<p>@Sanity1, no AC units… buildings can not handle the load on the electricity. My Niece was in Dickinson C 4th floor last year… it got very warm but they managed. So glad your D is excited about her room mate. 
</p>
<p>Freshman housing is pretty much terrible across the board, there are a few exceptions, so at least it is shared misery. . Overall UofD housing coupled with the meal plan is a poor value. How can they really say they guarantee housing for a 4 years when they have to put 3 in a tiny room to achieve that claim? The insult to injury is that the half the campus is not handicap accessible.</p>
<p>I understand that freshmen housing, for the most part, is subpar. And I think my D will eventually come to terms with being in a triple and make the best of it. After all, she’s hardly the only one in this situation. But what irks me is the ridiculous amount of money I’m paying them to squeeze her into a room that is barely big enough for even 2 people. I think the “discount” they offer is a joke. </p>
<p>@Jberav right it is a joke. and they will spend alot of time trying to make your child feel good about it… gift baskets and free UoD sweatshirts. And for people to come on this site and make freshman housing out to be a fun part of the college experience, and their spoiled kids need to rough it to learn about life is just laughable. </p>
<p>In the old days, UD would have 20 kids living in a lounge or the Smyth basement along with forced triples.I hope they don’t have to do that. Rodney & Dickinson aren’t the oldest freshmen dorms. Just the worse built.</p>
<p>@lefty1 my D used bed risers and and extended the legs on the bed so she put most of her stuff under the bed. She too had friends visit and used a twin air mattress when they came. Very small space but it worked out. All in all the room is very small but we spent a lot of time the first day getting it all setup so it was cozy and a place she could call her own. </p>
<p>@airborne I hope you aren’t this negative in front of your kids…you set a poor example!</p>
<p>@dogsrthebest, thanks again! My Son mapped out the room size today on the floor of our kitchen and almost died! lol! However my D pointed out she had little more space than that and had to share. My Son seems to have gotten the smallest scenario of singles… (the middle room and almost 2 feet shorter than the ones to his side ) The idea of having his own space is growing on him especially after remembering my D’s nightmare room mate from freshman year… Yes, D picked her but she turned out to not be anything like she presented herself so it was not a good match. One more question about Rodney… I’m guessing my son’s floor is all boys… seems to only have one bathroom. Are all the buildings boy and girl floors or are any of them coed. Son was not overly happy about having no girls on his floor. I told him to use the stairs and meet people! </p>
<p>Later in the day our D moved into Rodney several boys from the floor above came down to her floor and began asking the girls on the floor if they needed any help with their furniture or in setting up their computer connection to UD’s system (What an inventive approach !!). At least one of them actually had some tools (wrenches) with him. So lefty 1 perhaps your S should keep this in mind. Just an idea. </p>
<p>@Mwallenmd lol! great idea… that’s actually something my son would do anyway. Great ice breaker to get to know the others. He does have a travel tool kit I’m sending with him too. D got one as a grad gift and put it to great use the first two years. </p>
<p>@dogsrthebest I am being critical. and UofD deserves to have some critical viewpoints on this forum, since there are so many pushing the UofD marketing line. Maybe if enough people were critical they would stop doing things that they should not. Do you think the freshman who are 3 to a room will have the same freshman college experience as everyone else? Do you think disabled students at UofD have the access to the same experiences? nope. Considering UofD is so proud of being so mulit-cultural in everything you would think they would try and be inclusive with the disabled, instead of creating an environment that underscores their disabilites.</p>
<p>I have a student who will be attending in fall and was assigned to “extended housing triple”. I think it is not right that the school over enrolls and is putting 3 people in a double room and not giving them the adequate storage equipment. This is not an environment, imho, that is conducive to studying. This is not camp, it is college. This should have been communicated outright and it was not. I think it is wrong and students and parents should complain. I have not seen a discount on my bill for this mess.</p>
<p>I would agree that students and their families have a legitimate gripe about being placed in a triple and getting only a relatively small room discount as a result of this and should inform UD of their displeasure about this. As far as being placed in a triple is concerned there really was nothing UD could do about this except for rescinding acceptances already given to students. This situation was not intentional by UD, but rather resulted from the fact that UD had a very unexpected increase (17%) compared to past years in acceptances by OOS students (actually most public universities would be highly envious of this). This has never happened before and one other unfortunate result of this was that no students could be accepted off the waitlist (and I have never heard of this happening before). A poster on another thread had reported that 25% of freshman (I don’t have independent verification of this, but lets assume it is correct) would have to be housed in triples as a result of this. Perhaps UD should have sent an explanation to all students who had to be placed in triples as a result of this situation. On the other hand, there are many universities who routinely place students in triples (or worse, i.e. lounges/basements) on an ongoing basis every year at a rate equal to, or above, the percentage that UD has had to do this year, and don’t advertise this to applicants (and rarely prorate their housing discounts to any significant degree as a result of this). In past years UD has always had a relatively small number of students in triples (probably about 5% average). If UD was just interested in getting as much income as possible then I don’t believe this would have been the case. IMHO I don’t think you will find this same situation reoccurring next year (I realize this does not help students this year but it will show that UD is cognizant of the potential negative effects of this issue (tripling) and will take steps to minimize the potential for it happening again). This is just my perspective based upon my parental interactions with UD since 2006 (Our D graduated in 2010). Is UD perfect-No, but what university is? </p>
<p>They told us at NSO that 25%would be placed in triples. Looks like that was actually a low estimate though.
