On the Wash U Housing application, I ranked Modern Single #1, Traditional Single #2, and Modern Double #3. The best-case scenario would be getting a modern single, but I know the chances of that are slim for a freshman. Probably the same case with the traditional single. However, if I do end up getting my #2 choice, I was wondering whether a Traditional Single or a Modern Double would be a better choice. With the Single, I get the great perks of living alone (which suit my personality well), but have to use a communal bathroom (something I’m not looking forward to) and have to give up the amenities and “cushiness” of a modern dorm. With the double, I get the perks of living in a modern dorm, with a bathroom shared by much fewer people, but have to live with another person, which is something I’ve never done before. It could be a gamble in terms of a good roommate.
What would you recommend for my second choice - Modern Double or Traditional Single?
Thanks,
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When I was visiting WashU, I got to see the inside of both modern and traditional dorms. There are actually some traditional dorms in suite configuration! They don’t look as fancy and are definitely visibly older, but they’ve got a common room and only six people to a bathroom. There’s a box on the housing app to check if you’d prefer traditional suite style! What I heard from a student living in a traditional dorm is that “traditional” doesn’t necessarily refer to the layout, just that it’s from an older batch of dorms.
I would also like to know
I am a current junior at Wash U who has lived in a single since freshman year. There is is one freshman dorm (Eliot A or Thomas Eliot House) that has a lot of modern singles available (maybe half the suites are 2 doubles and half are 4 singles). I didn’t know anyone who put a single as their first choice who didn’t get it and in fact knew people who had it as their second choice that got it. Eliot is nice because there are two bathrooms per suite, so you only share your bathroom with one other person.
@sungoose Good to know, thanks. If, by chance, I don’t get the modern single, which is better to put as #2 - traditional single or modern double? Do the benefits of a single dorm outweigh the benefits of a modern dorm, or vice versa?
Theres pros and cons to each
Having a roommate vs. not having a roommate: I went random for a double freshman year and me and my roommate did not get along. I hated having a roommate. But I have a friend who went random and she’s literally best friends with her roommate, so having a roommate is a hit or miss.
Everybody hates traditional dorms but it’s honestly not that bad (I lived in a traditional dorm freshman year). If anything, I’d say do not sign up for suite-style if you do a traditional single. I lived in a traditional suite and I hated how I didnt have that whole “floor community” that my friends in other dorms had. So that would leave Lee/Beau if you wanted to be in a traditional single. It’s definitely not as nice as other Washu dorms but I don’t think i would’ve minded living there freshman year.
If you’re really sociable and don’t mind older dorms Id say go for a traditional single non-suite style. If you really care about quality and can’t deal with communal bathrooms i’d say go for a modern double.
But tbh I don’t think modern singles are high in demand freshman year so I don’t think you’d have a problem getting that
@nineteeth123 I’m super late in responding, but I ended up getting a traditional single. I stayed in Umrath during SOAR and it was really nice…other than the bathroom layout what exactly makes traditionals “not as nice” as the moderns? Are the rooms and beds different?
the beds are the same no matter what type of dorm you’re in.
traditional are “not as nice” as moderns bc they’re just a lot older and and also traditional dorms are also slightly smaller than moderns. Since they’re older this means that they don’t have some stuff that modern dorms have including an electronic thermostat (you have a low med high setting for traditional vs you can set the temperature for modern). And modern dorms have better lighting than traditional dorms. Modern dorms have more closet space (eg a small closet room and then another drawer chest vs traditional dorms just have a sorta drawer-coat-hanger unit kinda thing at the end of the room and no separate drawer chest. Also the buildings are pretty different in that modern buildings feel like you’re walking through a hotel and then traditional buildings feel like old dorms and has a bunch of pipes in the ceiling.
I know traditional dorms might sound pretty bad based on what I just said, but its really not. The way I see it is that traditional dorms is the norm for other college dorms across the US, and modern dorms are just excessively bougie (which is why washu is #1 for dorms). Most ppl who live in traditional dorms rlly like it, and its a pretty big plus that you’re going to have a single
@nineteeth123 Thanks for replying. I’ve stayed at the dorms at my in state school and they were terrible, so if I could survive that for a couple days I’m sure I could survive a traditional at Wash U :D. The fact that I got a single is kind of the only thing that is keeping me from asking to switch to a modern. In case I get there and end up hating it (which I most likely will not, but just out of curiosity), is there like a room swap sort of thing at the start of the year?
sorta, you can apply to swap I think after 2 weeks of living in ur assigned dorm. Doesn’t always work out tho- my friend last year applied to switch rooms at the end of the school year because she couldnt deal with her roomate and ended up in a sophomore dorm.
Honestly, you’ll be fine. Everyone who switched rooms or hated their dorms hated it bc of their roommate, not bc of the room itself.