<p>My D was accepted ED and I see that you can apply for housing beginning March 29th. She is interested in finding a roommate, but was going to wait for the RD results to come out to look for one. Will she be at a disadvantage in the housing "lottery" if she waits to find a RD roommate. Is it first come first served for your requests?</p>
<p>She went through the housing website and looked at all the freshman dorms and likes Donlon...I guess she wants to be social! LOL! Anyway, she liked the idea of the quad room. She didn't see that listed in any of the other dorms. If she selects a quad will that increase her chances of Donlon. Are there other dorms that have quads? She really doesn't want to be in the high-rise, low-rise or Jameson if there is anything that she can do in her selections to help prevent that.</p>
<p>It’s not first-come, first-served, but the survey that she would get is a big part of which building she lands up in. Donlon happens to have almost all doubles with a quad and two singles on each floor (except the first, which just has a quad). It also tends to be one of the more social dorms with typically many activities for its residents.</p>
<p>For freshmen, you don’t get to choose your dorm, unless you want to live in Balch, which is all girls. As for finding a roommate, unless she knows someone who is also going to Cornell, I think she should just go by the “luck of the draw.” There is a questionnaire that attempts to place similar people together.</p>
<p>Thanks for the responses. She knows she can’t pick her dorm, but it looks like only Donlon had quads, so she was thinking that if she put that as her first choice, it might increase her odds of getting that dorm. </p>
<p>If she fills out the questionnaire and then finds a roommate on either the facebook group, ■■■■■■■■ or through friends of friends (she has’t started looking yet, was going to wait until RD results were out), can she then add a roommate if she decides on one?</p>
<p>People keep telling her horror stories of “random” roommate assignments, which is why she is now starting to think of looking around for one, she originally was just going to go with the luck of the draw!</p>
<p>many of my friends’ kids went to other colleges made much to do over “picking” their roommates - and ended up with horro stories. Cornell is pretty random, but it ends up with about the same results, some great, some just ok.</p>
<p>At Cornell, it is the “luck of the draw” for Freshman housing. Most students that pick “quads” do not end up in them, although it may land her in Donlon - the only dorm with quads. It really does not matter that she is ED in terms of housing as it opens up on the same day for everyone. As far as looking for a roommate on Facebook, unless she knows them personally, she really can’t be sure that she will be a match with this person. She will come to realize that it’s up to her to make the very best of wherever she ends up. Just fill out the housing questionnaire as accurately as possible and hope for the best.</p>
<p>My older son graduated from WashU in St. Louis and we’re waiting now for the younger son to hear from, among others, Cornell. I can tell you from first-hand experience that your child should let “luck of the draw” be her roommate experience. From my pov, most of the collegiate experience is the social experience…the fact is that all of the top schools, your child is going to get an excellent education. From a social pov, there is a tremendous benefit to living with and adapting to new people…especially if they come from different backgrounds than your child. When our son was advised who his freshman roommate was at WashU, we couldn’t imagine a person that was from a more different background than our son…yet, the two of them became very, very close and actually roomed together again sophomore year. My parental advice…don’t worry about “picking” roommates!</p>
<p>Does anyone know if singles are that bad (for social life specifically)?
Someone I know applied for a double and ended up getting a single.
That might be too, since I don’t have the best luck either :/</p>
<p>Having a single shouldn’t affect your social life. It seems that in most dorms, people first make friends with their floor. I would also advocate luck of the draw versus trying to choose, unless you personally know the person you want to room with. It’s also important to keep in mind that freshman year probably represents one of the biggest years in your life when you “change” as a person for many people. A lot of freshman will b drinking/partying for the first time and for most, changing their sleeping habits to adjust to their class/study schedule.</p>
<p>Just am FYI - I called the housing department with the same question, “if Donlon is the only dorm with quad rooms, and my D puts in a request for a quad will she end up in Donlon?” The answer - she could be put in a townhouse or a low/high rise. All townhouse rooms are considered quads. The best chance to end up in a dorm and avoid townhouses is to request a double, not a quad.</p>
<p>My older daughter had a single, loved it. She left her door open she wanted to socialize and she studied in her room when she didn’t feel like going to a library. Her two best friends also lived in a single in her dorm, and another good friend from Balch. She didn’t feel by living in a single prevented her from making friends. On the other hand, she really enjoyed her privacy. She was reluctant about getting a single, but was glad to have it later. D2 will be a freshman this fall and she will request for a single.</p>
<p>The best advice is to fill out the housing form accurately. That is really the only chance of getting even remotely close to what she wants. To avoid the townhouse situation, I would probably check “double” as her first choice and “quad” second, with “single” as her last choice. If she answers the questions as if she is “very social” then she will probably end up in Donlon, but remember, she may have a roommate that is up all night. My daughter ended up in the Low Rise building - we were concerned about this but it has worked out far better than we could have imagined. She is in a single in a suite, and she loves it. When she moved in all of the girls felt sorry for her - but every one of them will either be getting a single next year or going greek.</p>
<p>I think the single dorm room option is more expensive. Since we weren’t given any Financial Aid my son will have to stick with a double He will fill in the questionnaire honestly and roll the dice. My daughter met someone at an accepted students weekend the summer before her freshman year and they decided to room together. It didn’t work out so well. She probably would have been better off just being matched by the school.</p>
<p>Singles are worth the money though. I wanted a double, was put in a triple (that became a double) and in retrospect I would have preferred a single this year. The singles don’t make you antisocial but allow much better control over your living situation.</p>
<p>This. Singles are also good if you don’t want to roll the dice with a roommate. But if you want to meet people, you’ll have to make an effort. It’s much easier as a freshman to befriend a wider range of people, especially early in the year.</p>
<p>I just called Cornell housing to ask about the quads. Of course I was given a different answer than Makmom! The lady I spoke with said that Donlon is the only dorm with quads and if it’s put as her first choice that would increase the chances of being placed in Donlon. </p>
<p>The other question I asked was if the application for housing can be changed to add a roommate later if she finds one (assuming my D signs up for housing on 3/29 when it opens), the answer was yes, she can log in and change things around including adding a roommate.</p>
<p>I would still be hesitant to pick “quad” as her first choice based on others that I know that have done that and did, in fact, end up in the townhouses. Again, the way around this would be to answer the questions as if she is very social (perhaps they did not do that), thus increasing her chances for Donlon. Last year a friend of my daughter requested a “quad” and answered the questions as if she was social - and she did, in fact, get Donlon – but in a single (??). My daughter requested a single in a corridor style dorm (co-ed) as her first, second and third choice and ended up in the Low Rise suites! It has turned out fine though. The suite mates have all really bonded and always joke about living there. They just make the best of it! Something to keep in mind when your daughter is looking for roommates is whether they will be pledging a sorority. That has been the only negative to the suites as most of my daughter’s suite mates did pledge and she did not so she does not see them as much as she used to and they will be living at the house as sophomores. Today is the first day of housing sign ups for the West Campus House system and my daughter is “blocking” with 4 others. She has a pretty good time slot (the 3rd one) but there is no guarantee she will get a new dorm (something they all hope they get after living in the Low Rise!)</p>
He will fill in the questionnaire honestly and roll the dice. My daughter met someone at an accepted students weekend the summer before her freshman year and they decided to room together. It didn’t work out so well. She probably would have been better off just being matched by the school.</p>