<p>Wondered about apt style living for freshmen? We just visited these beautiful facilities at U of AL (son is admitted to honors prgm there) & they are new & luxurious (4 private bedrooms, spacious living room, kitchenette, tons of space -- nicer than most first aptments for those entering the work force).</p>
<p>Everyone says how great this is (& how other students would love to live there) -- yet I can't help thinking traditional dorm living (2 people in a little room, lots of kids on your floor, 100s of kids in your dorm) would make for a much more social situation.</p>
<p>Even the honors student we talked to said she made sure she made an 'extra effort' as a freshman to get to know kids by joining activities, etc. (so she'd make social connections outside her apt-style living arrangement). </p>
<p>My son is pretty social (large circle of nice friends) but he got involved in zero ECs thru his HS (did stuff independently). So, I'm sure he'd do fine, but -- if he continued his 'not wanting to be involved in organized activities in college -- wanted him in a situation that would maximize the fun/sociability aspect (though, hopefully not to the detriment of studying...that's another factor...).</p>
<p>Just wondered if anyone had heard stories or had thoughts about this?</p>
<p>I hear you Jolynne! D2 will also be in an on-campus apartment as a freshman next fall. I also have some concerns. She will be placed with teammates and I worry she won’t be able to meet as many kids not in her sport. I am forcing her to take a school meal plan (even though they’ll have a full kitchen) so she has opportunities to meet people in the cafeteria. She is an excellent cook but I also worry that her suitemates might expect her to do all the cooking/dishes/food shopping. At her school all housing is centralized in a little village setting. At least they will all be coming and going from the same area.</p>
<p>Aren’t those apartments gorgeous? We saw the model when we toured U of A back in January; they are nicer than my first apartment!</p>
<p>I waffle on what I think: on one hand I see your concern. It’s easy to close the door, be alone and not make an effort. On the other hand, if you have a kid like my oldest who <em>needs</em> alone time to function, it can be great to have someplace to go and have some down time. The other factor is that I think it would be hard to have to share a room with someone when you haven’t since you were 10. Most kids in our neighborhood have their own room and to go to a small, shared dorm room could be tough.</p>
<p>I really do like the kitchens in those rooms too.</p>
<p>It is definitely more social in a traditional dorm setting. My D shared a room whilst my son had a single; it is noisier and there are always people dropping in. Studying is done in the library. In my opinion apartment style living is ideal for soph years and up when you’ve made your core group of friends.</p>
<p>My son had this style of dorm his freshman year at the Honors College at the University of Central Florida. It was GREAT for him. There were lots of activities on the floor and in the Tower itself. The living room allowed them to have friends over to hang out. Want to be really alone? You have your bedroom. Hang out with a couple of friends? You have your suitemates in your living room. More folks? the common room on the floor. I’d call up and he’d have been over at a friend’s apartment baking cookies. Also, it’s coed by apartment, and I think having girls on the floor has a civilizing effect. At this school, FWIW, this housing has a great location, near lots of the student activities - the arena, the stadium, etc… </p>
<p>Maybe it was my kid, but I thought it was ideal, so much, in fact, that that housing situation is a factor in the current decision between son #3’s choice of Honors at UCF vs regular at UF.</p>
<p>Still don’t know what would be best for son.</p>
<p>My inclination is to agree w/natmicstef:
“In my opinion apartment style living is ideal for soph years and up when you’ve made your core group of friends.”</p>
<p>But, in this case (at U of AL) I don’t think you can go back to the honors, suite-style, after going regular dorm 1st year.</p>
<p>I guess, to me, having a wonderful social experience (in addition, obviously, to an incredible and challenging academic experience!) is more important than living in some cool, fancy apartment. Isn’t that what people do when they graduate & go to work for years after? It seems like this is the one time in your life when you can get to know so many hundreds of kids at the same time in a dorm.</p>
<p>But, I definitely could be wrong about this. When I mention it to son, he says, “I’ll be fine, socially! Do you think I won’t?” It’s not that…it’s more about having the opportunity to make it the best experience possible…</p>
<p>I have an apartment style dorm. While we don’t have a hallway, we’re friends with most of our neighbors and extremely close with the girls two doors down & upstairs. It’s easier than you’d think; most of us left our suite doors open the first week or so of school and people traipsed in to say hey.</p>
<p>My son spent his last two years at the University of Maryland in a gigantic (more than 1000 students) all-student apartment building right off-campus. The apartments were for either two or four students, each of whom had a single room. Most of the apartments were set up so that every bedroom came with its own bathroom (yes, really). Each apartment also had a washer and dryer. And the building was new – constructed in 2005.</p>
<p>It may be a decade or more before he ever lives in such a nice place again.</p>
<p>The downside was that he never met anybody in the building except his own roommates. People simply didn’t talk to each other, and it would have taken effort to keep the doors open (because they were designed to spring closed automatically). I was in the building many times, and I never saw an open door. It simply wasn’t done. My son didn’t even recognize the other people in the elevator. </p>
<p>My son was glad that he had spent his first two years in the much more social dorms (in a double one year and a single the next). He met most of his friends in the dorms and then kept those friends in his later years at college.</p>
<p>I had singles and doubles off a hall my freshman year and suites off entry ways after that. I thought the suite arrangement was much less sociable, particularly with the entryway arrangement. mathson had a one bedroom apartment double for the last two years off a hall. Mostly freshmen the first year, and no freshmen the second (same room). Everyone kept their doors open and there seemed to be a fair amount of sociability, though in the end his social life revolved around the computer cluster he frequented. (Computers with Linux installed.) At any rate I think it worked out quite well for my kid. He’s not naturally very sociable and gets overstimulated easily. He likes to be able to retreat. He seems to have plenty of friends, more than he did in high school anyway. He’s been invited to live next year in an off campus house with four or five other kids.</p>
<p>My daughter picked the dorm style vs the apartment style for her freshman year. It was the right decision. She has more friends than she would if she were to pick the other style. But she did have to give up A/C. I’ve heard she said it’s so worth it.</p>
<p>Interesting perspectives! That’s what I’d hoped to hear (the pros/cons, personal experiences!). </p>
<p>I’d almost feel weird about encouraging my son not to take the most beautiful, luxury accomodations I can imagine a student (particularly a freshman) could have. But, I’ve lived in traditional dorms, and I know what a fun social experience they can be. And (maybe unlike you, HisGracefillsme) son hasn’t demonstrated (yet) that he’ll get all involved in organized activities. He does have a wide circle of friends, but not via organizations. I have a feeling he’ll get involved in college, but we’ll see.</p>
<p>Columbia_Student–were the apt style dorms much nicer than the regular? Wondered if anyone else had rejected nicer quality for social reasons…</p>
<p>It’s nicer but she felt she only get to know 8 people in the apartment vs 44 people in the dorm. She made the switch the last minute.
