Freshmen dorm assignment

Is anyone else’s offspring upset about their dorm assignment? DD got small, old, dingy, unairconditioned room; only thing housing got right was the location (south). Guess she shoulda emphasized other stuff more…

@Itzabouttyme There are a lot of students living in the dorms this year as were last year with the live on requirement, and sophomores got first pick just like your student will get next year (seniority). Many of the the residence halls freshman may have wanted were mostly gone by the time the sophomores were done picking. That’s why they didn’t let freshman pick specific residence halls on their contracts, they always would be the brand new ones and those just won’t be available. That being said, try to be optimistic about the assignment. Every residence hall has their ups and downs. The new dorms tend to be quiet without a lot of social interaction, while the older ones tend to be known for their great community feel. Which specific hall is it and maybe I could answer any questions you may have about it?

Is there a possibility of requesting a switch from a quad to a double? My daughter and roommate both not 100% on being assigned a quad at Drackett?

My son was in Raney House last year so a 2 year old dorm. The dorm facilities and location were great but he was actually jealous of his friend in Morrill Tower because he thought the social community aspect of Morrill was much better than what he experienced on Raney. So there really are pros and cons to every dorm. @CRVKids I couldn’t find anything on the housing.osu.edu website that spoke to incoming freshman requesting a change of dorm rooms but this form does exit: https://housing.osu.edu/posts/documents/assignment-change-request-web.pdf

You might want to email housing at housing@osu.ed to find out what her options are but it’s possible she may need to stay where she is.

She’s in Paterson; she knows other incoming freshmen that did get Smith-Steeb or newer ones on North, so she is a rather jealous of them. But it is what it is. Apparently they emphasized different things in their housing application such as rate, as opposed to location.

Room change requests can’t be submitted until a few weeks after the semester starts - calling or emailing housing will not get you a better room - it’ll just flood their phone lines and accomplish nothing. The kids assigned to the “desirable” rooms will likely not be giving them up when they’re able to submit room change requests, so barring a huge roommate issue, all that will be available is exactly what you have (and if there is a huge roommate issue, having no AC may be the least of your worries if you do move!).

Try to make the most of the old dingy dorm with no AC and remember your kid isn’t the first to have lived in it. It will only be hot for a few weeks at the beginning of the semester. Find a cool place to hang out, grab some fans, and get ready to have that college experience. I have read about kids hating the dorm they’re assigned to on Reddit, only to request that same dorm the following year because they ended up loving it. I promise it’s not the end of the world!

Also, I just saw on Facebook that there’s a Bradley-Paterson page for students. Hopefully your DD can join there and get excited. Someone mentioned that their child was excited about it because of the council. The page also apparently has pictures of the rooms!

I got assigned to a double in Park-Stradley. My first priority in my contract was housing rate, whichever I picked housing rate 1. Then next was my roommate, and then area of campus. But I also submitted my contract early in march so that may have given me better chances.

I got into Jones Tower any info on what it is like would be greatly appreciated.

@CRVKids All spaces on campus are full at this point, so there are no open rooms to switch to. 2-3 weeks into the semester there will be a room change request form if your student really feels strongly about moving but moving with a roommate as well will be difficult. 2 empty spots are harder to find than one.

The biggest factor in where students were placed was likely how early they turned in their contract more than anything else. Housing went in order of who turned it in and gave the student as many of their preferences as they could if they were available. If your student didn’t get exactly what they picked, that was not available once their contract came around. Every dorm on campus has its perks and I promise no matter where you are it will be okay and it’s definitely not the end of the world. Even the new dorms have their downfalls. Good luck on the new school year!!

@Nerd1999 What information were you looking for?

@osustudent136 could you tell me what park-stradley is like? It says I am in the Stradley part, which building side is it on in the pictures, left or right? I tried to look online for pictures of the actual dorm but every time I did it would show pictures of smith-Steeb dorms. Are they exactly alike? My last question is what advice do you have on storage. I know there is limited amount of space, but I noticed the room only comes with a super small closet. I need a drawer set but I’m afraid it might be too big.

@osustudent136 Anything about the dorm that you know, how are the rooms (show signs of age or are well maintained), is there common space on each floor, laundry location, water issues (hot or cold, good or bad pressure) Heat AC any issues.

@erinivey13 Park-Stradley and Smith-Steeb are basically carbon copies, any pictures of Smith-Steeb are essentially pictures of Park-Stradley as well

@erinivey13 If your bed is junior lofted or full lofted you can buy a drawer cart to put under it for additional storage. My son’s bed was junior lofted in a different dorm and this worked well as underbed storage.

https://www.target.com/p/iris-3-drawer-rolling-storage-cart—white/-/A-51029288

@Marakov29 do you know if the beds are all fully lofted when you arrive on move in day?

@adlgel thank you!

@erinivey13 I actually lived in park stradley my first year so I know a lot about it. I loved it, it’s a perfect first year dorm. The stradley side will be the side facing smith steeb/high street. I did have my bed lofted so the way up so I had my desk under the bed and plenty of space then. It was nice to not feel so crowded. I had a cube organizer that I also put under the bed. The closets are really a decent size, I had plenty of room for what I needed. Also a full length mirror is included in park stradley so you don’t have to bring one! Let me know if you have any other questions!

@Nerd1999 have you checked out the 360 renderings on the housing website? They are new this year and let you basically walk through virtually and explore the space. That should give you a good idea of the room. It’s not the oldest and not the newest, most people like it but it’s also mostly singles so it’s less social than say park stradley or a dorm with all doubles. The water should be fine unless there is a specific problem with one shower or something which you can then just put in a service request for. But definitely check out the housing website they have a lot of great information! housing.osu.edu

@osustudent136 awesome! I’m on the fourth floor room 461. Do you know if I would have a good view from there? Also I want to bring a bike but idk where to store it in the winter months. My classes are far away from each other and I have 15 minutes to get to them. Also do you think my floor will be all freshmen or a mixture?

@erinivey13 From that side you’ll have a view of smith-steeb and the green space in between the two buildings. But walk to either end of the hallway and you’ll have good views from there as well. A lot of people brought bikes and just kept them outside. Or, if you know a friend in bradley-patterson for example they have indoor bike racks, but that’s if you just want to store it, not use it. I think it will be a mixture but it just depends on your floor, and being in a learning community or not makes a difference too. A lot of sophomores picked park-strad for the upcoming year but there has always been a pretty decent mix.