<p>“He also called me more because there was no roommate looking on or listening in. I really liked that!!”</p>
<p>This is really a godsend for them…and parents!</p>
<p>Both D and S were in singles freshman year - both loved it and did not want for social lives. Roommates 2nd year. S did fine…we’ll see about D.</p>
<p>You can be completely socially isolated in a double just as easily as you can in a single if roommates don’t become friends, which happens much more often than rising college freshmen understand-- and then you get to observe roommate’s social life while you are trying to sleep or study or have a friend of your own over. A single gives you the power to control your own environment, which is nothing but a benefit to socializing. All a roommate is guaranteed to give you is another warm body in the room. That doesn’t necessarily do much for you socially. My roommate last year would literally pretend not to hear me when I talked to her, unless she needed something and then we were best friends. I got a single for next year. Nobody needs the stress. There is nothing you can do in a double that you can’t do in a single.</p>
<p>I agree with Emaheevul. There is nothing you can do in a double that you can’t do in a single. But the converse is not true. A single gives you more flexibility.</p>
<p>At my son’s school, I would have gotten him a single freshman year had it been available to freshmen because the cost differential was so small, and they were tripling a number of the doubles. Not touching the singles. My son was initially tripled but the room was changed back to a double when he checked into the school. Yes, it was a big double, but making it into a triple and adding another desk, dresser, wardrobe, for starters, would have really shrunk down the room.</p>
<p>My son was placed in a triple in a double room his first year, which just felt crowded even when no one else was in the room. He took the opportunity to move to another dorm with a sophomore the first week and for the most part, it was almost like being in a single (roommate didn’t talk and played WOW all the time). The first couple of weeks he wasn’t too happy, but he was able to make friends at both his old and new dorm and everything was fine the rest of the year.</p>
<p>One of my daughters had a single freshman year. She has always lived alone, can keep late hours (even though she wakes up early) and has a strong personality-- I just thought it would reduce much conflict in her life. She loved it and made friends just fine.</p>
<p>Thanks very much to everybody for your helpful comments and insights. After a bit of initial surprise and disappointment over not having a roommate, DS now seems quite content with the idea of a single. The knowledge that he’ll have his own space has made him more confident about picking out posters and other items to make the room feel like home. I’ve passed along your terrific suggestions about keeping his door open and a supply of candy to encourage visitors. Also, the realization that he will need to make a conscious effort to reach out to other people on his floor seems to have been a good thing. I think it’s forced him to come up with some strategies for making social contacts. Despite my initial worries, I’m beginning to think that this might be good for getting him to move out of his shell.</p>
<p>My DD was always “the girl with the chocolate”. She also had a tool kit. Both kept folks in her room.</p>
<p>
Thanks, Marian. She’s a Midwestern girl who wants to stay in the Midwest, so Cornell’s beyond her geographical preference. She’s looking at smaller LACs, and we’re finding some have singles available for freshman, some don’t, but the availability seems to become more plentiful for sophs and up. We continue to hope it works out.</p>
<p>I was placed in a single when I was a freshman. In fact, my entire building was composed of singles (I am in Canada, where roommates in college dorms are rare). I’m also an extremely shy person that has difficulty making friends.</p>
<p>Living in a single was actually very good for me. Since my entire building was composed of single rooms, everyone made an extra effort to hang out with others on their floor, and our lounge was always busy with activity. I really treasured being able to go out and socialize at all hours of the day and return to my own personal space at the end of the day. As a lifelong introvert, having my own space to retreat to was extremely important; I think living with a roommate would have been an extremely negative experience.</p>
<p>Although I lived in a single and am very introverted and have trouble making friends, my social life really flourished in university. Despite living in a single dorm, I managed to find a lot of friends that shared my (unusual) interests, and now I’m living off-campus with five very close friends (that I had only met since attending university!). I never would have imagined that I would have so many friends that I would be comfortable living with when I first left for university. So, I think that I made huge leaps and bounds in my social comfort zone… even in a single dorm.</p>
<p>gypsyblue, thank you for sharing your very encouraging success story. I’ll keep my fingers crossed that it goes as well for DS.</p>