<p>hey guys...I have a question. Earlier today I was checking my e-mail and saw that the bursar's office sent me an e-mail about paying for tuition and room and board and all that other crap and so I went to see what it all totalled up to. Upon investigation I noticed that I was being charged $2975 for the first semester for housing on east campus. Out of curiosity I checked the room rates for next year and discovered that the price of a double A/C room is $5950...exactly double of what I am being charged for the first semester. Now, I don't want to read into this too much, but...do you guys think that I'm getting an A/C room? or should I not assume this and forget about it?</p>
<p>Our family used this technique last year to successfully discern my little brother's housing assignment.</p>
<p>Heh, oh yeah, I forgot about doing that last year.</p>
<p>Yep, that was how we all narrowed down which dorms we could possibly be living in.</p>
<p>thanks guys...I guess that narrows it down to three possible dorms. Are the AC rooms really as small as I've heard?</p>
<p>Bell tower probably shouldn't be that small.</p>
<p>Yea, Belltower is nice. I wouldn't say the A/C dorms are that much smaller than any of the other dorms. I don't particularly like them though, I always thought they were too sterile looking (white cement walls). I like the character of the main quad dorms and the quirkiness of my good ol' G-A.</p>
<p>I'm sure that all of the dorms will be whatever we make of them. From what I hear the school does a nice job a planning the first few weeks to create some dorm spirit and some of the dorms one might least likely to be thrilled about living in become filled with students who swear loyalty to them forever....sterile white walls or not.</p>
<p>That's very true. Even though our dorm wasn't the nicest, I would say almost everyone loved living there.</p>
<p>well if its worth anything my housing costs are marked at 2475.00... so it seems as if that would be non-AC by your logic... either way... its not like they just gave everyone one price. So your guess seems pretty likely. Being non-AC doesn't narrow it down as much... just lets me know I need a fan.</p>
<p>Yup, you can tell that way -- that's how I knew that I was in an A/C dorm last summer before I got the actual assignment. I'm a Blackwellian so, obviously, I have the typical ultimate dorm loyalty (I already miss our little room!!). Don't worry -- you'll wind up loving your dorm, no matter where you are. Another person's small and sterile was my cute and cozy. If you want pictures, PM me - I can send over a couple so you can get an idea of what your future room size may be. You have a 66% chance of getting a room that looks identical to mine.</p>
<p>looks like I'm bringing a fan.</p>
<p>bring three.</p>
<p>okay...I've run into a small problem. I told my parents about getting an AC room and they absolutely freaked out and said that they would not pay the extra cost. I e-mailed housing about this awhile back and they said that the fin aid department will give me more money to cover the cost of an AC room, but it's not guaranteed. Is the fin aid department usually good with dealing with these issues (especially if you are already being given a lot of aid)? and if not, is it hard to get a dorm change?</p>
<p>Odd...turns out I'll probably have air conditioning in my room o_O.</p>
<p>I actually emailed and requested not to have any beforehand, cause I'm going to Duke with some serious financial aid (I'm a poor fella) and can't really afford the extra cost. Erm...it's not so much of a big deal now cause I won a small local scholarship to cover it...but still...odd how they still put me in one.</p>
<p>My theory: They put all us poor kids in the air conditioned rooms because of all the hardships we've overcome. Spoiled rich kids get the other non-AC rooms cause they've been pampered all their lives.
Yea...thats right haha.</p>
<p>haha...that's funny. I e-mailed housing a while ago too telling them not to put me in an AC dorm b/c I'm poor lol. Now if they pay for it I'm okay with it...but if not, I'm in for some trouble.</p>
<p>Email the your financial aid person (it's listed on the top of your finaid award package). I had a lot of correspondence with my advisor last year about little things (basically because my dad would freak out about really small details), and she was very responsive. I do seem to remember other people having that problem last year... I think one guy wrote an entire post in capital letters because he was given an AC room and didn't want to have to pay extra money, and that he would have to go somewhere else now, etc. It might be in the 2009 archives.</p>
<p>I just e-mailed the main department, b/c as of right now I don't have an advisor b/c Mrs. Whittset quit.</p>
<p>Did either of you sign up for FOCUS? FOCUS dorm assignments overrule everything else - roommate requests, non-A/C requests, etc. If your FOCUS is being housed in Blackwell, Randolph, or Bell Tower, you're gonna be living there no matter what.</p>
<p>Is it possible that some with double-AC room prices are also being placed in a non-AC dorm but are paying the same $500 for AC-installation? My roomate wrote a letter about her allergies/that she needed AC, so I'm wondering if I might just be sharing the pay for installation in a non AC dorm. Or, if she was the one who wrote the letter, would she be paying the full installation price?</p>
<p>I don't think there's an installation price, you're just charged for the AC rate for the room.</p>