BTW, she had to sleep with icepack in her head when it’s get too hot.</p>
<p>Wow, and it was still worth it (icepack and all)? That’s quite an endorsement for regular dorm living. </p>
<p>The funny thing – I’d been so nervous about my son going to a state school w/all the drinking and partying that the ‘honors segregation’ of the suite housing (away from the rest of the partying part of campus) sounded like a real draw, at AL, initially.</p>
<p>Now I’ve flipped sides, and think that the kids out in front of the white-columned mansions w/Greek letters on the front (AL fraternities) look like they are having a lot of fun. </p>
<p>My son won the housing lottery and got the most highly desired apartments at his college. Hated the situation. He prefers a dorm or large house full of kids. Being in an apartment with just one roommate was loney to him. However, many other kids love that situation. </p>
<p>It depends of the person. I, for one, would hate to live in those frat houses that were available at our campus in my days at college. But they were very popular with a number of my friends. Living in a borderline dangerous neighborhood in a rickety old house with a slumlord was not my idea of a home, but many kids make that choice (including my son).</p>
<p>cptofthehouse—you should see the frats & sororities at U of AL. Literally, they are gorgeous, well-maintained mansions with 2 story white columns in front, huge, manicured lawns, all lining the beautiful main street through campus. </p>
<p>I’m trying not to judge books by their covers, though, re: housing and the whole school experience…</p>
<p>My opinion, is that a nice campus apartment with friends is a great way to go. That is my personal opinion. The dorms are fine for freshmen year, but you get all kinds on your floor and can find yourself in any number of situations that are stressful. So it can happen with apartment mates, but you have fewer of them in your immediate vicinity so the chances are a bit better you don’t get some nut. There are always a few of them in a dorm. To me, an ideal situation is a private room in an apartment. Gives you some space for privacy and study, yet you have some company. If university owned, you don’t have the bother of multiple bills and upkeep issues. But again, it really depends on the person.</p>
<p>Jolynne, my son loved the UA honors dorm for several reasons, but the idea of having a room to call his is a big attraction. If his roommates want to watch TV or hang out in the living room, but he wants to sleep or study, he can bid them good night and close the door. He also does not have a problem with cleaning, especially the bathroom since he’s been doing it for years. </p>
<p>Sure, he will need to go out and find people to hang with. But he pointed out that he has been in that situation before – he changed schools just before his freshman year, and he has a ton of good friends from all sorts of activities.</p>
<p>If the whole group of honors students is in apartments, they’re sure to find ways to meet each other. I think getting a meal plan would help, and making sure to participate in group events. My freshman S (at USC) lives in an 8-person suite, without a kitchen, and it doesn’t seem at all isolating. He still seems to know loads of kids from his building. The RA’s organize events, and the dining hall is a gathering place. So if the housing at U of A is lovely, it doesn’t seem like your S could go wrong.</p>
<p>Jolynne, just showing that some just don’t like what others consider ideal living. My son liked the idea of living in his frat. But after spending some time at the frat house, he realized he would not be able to get his things done there. Too many distractions for him. He loved the idea, and currently lives in a big house, but with less social events happening. He spends a lot of time at the frat house, but can go his house to recharge and hunker down. However, his beautiful campus apartment was too isolated to him. Just one roommate was not enough. The dorm was fine, but apartments just weren’t for him. Maybe a quad or more would have been a better deal for him. He likes having several people around.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, sometimes you have to try it before you know what you like and what you don’t like. And kids sometimes make some pretty bad choices. I’m not happy about my son’s current living arrangements and what he gave up, but it seems to work for him despite what seems to me glaring drawbacks.</p>
<p>I think that it depends on the dorm culture-- if its all freshmen in the dorm then there is a good chance that it will be very social. I lived in an all suite building freshman year and I got to know everyone in the building very well. Having the living rooms gave us a good place for us to hang out. I lived in a traditional dorm sophomore and junior year, but didn’t meet anyone that I hadn’t already known. I think the main difference is having an all freshman vs. a mixed population in the dorm.</p>