Hey guys, I’m trying to figure out which dorm I want to stay in freshman year. Does anybody know what the most popular/best placed dorm s are? And is it possible for a freshman to get into Oakland hall? Thanks.
Freshman do not have a choice to make. They are placed, typically in the highrisers in North hill communities. The only way freshman know in advance what dorm they will be in is if they were invited to a learning community. Certain dorms have specific programs assigned to them, so if you are in a particular program u will know in advance u r going to be assigned to that specified dorm. Otherwise, u don’t get a choice…after freshman year u can request dorms.
@maryversity Do you know if a non-honors student can room with someone in an honors dorm? My son is in honors, but his friend who he is considering rooming with is not. I’ve heard that an honors student can choose to live outside the honors dorms, but can it work the other way around?
I don’t know if they are changing things for next year since they are moving to a differentiated rating for fees, but the way it has worked is that the person in honors has to pull in the non-honors (both have to let reslife know that they want to room together). They typically try to honor all roommate requests.
FYI, understand the potential problem is that first priority for honors housing goes to honors students. So, if there is not enough space in that particular dorm for an “extra”(non-honors) student, then they will be given a room elsewhere (meaning the honors person may not be in the same area/dorm as the rest of his/her honors program). Does that happen often? I don’t know. Probably depends on the individual program/popularity of a dorm. For example, cybersecurity is in the new dorm, Prince Frederick, and that’s a dorm current students would request, thus reducing extra space for incoming freshman that hasn’t been “reserved” for honors students.
@maryversity. That makes sense. My concern would also be for the non-honors student feeling uncomfortable if there was some sort of activity/function for the honors student that wouldn’t include the non-honors student.
Also, what is the “differentiated rating” for fees? I haven’t heard about this.
Nicer dorms/apartments = more money than older/traditional style dorm
Assuming they caved to parents whining that their son/daughter doesn’t have as nice a dorm (read old) and has to pay as much as someone that does have a nice dorm (read new/newer).
http://reslife.umd.edu/housing/housingfees/
Incoming freshmen do have a say in where they live. You can email reslife@umd.edu with your name and University ID and top 3 (give or take) dorm preferences. You can request residence halls and/or room type and request a roommate by including their full name and University ID.
The Honors dorms (Prince Frederick, Anne Arundel, etc.) are the best dorms because they have air conditioning, but if you’re not in Honors, it’s very difficult to get any of them as a freshman. Maybe put one of them as your first choice and find a good alternative or find an Honors roommate who can pull you into a dorm with A/C. If you haven’t seen this yet, check it out: http://reslife.umd.edu/hallsatglance/
Personally, I like the South Campus (North Hill) location better than North Campus’. It seems more central (except maybe for sciences), and the dorms themselves are better on South Campus. That’s my take.
-Incoming freshman
No, alplaca, I’m sorry, but I really believe you are mistaken if you think you “have a say” in the sense that a making a request means it will make it happen. You can make a request, of course, but they do not have to honor it because everything depends on availability, and returning students/upperclassmen have already selected. The only guarantee they make to incoming freshman is that they will absolutely have housing if it was requested/committed to in time. And, of course, you now need to consider the differentiated fees in housing and consider how much you are willing to pay.
If there is a space available, by some chance, in the housing you request, then ok. However, I wouldn’t hold my breath if it’s not one of typical/traditional freshman dorms/housing on North Hill. And, if you are making a roommate request as well, then you can forget about housing request because finding one odd bed in the space you request is one thing (and likely means you will be in a room with a returning student, not another incoming freshman).
So, if you want to be smart about it, and have more of a chance to “have a say”/ for your request to be honored, look at the North Hill communities, and make one of those dorms one of your three requests (with sole exception of Oakland, which is typically upperclass housing so that should be viewed in the same light as other long shot requests).
However, for the record, they absolutely do try their best to honor all mutual roommate requests and are pretty reliable about that.
*North campus not North Hill …
@maryversity is correct. Every freshman, sophomore, and junior living on campus has already made, and received, their dorm assignments for next year. Your dorm assignment will be based on whatever LLC you are a member of. Otherwise a dorm will be assigned to you based on when you submitted your housing form (first come. first served), You CAN make a request for a specific dorm, but the odds are not in your favor.
Does anyone know anything about Caroline Hall? I see it’s one of the oldest and least desirable, but unfortunately that’s where I’ll be. Beds must be bunked, so I’m assuming it’s a small room. Does anybody have any info - room dimensions? Will there be 2 desks and 2 dressers in addition to the bunks?
@loygrad - I’m pretty sure there will be 2 desks and 2 dressers
@loygrad, check out the post above from alpaca97. If you follow the link, you will see your dorm, and the typical floor layout.
I did look at that but the typical floor layout shows a room with just 1 closet, so I wondered if it was the size of a single but forced to be a double with the bunks? The typical room layout pictures show single rooms and double rooms with 2 beds on the floor, but no pictures of forced bunk rooms.
@loygrad I think all the closets are like that. When you look at the closet (when it’s opened), it’s divided into two sections - one for your roommate and one for you.
http://reslife.umd.edu/halls/rooms/
See the 2nd picture under Traditional Hall Double to see a better picture of what the closet looks like
You can also click on the Facebook album links to see some sample pictures of the rooms and get a feel for the size of the room (it’s small).