It seems like apartment-suite style dorms make it difficult for freshmen to socially settle into college. Is this dorm design really better than the now old-fashioned hall with double-occupany dorm rooms with a single communal bathroom for the hall (and, if lucky, a little communal kichenette somewhere in the dorm), plus one dining hall for all? Maybe I’m not considering all the pros and cons of the suites for freshmen. Thoughts?
I agree with you, although I don’t think that having people in double-occupancy rooms is necessary. An old-style hall dorm with singles would work just as well.
Apartment-style dorms are wonderful for upperclassmen, but freshman in traditional dorms have more opportunities to meet people.
You could argue that it’s MORE conducive to socially setting into college. Suites allow students to socialize with suite mates rather than escaping the claustrophobia of a single by studying/hanging out elsewhere, and therefore also escaping the roommate. And BTW, that single bathroom for the hall - gross. Today’s suites are way an improvement in the bathroom dept.
My daughter is a sophomore at a large university and says that she is SO glad she lived in a tradition dorm situation. as a freshman. She felt that she knew everyone on her floor, but met people last year in suite style housing that barely met anyone outside of their suite.
I completely agree with you. I lived in a traditional dorm freshman year and then stupidly sophomore year moved to a suite style dorm where I didn’t know anyone. My suitemates ignored me as the third wheel. (I replaced someone who had anorexia and was taking the year off.) Making friends was really, really difficult. With rooms on halls, people hung out in the lounges, people would walk down the hall saying they were going out for pizza or ice cream or to the local bar, and did anyone want to come. I never minded the bathrooms. At least they got cleaned regularly. I agree rooms off the hall are what is critical, not whether they are singles or doubles.
I agree that the traditional freshman dorm with hall bathrooms are most social and therefore best for freshmen. People tend to leave their doors open in these set-ups and the initial easy to find social group typically consists of all the people on the hall rather than the few people in the suite. In addition hall bathrooms are cleaned by the school where suite bathrooms are usually cleaned by the occupants giving suite-members one more thing to think about/argue about.
Agree - DS is in an old school dorm and seems to love it
My two younger sons are in suite style and I do agree that socially they don’t have the opportunities that students in traditional dorm rooms have. However, the upside is they have their “own” room to get away and study. I know for my middle child (who by the way always shared a room) really needed his own space. But for my younger son, a traditional dorm room probably would have been better, socially and for a cleaner bathroom. My husband said last year when moving him out it was gross! (I thought I taught him better than that but…)
One daughter was in a suite style, but the entire ‘village’ was freshmen so there was a lot of interaction. She knew all the boys on her floor (doors opened to outside, like a motel, with 4 suites on each landing). She liked having her own room. This year she’s also in suite style, but doors open to an interior hallway. I don’t think she cares who lives near her.
Other daughter lived in a traditional dorm and I don’t think she knew anyone on her hallway except her roommate. It was an international hallway (just luck of the draw, she didn’t request it) and she didn’t have anything in common with the others, except her roommate. It was fine. She knew a lot of others in her dorm, others in other dorms, ate at her sorority house, has plenty of friends.
Personally, as a freshman I lived in a suite style dorm, though I did have friends who lived in the more traditional double occupancy style (and I have lived in that style before, too, at one point). At my school, there were floors of suites dedicated solely to freshman, and the Residential Assistants and Building Coordinators hosted freshmen-only events frequently for the freshmen. So, there was a great sense of community in the suite-styles. Also, I found the suites great freshman year because I had 3 other people, not just 1, to interact with throughout the year. If one was a dud, I could spend more time with the others, for instance. I also think it is important to note that for me, I met most people (especially long-term friends) when I was out of my building. If I saw people in several of my classes, we got to be good friends. When I joined various clubs/organizations, I made some incredible friends. When I started random conversations with strangers, I made some friends. There are many ways to be social even outside of the dorms, and for me, these experiences were much more important.
All of this aside, here are some basic pros/cons of living in the suites:
+More people to socialize with in your room
+If there are interpersonal conflicts, other roommates can provide perspective
+More resources to share (appliances, knowledge about how things work at the school, etc.)
+3 instant friends instead of 1!
