<p>Hi everyone. This is my first post after lurking for a couple of weeks and I have already learned so much. I have read past threads about honors housing vs. Regular but just cant make a final decision. I think I am wanting to be convinced it is worth the extra money…not necessarily because they are nicer but because of atmosphere and being with other honors students. Thanks for any input!</p>
<p>It depends. First, if you’ve been reading these posts for a while, you probably already know that a student cannot switch to Honors housing later if they don’t live in it from the beginning. Because the new suite style dorms “North Bluff” will not be Honors, that doesn’t mean you’ll be stuck with an older building if you still want the newest suite style housing. Is your student wanting to live in suite style housing or traditional dorms? The additional cost is associated with suite style dorms, not just Honors. They are really the nicest you will find anywhere, but some students are happy with the traditional dorms. If that is the case, it wouldn’t be worth the additional expense. If he chooses RCS, I do think the north tower is slightly calmer.</p>
<p>The honors dorms are in the north side of campus, which is more quiet. There are some non honors dorms on the the north side that aren’t super suites if you want to save money and be on the north side. </p>
<p>Many kids who will be pledging choose to live on the south side, so if that doesn’t interest you, pick housing on the north side. </p>
<p>Are you the parent or child? What is the student’s interests?</p>
<p>It is my understanding that if you choose a non-honors traditional style dorm for your first year you will not be eligible to move to a suite style dorm even if it is non-honors. Make sure you get your information from Housing as their policy was different that what we were told by the Honors and Scholarship people.</p>
<p>Welcome Lakesmom, I am assuming you are the student’s mom.</p>
<p>In one word “Yes”, honors housing is worth the extra money. One caveat to my reasons is if it is financially not doable. If the money is not there then ignore my own reasons. I do not think it is worth going into extra debt for suite style housing.</p>
<p>My reasons are as follows:
The residence dorms are beautiful.
The suite style setup is one of the best ideas yet, think multi-bedroom apartment.
Each student has his/her own private bedroom with locking door, very private.
Each student only shares a bathroom with one other student.
There are great laundry and cooking facilities.
There is a kitchen and living room.
One residence hall has a pool that honors housing students can use.
Honors housing is only available if you have initially selected honors housing (You can live “suite style” in non honors but then, you cannot choose honors housing later.)
You live with other Honors students (if honors housing).
There is a better chance of remaining on campus in honors housing (if that is what you want).</p>
<p>Lakesmom- my son wil be in honors housing, as it is the same charge as the same suite in non-honors housing. One of the things that did attract us to Alabama was the ability for him to be in a suite with other students, but still have his own room, even as a Freshman. </p>
<p>My son is an only child, has ADD, and has always had his own room. To send him away to school and have him try to adapt to not having private space for studying AND private down time to regroup when needed was a scenerio for failure, IMO. At least for my son and his set of circumstances. </p>
<p>I agree with robotbldmom that finances do play a part in the equation, but for my son’s personal needs, finding the money is very important. So take your child’s needs into account along with the money. </p>
<p>As a side note, I have seen some kids that are really looking forward to having someone in a dorm room with them. They do not like the idea of having their own room. So a suite style dorm may not be their best option for their personal needs! It all depends on the students perspective and lifestyle needs.</p>
<p>Yes, that’s right, I agree that although finances do play a part in room selection…your student comes first and we sacrifice (financially) to give them what they need. I know my son definitely needed his own room as well!</p>
<p>Thanks for the input so far! We are OOS and my DS will be majoring in Civil Engineering. He loves all sports (can’t wait for intramurals), is pretty laid back and gets along with anyone. He is not into drinking or partying, but loves to have fun and is usually the life of the party. I guess my question isn’t so much about which is nicer…we saw Ridgecrest and Burke when we visited in December…but more about the environment and if it is worth the money to be surrounded by other Honor students. I hope this makes sense!</p>
<p>Engineering is a tough major. My guess is that many other serious engineering students that stick it out with the engineering program are going to be in the honors housing. So having him close to those students for studying and networking may be what he wants/ needs. I also think that the honors dorms are much closer to the new engineering building, but not 100% sure on that one. </p>
<p>Your son sounds a lot like mine. He is going to be CS and Math major. Loves to socialize, but very serious about his grades and academics. Doesn’t drink or smoke.</p>
<p>There will be many Honors students that choose NOT to live in Honors housing. It’s not that the only Honors students on campus live in Honors dorms. It’s a concentration of students in one area that are Honors but they live in all sorts of options from Mallet to Tutwiler. Our daughter is living on the south side of campus and her roommate is in the Honors College as well. For personal reasons, she wants the traditional dorm experience. ps She lived in the Super Suites last summer for 5-6 weeks. They are NICE. But it’s something that she doesn’t feel like she has to have to “adjust” to college.</p>
<p>asaunmom- is your daughter planning to rush? </p>
<p>I noticed in the posts that a lot of students that plan to join sororities/fraternities do want the dorms closer to the houses. That may be part of the decision making too.</p>
<p>It has been worth the money for our D.</p>
<p>Yes.
My point was that HC (Honors College) students are all over campus, not only in the Honors Dorms ;)</p>
<p>All of this input is really what I was needing. My son is not planning to rush. We are thinking if he doesn’t end up in Honors Housing, the most important thing is to have a roommate who is also Honors, especially if they are in traditional housing and sharing a room. Also, the idea that he can NEVER go to Honors housing if he doesn’t start there is a concern…</p>
<p>Keep in mind that if he plans to live on campus after his first year and does not have a housing scholarship, he might not get on-campus housing for future years if he does not choose to be part of honors housing or another living learning community.</p>
<p>While finances are playing a big role in my college career, it has been worth the extra money to have honors housing. It is generally a lot quieter even compared to the non-honors suites and one has their own bedroom and a bathroom that they only share with one other person. There are times when, if financially feasible, one should pay the extra money and for me, this is one of them.</p>
<p>Haven’t been able to find the answer to this anywhere - but are there any housekeeping services or do the kids clean the dorm themselves? (Not that this would be a bad thing…)</p>
<p>Kids clean their own rooms…or not. Their are some really nice facility people who keep the common areas clean, but students are expected to maintain their suites and clean up after themselves in the common kitchen area (this doesn’t always happen).:)</p>
<p>What about bathrooms and common living areas?</p>
<p>if the student wants to live on campus all four years, and if being in honors housing allows that to happen, then i think that alone would be worth it.</p>
<p>my daughter wants to live on campus the whole time. if she was not in honors housing, i am not sure this would be possible.</p>
<p>as for paying the extra if that were not the case. i look at it as a perk for her. she did the hard work to get an awesome scholarship that allows us to pay far less than any of her other options. we “reward” her by paying the extra for honors housing. the total still ends up being far less than any of her other options.</p>
<p>Kids in the Super Suites must clean their own bathrooms and living space…custodians don’t go into super suites for…(probably for security/privacy reasons). </p>
<p>If a student isn’t going to rush, then I think he should be on the north side of campus…otherwise he may feel that nearly everyone is going Greek, since those who will be rushing often choose the southside dorms to be near the Greek Houses. </p>
<p>Yes, there are honors kids everywhere…some honors kids go thru rush, so it makes sense that those who will be pledging to be on the southside.</p>
<p>For the first year (at least) I would put my child in the honors dorm. It sounds like your child has the full-tuition plus 2500 per year scholarships. if so, then remaining costs are about $10k. If that’s still too much, then I would have my child work over the summer and take out a student loan…bringing parent cost to below $4k per year.</p>