<p>So, I was looking around Tech's site and the different residence halls. West AJ, seems to be my favorite. It has a gym, and its close to the dining areas. I still haven't accepted my Virginia Tech offer, because I am waiting on my financial aid award. However, I was wondering if I will be able to pick my residence hall once I matriculate. Is it a first come, first serve basis, because that might be a reason for me to accept sooner, so that I can get a dorm in West AJ. </p>
<p>If I recall, unless you pick theme housing, you have little control over what dorm you get in freshman year. There are some male-only and female-only dormitories, but they’re about the same quality as most of the other freshman dorms.</p>
<p>The roommate process consists of writing their name and ID number on your application, and them writing your name and ID number on their application.</p>
<p>If possible, would recommend enrolling in the leadership program theme housing, because you end up in Peddrew-Yates, one of the newest and nicest dorms on campus. I’m pretty sure they force you to take a one credit seminar course (like with any other theme housing) but that’s not really a big deal.</p>
<p>Well anyone who has already paid the fee to accept the offer, do you get an option to put down a preferred dorm? What options are you given once you accept the offer and pay the fee is a better question, I guess.</p>
<p>To be honest the dorms are holding me back from accepting my offer. They seemed way too small and very hot which is supposedly a year round trend.</p>
<p>i didn’t like them that much either clfdwlr, but the there’s tons of cheap apartments and housing very close to campus, and the majority of people i know there all choose to rent with friends after freshman year. i’ll just survive two semesters and then find housing haha</p>
<p>WAJ may not even be open by when school starts. They’re renovating it right now. If it is done it’ll be much, much nicer though.</p>
<p>And it isn’t hot year round at all. Once September hits it’s very comfortable, then it gets cold for a while. It gets hot again a little bit in the spring but it’s not that bad.</p>
<p>And yes, do the leadership thing. It’s stupidly easy and you get to live in some of the nicest dorms. Do it.</p>
<p>If you’re not already in honors housing or another theme program, chuy’s right. Go for the nicer housing and you may get something out of the leadership program too.</p>
<p>clfdwlr, With all due respect, the size of the dorm rooms should not be a deciding factor for where you choose to go to college. They aren’t all that bad really as compared to most schools. </p>
<p>As for the heat factor, chuy is right, the only complaints we heard about the heat were at move in time and maybe a couple of weeks into September. In fact it is the other temp extreme- cold and windy- that kind of surprised my son. </p>
<p>With the option of getting a chance at the better dorms as an upperclassman, or moving into an apartment, dorm issues are non-issues imho. Good luck -and I hope you get a BIG room should you go to Tech! :)</p>
<p>WOW, that’s a new one for why “I turned down a college like TECH…the Dorms are too small!”</p>
<p>Well, yes if it is between VCU and Tech, the dorms stink! However, last time I checked employers and grad schools care more about the college status/program than the dorms.</p>
<p>I am sure there are many waitlisted posters who are spitting nails over the fact that people use that reason as a criteria, but I am also sure they are cheering since it means there is a chance that they will get off the list.</p>
<p>Personally IMHO if the dorms are stopping you from making the decision, than it probably isn’t a good fit and you are trying to find an excuse to turn them down. I have 2 college kids and neither ever brought up dorms as a reason to not attend a specific university that they were accepted to, it really is scraping the bottom of the barrel if you use that as an excuse.</p>
<p>OBTW here’s how college dorm life works…one room will be the hang out room, it maybe yours it maybe your neighbors. You hang out there and if it isn’t yours all you will be doing is sleeping in the room. Yes, you even hang in that party room to study as a group.</p>
<p>Hate the size, do lofts it will feel bigger.</p>
<p>does anybody have any info on Harper and Cochrane? besides the leadership theme one, those are the only suites that seem to accept freshmen? is that true?</p>
<p>i hear slusher, west aj, lee, and newman are the ones people wanna go to.</p>
<p>KandK, chuy, bulletandpima, you guys seem to know a lot. are you guys in bburg? wasn’t west AJ where ryan and emily were shot? just wondering. is that also where the WELL-theme housing is? someome told me all this in passing but i haven’t checked online for it. haha. you said they were renovating it?</p>
<p>jazzzzz, lol on me knowing a lot I don’t know squat! </p>
<p>pima and I are parents. Now as for chuy, he is the best! and is a VT student. Great resource for everyone who comes to this board. I hope he is on the 6 yr. plan so we can keep him around! </p>
<p>Correct me if I am wrong chuy, but Cochrane and Harper are hard dorms to get for freshmen. Cochrane is where most of VT’s freshmen athletes are and is for upperclassmen and sophomores who stay on campus. I think there are a handful of freshmen who are in there, but not many. Harper is also a dorm that is mostly reserved for kids who are coming back on campus after freshman year. </p>
<p>FWIW, in my opinion the suite style dorms offer some nice things, i. e. a bathroom that isn’t shared by the hall, but also some not great things: smaller rooms than many of the hall style dorms. My s was in a suite and the suite part of their living area wasn’t used much at all (except for as a dumping ground for trash and junk- but don’t get me started on boys and gross living conditions! He would have gladly traded it for a few more square feet of living space. You will be fine no matter where you live. It won’t matter really; you’ll be in the library studying most of the time anyway, right?! :)) Good luck!</p>
<p>jazz: Slusher is pretty bad, WAJ I have no idea on since they may be renovating it, and I never lived or spent time in the other two. I think that the only way for a freshman to get a suite is to be in the leadership thing or have bad enough allergies that their doctor writes them a notes saying they have to live in air conditioning. Yes, that’s where they were shot but that room is now storage or something, and yes that’s where WELL is but WELL is pretty pointless. They’re redoing East AJ as we speak (have been since the summer) so it should be re-open by the fall. I’ve heard they’re renovating WAJ but who knows.</p>
<p>And thank you K&K, but they’re getting rid of me about a month from now, haha. I’ll still be in the area for a year before I head up to Vancouver, but I’ll still check here every once and a while.</p>
<p>No clue on Cochrane and Harper, except Cochrane is where the athletes live since it’s close to the practice fields so yeah, it’s probably tough for freshman to get in to.</p>
<p>I never lived in the suites but I spent a lot of time in them and I really liked them. I guess if you don’t use the communal area much it can get a little cramped, but the people I knew did. They were also girls though, and girls are more likely to be all “whohoo let’s go hang out with roommates.”</p>
haha</p>
I don’t know squat! </p>