+Can meet all of the friends of your roommates (more people)
+Do not have to study/sleep/eat in one room (typically a common room) with is a life saver for roommates with conflicting work and class schedules (trust me on this one)
+For those with social anxiety/bullying experiences that were traumatic, the privacy of the suite bathroom is better
-4 people getting ready at the same time in one bathroom can be a struggle
-Not the traditional experience
-May not have to work through as many interpersonal conflicts (good or bad…can be less of a learning experience)
-Probably won’t get really close to just ONE person/a bff
-Possibly a less freshman-centered experience (but, does depend on school and building student is in)
-Sometimes double occupancy rooms are bigger than the suite rooms because there is not a separate common room to consider
-If there is a problem with the bathroom, students will have to put in a work order to get it fixed themselves; it won’t happen magically
A co-worker said his kid reported that freshmen seemed overwhelmed with new-found freedom in a dorm of apartment-style suites (these included a full kitchen in each suite), and it led to a lot more substance abuse because rooms were not as “open” as the hall-style dorms. FWIW. YMMV of course. So many variables. Maybe “fit” is key with dorms too. I think my D16 might do well on the hall dorm.
Perhaps each floor of an old-style dorm can be thought of as a 20+ person suite…
Think some of it depends on the school and how much effort they put into room mate matching and socialization in suites/building. Daughter is in apartment style suite and now has 8 best friends who go off and do things all the time as a big group, plus has group functions by floor and entire building, like gathering to watch lunar eclipse, have a special dessert night each week for all in the building, competitions for this or that, etc. Most people leave their common room doors open to hall and it is really social. But the school does an excellent job matching by room mate and by residential lifestyles/themes you select when you sign up for housing. For her, suite style is the best - they all watch movies together in the common living area on the weekends - the smell of popcorn lures others in. Absolutely loves it and has made tons of friends in and outside her suite. I like that their living room gives them a place to gather so they don’t have to go hang out somewhere else to be together as a large group. And no big gross bathroom with slimy floors 
Both styles have their pluses, in the end, how well it works out can be more about fit than room type - fit with the room mate, the floor, the dorm, the school.
My daughter was in a suite style apartment of 9. Three double rooms and one triple. Two bathrooms cleaned by the university. One common kitchenette area and one living room area. They all got along great and all but two are sharing an apartment off campus this year. I think it worked pretty well for them but I agree a traditional dorm hall would have made it easier to meet more people.
DD was in a suite her frosh yr. She said that she would recommend a dorm for frosh. Dorms are less “comfortable” but dorms make it easier to meet people.
I think there are pros and cons for both.
With so many valuable electronics, it can be nice for a student to be able to lock his private room and not worry that a roomie or roomie’s friend might swipe something.
There’s no fear of being sexiled.
But…I think instead of 4 bedroom suites, maybe a better solution is what my brother had…they were 10 bedroom suites that shared a living room/kitchenette and a common bath area. And each student also had a mini fridge.
With the above, you kind of get the best of both worlds…an opportunity to socialize with 9 other people, but still have the security of a private bedroom.
I am grateful that my university had a wide variety of student housing for everyone - freshmen through seniors. There were apartment high-rise housing, 4-bedroom suites (all singles), traditional dorms (with a. variety of room configurations - singles, one room doubles, two-room doubles, three-room triples). That was the one thing that bothered me when I looked at colleges with D - many colleges just had one style of dorm housing for freshmen - the two person double. The bathroom set up may differ with either the traditional hallway bath or a bath shared with another two person double. It seems crazy to expect everyone, or even a majority, would prefer one specific style.
I was a transfer student and wound up in the ugly dorm with tiny rooms. No choice of roommate, bathroom down the hall. I met my very close friend (and later roommate/sorority sister) when we struck up a conversation at the sinks! It was an all girls floor and we wound up all meeting each other.
D had a 2 person double freshman year but it had a private bath. She didn’t know half the people on her floor.
S had a suite with 4 other guys (2 bedrooms/common room bath was down the hall). As an introvert It was just overwhelming to him to live with so many others and never have time alone. He ended up transferring and has a single at his new school.
I agree that different housing options suit different people.
Some of us had no choice; the housing office assigns you and it is what it is. You make the best of the cards you’re dealt.
Same with my older S. He got along with his roommate but they weren’t close. The roommate moved out second semester, so he essentially had a single with a private bath. He told me later he made most of his friends through his major, which required a lot of out-of-class interaction, and through going outside to smoke. He graduated in 2014 and is still tight will all of them. As with everything else, YMMV.