<a href=“Largest entering class means tripling of some residence hall rooms”>http://www.udel.edu/udaily/2015/jul/extendedhousing072114.html</a></p>
<p>UofD controls how many students they enroll. They also set the parameters of freshman housing. There are probably better dorms on campus that could house triples more comfortable than the dorms they deem as “freshman”.</p>
<p>This is not a new problem. They keep telling freshman that in 2 years there will be all new housing. They build new housing, but they seem more motivated to improve special interest housing than they do providing beds for everyone. How many students might have picked a different school if they knew they were going to be put in triples? I wish they put the same effort into making the campus and housing disabled friendly as they do making the honors housing a dream community. </p>
<p>Personally I have a bigger issue with the older housing not being handicap accessible than whether they have air conditioning. </p>
<p>I 100% agree that there are better dorms on campus to accommodate triples than many of the dorms deemed for freshmen. Cramming 3 people into Rodney, Dickinson, and Russell is ridiculous. Another thing is, UD says most are offered the option to “detriple” before the end of fall semester. But 30% of the 4200 students enrolled means 1260 students are in triples. So that’s 420 tripled rooms. Which means there would need to be 420 vacancies. Isn’t 420 a lot to expect to drop out before the first semester is even done? My biggest concern is my D’s ability to do well academically living in such close quarters. On the bright side, maybe this means she’ll want to come home on weekends more often lol. </p>
<p>I don’t think they expect that many people to drop, though I am sure there is a certain percentage. A certain percentage make other housing arrangements. I think you can buy your way out of “freshman” dorms as well, though again I think it comes down to availability and people in all years reshuffling housing after the fall semester. It is a shame that UofD does not contract with Lang so that students could use financial aid to move off-campus, though I wonder if that is not allowed under the aid rules. </p>
<p>Unfortunately (to address the tripling issue) UD has one of the best freshman retention rates in the country with a rate of around 92%. Students will be leaving throughout both semesters and after the first and second semesters have been completed. So my guess would be that it is highly unlikely that all students in triple rooms will be able to move out of a triple by the end of the first semester. </p>
<p>The reality of the situation is that dorm rooms (whether single, double, or triple) are often not the most ideal settings for studying. Too many actual distractions or potential distractions. While we as parents would like to think that students return from dinner and go to their dorm rooms to study for the rest of the night, this really would be an outlier situation. So students may need to be resourceful in locating alternative environments. All the freshman dorms have quiet/study areas for this purpose. The library is not that far away and is a great place to go to study (and there is a small café there for refreshments). Our D (Nursing major) spent most of her study time there and also studying at a number of the café/food places on Main Street. All the restaurants have Wi-Fi capability. I would venture to guess that most students spend more time doing effective studying in these alternative settings.</p>
<p>Jberav: I would not count on your D deciding to come home more frequently because of the tripling situation. Most parents find that once students adapt/adjust to being at UD, have formulated their social network settings, that is sometimes very difficult to even coax them to return home to visit (obviously this is highly variable by student).</p>
<p>Just trying to provide some helpful advice for new freshman students. Good luck to everyone. </p>
<p>Our daughter had a similar experience her freshman year. She lives off campus now but is also paying UD. Housing because they won’t let her out of her contract. My daughter has been 5th out 45 kids that have asked to get out of their housing contract. UD keeps telling us she is 5th on the list. UD will not let her out of her contract while there is a record number of forced triples. So there is an appeal process. The number of kids asking out of contract has not changed. Apparently the process isn’t working or the criteria is unreasonable and favors UD financially over the customer. An appeal process is to manage exception cases of which some are valid in reality, but invalid in technicality. The process isn’t working in a fair, reasonable, and borderline ethical manner.</p>
<p>My daughter is not using her dorm room in Christiana Towers this 2014-2015 school year. Christiana towers are located directly next to George Reed.</p>
<p>Housing rules prevent her from dealing directly with other students regarding their housing contract so I suggest you contact housing directly using the following information:</p>
<p>UD Housing (302) 831-4663
Housing Director email - <a href=“mailto:kkerr@udel.edu”>kkerr@udel.edu</a></p>
<p>Good Luck</p>
<p>@mrm001, I’m just being nosey so don’t feel you have to respond. Did your daughter originally sign up for student housing and then change her mind? I don’t understand the requirement of paying for on campus housing this year? My D moved off campus but she decided last September so we never signed anything with the school. </p>
