>
<p>Now that could have happened anywhere. It could happen to you if you decide on Richmond. If you visit again ask lots of questions at both schools--don't just take the company line as gospel. Also both Gettysburg and Richmond are heavily Greek schools...that does affect the tone of the campus. Keep that in mind.</p>
<p>Good luck with your decision.</p>
<p>smalllab</p>
<p>GO TO RICHMOND! I have visited Gettysburg and I live in Richmond. The Richmond campus is removed enough from the city that it is not a “city” school Also, the campus is even more gorgeous than Gettysburg’s. I live 15 miles from Richmond University and I have not once heard at my school that it has a Greek reputation. Also, Gettysburg is kind of in the middle of no where. Richmond is a short drive to the city with night life and a growing music scene and an hour from Williamsburg, Charlottesville, etc. Sorry to give this information if you are from the area but I thought I should be thorough.</p>
<p>Are room assignments based entirely on freshmen seminar? I thought that there was some sort of questionarre?
librarymom- how are freshmen seminars selected? do some students simply get put into the composition class?</p>
<p>Are the first year seminars optional?</p>
<p>Hi CollegeGrl09,</p>
<p>If I remember the housing questionaire was three questions…maybe? GBurg feels long questionaires set up “unrealistic expectations.” You can’t move your room until two weeks into any given semester, but if you need to it’s not impossible, just a hassle.</p>
<p>As far as the seminar, when it’s time to register in June you will get a list of seminars. There are seminars in every subject and some are really unique. The seminars are taught by FT profs who have a passion for the subject in the seminar. D was hoping for one on Forensics, or another on sports in american society, I think. She followed directions and picked five or six and then when she got her course list for fall discovered she was dropped into a basic freshman English class which was taught by an adjunct. Thus she was placed on a floor with other kids who also did not get a seminar, but were placed in the English class. So to answer your question some students do not get any of their choices and are put into composition. I guess the course could have been good if taught by a member of the English faculty, but it wasn’t. I’ve been disappointed with the number of adjuncts and visiting profs my daughter has had.</p>
<p>You will either take a Freshman seminar or English. All students take one of those two. Good luck.</p>
<p>Collegegrl09,</p>
<p>I hope I wasn’t too negative. The FYSeminar is supposed to be a great experience and my daughter was disappointed she did not get one. I must say this…the full time professors my daughter has had at GBurg have been very good. She has a new professor–first year teaching—who is dynamite, but she is a FT, tenure track professor. She’s not an adjunct and not a visiting. Most of the FT profs eat, sleep and breathe the place and are wonderful to their students. </p>
<p>That said, my daughter keeps pulling the short straw with regard to professorial assignments. The section spilts or the schedule changes and she’s ended up with some winners.</p>
<p>I do think they could place roommates better and the school can be cliquey. Maybe that will change over time.</p>
<p>There are a few singles available to freshmen, they are just difficult to get. I know of a few people who had singles. One kid on my floor requested a single, and wound up getting one. (However, the school did call him about it over the summer because if he were to get the single, he wouldn’t be living with his seminar class, he would be in a completely different dorm. He chose the single & everything worked out fine). </p>
<p>As others have already said, housing for your next 3 years is based on your grades- you are assigned a lottery number based on your gpa. Hope that helps -if anyone has more questions, feel free to ask, I’m currently a sophomore & I love Gettysburg.</p>