*Not looking for luxury experience (for example, a LAZY RIVER is not on the list of creature comforts for our daughter https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/09/opinion/trustees-tuition-lazy-rivers.html) - just saying that a triple isn’t optimal. It may keep costs down, but I am concerned about the cost to the student. I saw firsthand the dynamics of a forced triple in my own freshman dorm in the early 80’s - it was not an atmosphere conducive to a student’s overall well-being. *
I assumed you have discussed this with your daughter? While housing options were something we considered at all the schools we looked at together, once she had selected where she was going to attend, I left it up to her to decide which living arrangements she preferred. She actually chose a triple as her first choice, over the conventional double. There were a couple of reasons why she selected that dorm, but one of the reasons was because she actually wanted more than one roommate. The rooms in this dorm have their own bathroom and a large walk in closet. What I didn’t realize was that some of the rooms in this dorm were “flex” rooms - because of their larger size, they were capable of adding a fourth person if necessary. And guess what…we found out that her triple did become a quad. However, the room was actually much larger than the doubles in the other dorms. They had a ton of storage in the closet (she is now in an apartment and says they have way less storage space). She wasn’t crazy about the idea at first, but she loved the dorm and fortunately got along with all three roommates. Her roommate this year is never home (boyfriend) and her other two apartment mates often go in their own bedroom and close the door, so she almost feels like she lives alone sometimes. (BTW, we got a 1/4 reduction in our housing last year).
BTW, my D had never shared a room, though she did share a bathroom with her two brothers and younger sister. I was a little worried how she would deal with it, esp since she is a bit of a slob, but it all worked out and she still did very well academically. That said, it is obviously a personal preference and something that is wise to consider.
Parents 40 years ago were living the American dream in 1,100 ft^2 houses that probably seemed luxurious compared to their parents’ houses (in the Depression or in poor or war torn countries in the case of immigrants) or the Navy ship bunks or Army barracks that some lived in as young adults. Parents today living in 3,000 ft^2 houses may have a different view of those 40 year old dorm rooms.
Our son is an only child and had a single all through boarding school. The Army forced him into a quad his freshman year and also made him shower with 40 other naked boys in a communal setup with no partitions, just showerheads attached to four sides of a big room with a drain. Who’da thunk that would be no big deal to him? Thank heaven we weren’t paying for that!
“poor planning of either how to manage yield or how to expand the college properly if its goal is to admit more students.”
The issue isn’t aways admitting more students; it’s becoming more residential. There’s a lot of data showing that living on campus is good for students in terms of grades, retention, graduating on time, etc. A school where more students become interested in dorm living has strong reasons to accommodate all those students even if it lacks land/funding to build more rooms.
In UCLA’s case, they are redoing the dorms one-by-one, but a complete refresh of a concrete building takes a couple of years. They close a dorm, refresh it, open it a year or two or three later, then close the next worst to refresh that one. Rinse and repeat. Thus, its all in the refurbishment Plan. Over a period of say a decade or two, they’ll have them all refreshed.
UCLA is also planning to build several new dorms over the next few years, so that they can accommodate their increasing enrollment numbers. This will allow them to increase their on-campus housing guarantee for freshmen from three to four years and for transfer students from one to two years. The new housing will then also be used for the Olympic Village when L.A. hosts the Summer Olympics in 2028. I’m attaching an article from the Daily Bruin from last year which shows the proposed sites and number of beds. It looks like many of the new dorms will still have triples, but a couple of them will have apartments for upperclassmen. They are beginning construction this fall at the Lot 15 site and at several other sites.
Good to know @happy1. Actually the NYC potential schools came off her list for other reasons. But knowing that her stipend won’t got as far in NYC as other locations has been a choice factor. And, she is tired of the dorm life, wants to live in an apartment with her boyfriend, that is if they get accepted at schools in the same city. We’re hoping.
My oldest was put in a triple her freshman year in a room that was almost too small for two people. I was most upset about the insulting 500 dollar credit. She survived and is an RA with her own room. My Senior seems very focused on the freshman dorms but I give her this advice… it is one year out of four. Not worth excluding a school when everything else fits.
That may be very limiting, since many mostly-residential colleges (particularly if they are big state universities) do not have enough campus housing for a four year guarantee for all new frosh.
Going back to the OP, I don’t find forced triples “disconcerting” or the “new norm.” I’m wondering how the student feels about this. If it’s a deal breaker for the student, then such dorms shouldn’t be considered. But, I don’t think most students really care that much. The kids I’ve known who have had forced situations tend to take it all in stride because kids are adaptable.
Think of the bright side: less space means less stuff which means you’re not spending as much. What a great excuse! You literally can blame it all on a situation out of your control! “Sorry, sweetie, there’s no reason to purchase that futon because you won’t have enough room for it in your room.” Or, “No, dear, you don’t need another pair of shoes cluttering up your closet.” Think of the eyerolls and sighs you won’t have to endure! (Now how can I get my daughter into a forced quad?)
Even some Ivies don’t guarantee on campus housing all four years. I’m not sure what the big deal is about living in an off campus apartment. On many campuses, “off campus” can be closer to academic buildings than the dorms. If anything it’s another stepping stone to full adulthood.
“I’m not sure what the big deal is about living in an off campus apartment. On many campuses, “off campus” can be closer to academic buildings than the dorms.”
Yes, but it’s more responsibility. I was happy to have a little less responsibility while I was an undergrad.
Personally, I think off campus living helps kids adult. But in today’s helicopter/snowplow parenting environment, this doesn’t fly for many families. In my son’s school, everyone goes off campus after freshman year…and they all seem to survive just fine.
“If forced triples are a deal breaker for your child then don’t apply. Sounds kind of simple to me.”
I agree but this gets back to my point that as long as the college discloses up front that this is the situation or a possibility, then buyer beware. At my son’s college, there were some complaints about housing for incoming freshman because the way the admissions department, the housing department and the website described housing was assigned was not actually the way it was assigned. Nothing fatal, everybody will live but it created unnecessary hard feelings and put students into housing that they didn’t think was a possibility. My kid wasn’t impacted but I understand how the kids who were feel that they were put into housing they weren’t promised and didn’t even know was a possibility.
Triples, quads, heck barracks of 100 are all reasonable options for students who understand this is how housing at the college works. But it’s not reasonable to describe housing as one thing and then surprise students with another after they’ve already committed (and turned down their other offers.)
I think the issue with forced triples is when colleges do not say it is even a possibility. Many kids are surprised to find out since they were honestly expecting a double. However if colleges tell you ahead of time then it is less of an issue. In my daughter’s case we heard them say it was a possibility depending on enrollment and I think I read it online as well. However many people seemed very surprised when the freshman ended up in triples and said they had no idea it was a possibility. I will say that what I was surprised about is that there are no singles even for seniors.
My daughter did not want a triple (extra bunk but no extra desk, bureau or closet). She was lucky in that she had an option. She could pay $400 more for a suite which would guarantee no more than 2 in the bedroom (4 total). She was guaranteed the option for being in the honors program. There were a few living learning communities that may have also guaranteed 2 to a room.
As for of campus there is an apartment building across the street from campus. If you choose it through the campus it costs a lot more. You also have the option to rent directly from the apartment complex which costs less but you need to furnish it and pay utilities. We are taking it one year at a time. The problem with furnishing it is that it will be so much easier to keep the same place meaning you have to pay for summer months as well thus it really isn’t cheaper and you lose the college help with roommate issues etc. There are no other places in walking distance and right now commuter parking is a big issue plus my daughter doesn’t have a car.
