We were not expecting this, but my son was assigned a single for his freshman dorm. It seems like there were a lot of freshmen assigned singles. Is this a new thing? He is not happy about it at all, but we are trying to reassure him that it will be OK, many people do not really hang out with their roommates, and make friends with different people, and this way he avoids any drama. I guess we were just really surprised there are so many singles available. He is in the new Pyon Chen dorm where we can now see after viewing the dorm layout, there are a lot of singles clustered together on each floor. That wouldn’t be so bad, but he got one that is not near any other singles, it is at the end of the hall near all doubles. He is a pretty social kid, but I hope this does not start his college years on a sour note.
He’ll get out, meet the neighbors, and be fine.
In some ways, it’s easier - easier to study, to organize, to walk in late, etc. And still have everyone near by.
Same happened to my daughter, although we did find out that her whole floor was singles. At first, she was bummed, but now she’s decided it’s the best of both worlds. She met a bunch of girls at orientation and you just know one will have a roommate issue. If she still really wants a double, I’m sure she would be able to do a switch as there are always people that want singles. Look at the positives of a single, keep your door open and partake in all the floor activities the first few weeks. Tell him to make sure he peeks into any open doors to introduce himself and let the residents know that he’s in the single (next door, down the hall, etc).
If there are communal bathrooms and lounge areas on the floor I expect he will be fine. He may have to make a bit of an effort to start but once he finds friends he will likely come to appreciate having a single.
2 of mine had singles (requested them for freshman year) for all 4 years (in apartments junior and senior year). Both did pre-orientation courses/programs and met many people, a few who became part of their core friend group. Never had to deal with roommate issues which they appreciated even more as they watched friends deal with them.
Years ago, my D and her friends went room to room in their dorm introducing themselves on the evening of move-in. Almost all the rooms were doubles. Still, it was a good way to meet others, and make a few new friends. Just a thought
He’s beginning to see the upside of a single. I was just surprised there are so many singles available to freshmen. I thought there was a housing shortage at UMD and the singles would be reserved for upperclassmen, but that does not seem to be the case. When he got his assignment we were able to look at the dorm layout better, and it looks like every floor of Pyon Chen and Johnson Whittle have a block of singles, at least 10, which seems excessive to me when freshmen typically want to have a roommate. Of course his single is not even near the block of singles, so he isn’t even around others in singles, his is at the end of a hall around all doubles, so he will have to work harder to initially meet people, but I think he will be OK.