<p>I’m sure there are many freshmen that would love to be out of their triples especially with the heat the last few weeks. I think the biggest difficulty with moving to the Towers for a freshmen is they would be so far in the minority that it would likely make it a more difficult situation to endure than being in a triple. There would be little way to make other freshmen friends let alone upper class friends other than your suite mates. The towers are a pretty closed door type complex, you kind of move in with your friends and that’s it. I think my D casually met two other girls on her floor the whole year and that was just to say “hi” in the halls. She moved in with 4 rooms of 4 so she had a good social life with those she knew already. As cramped and hot as the triples are now at least all the freshmen are together and in a community they can create life long friendships in. One of my friend’s daughters went to Towson a few years back, she was placed in a triple in a non freshmen building. It was a disaster and she transferred after the first semester, she never felt a part of things at the school. Is the entire suite open or just your D’s bed? </p>
<p>I understand your frustration for paying for a product you are using and I hope an upper class men steps up and wants the bed soon. I’m thinking worst case scenario perhaps in the spring when the transfers come in someone may be able to use it. good luck to you and I will be keeping my fingers crossed for you that someone needs that room soon! </p>
<p>Lefty1, here’s what happened in brief.</p>
<p>First semester - My daughter freshman year was in a forced triple. The other roommates moved in before she did so she was left with the upper bunk and the window sill for some shelf space.</p>
<p>Second semester - she luckily got out of the forced triple but ended up being friends with some girls that were the target of harassment from other girls in the dorm. This harassment got to the point where two restraining orders were executed, multiple arrests, an off campus threat with weapons, leading to charges filed and one of the girls being suspended for the semester. My daughter was terrified and she failed that semester. She has since expunged her grades for that semester meaning her overall GPA will not suffer but it’s ~$20,000 wasted without the college credit. I won’t even get into the mental anguish and medical bills to deal with that experience.</p>
<p>Third and fourth semester - lived in a quad and everything seemed okay. During the fourth semester, one of her roommates would frequently have male guests over. The frequency of visits is enough of a problem but the real issue is that those males were not even students and were random online invites. Isn’t there some sense of fear for your daughter’s safety in that situation? </p>
<p>Fifth semester, she met new friends and they all planned to live off campus and signed a lease. Subsequently two of the other girls changed their mind and wanted out of the lease. Luckily my daughter was able to get out of that lease (unlike the learning institution she has committed her higher education to). In her panic about where she was going to live at that last minute change, she decided on her own to sign up for dorm housing with a specific roommate. A couple of weeks later, she met a nice girl who was rushing the same sorority she was and they found an available off-campus apartment for rent. She signed that lease. She then tried to get out of her housing agreement and that’s where she found out you only have 48 hours to withdraw from the lease, otherwise your stuck. </p>
<p>I also want to say that I feel like those parents that are always complaining and trying to get something for nothing and that has never been me. I am both ashamed and angered at the same time. Because the dorm would not be the best thing for my daughter personally, mentally, and academically, it is not in her best interest for her to live at the dorms. My daughter appealed for medical reasons including a letter from her doctor (established during her third semester) in the Delaware area to corroborate her request for appeal. Denied! So, there’s another ~$10,000 the school has taken from us for my daughters education. Now I learn that someone has moved into her room as of today.</p>
<p>So, sorry for the sob story. The bottom line is I don’t care if a freshman takes her spot or an upperclassman. There are 100 spots available according to housing. Couldn’t housing establish one or two floors of a dorm for freshman only, reduce the amount of forced triples, release some kids from their contract and provide some reasonable concessions for new and existing students? The process definitely favors the university over their students which I feel is wrong, let alone the fact that the people that are impacted are the ones that are paying tens of thousands (if not $100,000+) of dollars.</p>
<p>There are schools out there, primarily in the New England states where a more flexible housing agreement exists. Yes there are penalties for withdrawing (which we would gladly pay), but they are much more flexible in dealing with the diversity of young adults and their higher education needs. These are not chump schools either. UConn, UMass, USC, URI, UNH to name a few.</p>
<p>CAN ANYONE HELP STOP THIS MADNESS??? What a fricken nightmare this has been and the school seems to have a holier than thou, ivory tower mentality. Completely inflexible. What is their mission here?</p>