I am considering going to the University of Kentucky next year as a freshman. However, I am a little confused on the whole housing situation. I’ve been assigned to Kirwan IV and am not choosing a roommate. Am I randomly assigned one? If yes, do they only room freshman with other freshman? Or is there a possibility they room me with an upperclassman? Is Kirwan IV a freshman dorm building? Or will there also be upperclassman (besides the RA’s) living in Kirwan IV? I am just very lost on the whole roommate and housing situation!
Many upperclass students do not live in the dorms. Some do, but they usually decide not to live in a traditional style dorm. Most likely, you will be assigned to live with another freshman if you decide to attend UKy and live in Kirwan.
If you decide not to choose a roommate, one will be assigned to you. You should contact the housing department to ask specific questions, as they will have the best answers for you. You can choose to utilize tools in which you can have input into roommate selection. My daughter went “random,” and had a fine experience. She was in a suite style dorm, so was not as close as students become when in traditional housing.
Please do not stress or feel lost. Everyone we have asked questions of at UKy has gone above and beyond to answer every single one. This is one of the things that sold us on UKy. You cannot ask for a more helpful or friendly campus. My DD loves it there.
We’ve also had a good experience getting our questions answered. Go Cats!
As NaperMom said, there aren’t a ton of upperclassmen in the dorms. It’s mostly freshmen and sophomores. If you don’t request a specific roommate, one will be randomly assigned to you based on the questions that you answered in your housing survey, and there’s a chance that it could be an upperclassman, though more than likely it will be a freshman. There are no freshman-only dorms on campus to my knowledge.
The dorms in the Kirwan and Blanding complex are the smallest on campus (though still bigger than some of the other dorms I’ve seen at other universities)so you’ll have a different experience than those who live in the suite-style dorms such as the Woodland Glen or Champions Court dorms. But they offer a more traditional-style of housing that is similar to that of other universities. And you’re really close to The Study, which offers free tutoring in a ton of your freshman classes!
@jhannon, my daughter used social media to line up roommates. With some persistence, she wound up getting her roommates in the same suite. The bad news is that 2 of her suite mates turned out to be party animals. The good news is that she’ll be living off campus with the other suite mate. I’d try Facebook and Twitter to sound out potential roommates. But, there still might be disappointment.