<p>I want to stay in a dorm, and this particular dorm's description is that it houses a learning community. However, I do not wish to be part of a learning community. Would it be okay for me to stay in that dorm? Or do you usually have to be part of the learning community to stay in a dorm that houses one? This is at Purdue in West Lafayette, by the way. But any feedback on this is appreciated. I'm having a really hard time finding an answer to this. I feel like I've looked everywhere!</p>
<p>Why do you want to stay in this dorm in the first place if you don’t want to be in the learning community?</p>
<p>Your situation sounds similar to the Residential College system at my college. Many freshman get randomly tossed into these “learning community” dorms simply because the more popular dorms are all filled up. How it works for my dorm is that you have to participate to earn “points,” and in order to live in the dorm next year, you have to have so many points. Really, only the students who want to live here next year or who just want to participate have any reason to “be part of the community.” There are many students here who don’t want to live here next year, so they don’t participate in anything. They’re still allowed to live here, though. It’s not like Housing can kick them out for not participating in a dorm they never wanted to be in. Your situation might be different, though, because it sounds like you are choosing this dorm even though you don’t want to be part of the learning community. If you have the choice to be in another dorm, that might change things.</p>
<p>So, to answer your question, I know a lot of people who don’t participate but are allowed to stay in the dorm. However, this MIGHT be different if you’re not a freshman. At my college, freshman are guaranteed a dorm to stay in, but after that, maybe they would kick you out if you are put in a “learning community” and don’t contribute. I have no idea. Maybe you could call Housing and ask them?</p>
<p>Good luck! I hope this message made sense. I’m not completely sure I understand your situation, so just ignore me if none of this applies to you. =]</p>
<p>Read the housing contract. If it doesn’t say they can kick you out for not “participating” then just sign up for that dorm.</p>
<p>edit: At my old school all the dorms were part of some sort of “residential learning communities.” They were supposed to group people into dorms based on general interests. It really didn’t matter though, and it wasn’t as regimented as siemprecuriosa’s situation.</p>
<p>It depends on the school. There is a learning community in my dorm but you don’t have to be in it to live here, I’m not and could come back next year with no problem. There are plenty of people living here who aren’t in the program, you have to apply for it and we never did. Why would you want to live in a dorm without the learning community? Um, gee, I don’t know, maybe I like the dorm? The location is great, my room is phenomenal, the atmosphere here is cool, there are tons of cool programs to offer, and really there is just a lot more to my building than the fact that the RC is housed here. We have a dance studio, a dark room, music practice rooms, tons of empty classrooms that are great for meetings, a computer lab, it’s neat and clean and looks homey, the staff are nice (except for one lady…), it’s a block away from all my classes and next door to my favorite restaurants. There is a lot more to a dorm than the learning community in it. o.O</p>
<p>Thanks, TwistedxKiss! And you’re right, that’s exactly why I want to stay in the dorm – it’s the one I like the most! I could care less about the learning community. I just want to be sure that it isn’t a must to be in the LC to live in the dorm. I sent in my housing application, for that dorm, though. There don’t seem to be any problems with me living there, so I think it will be fine! :)</p>
<p>Of course I know there are other reasons besides the LC to live in a dorm. I only asked because at my school, at least, the LC is so central to dorm life that if you don’t want to be part of it, you would probably want to live somewhere else. Plus, many of the things you cited (music practice rooms, computer lab, meeting rooms) are also available at other dorms, and really, they’re grouped so close together that the location is about the same, too. I guess my mistake was that I assumed that aside from the LC, this dorm would be about the same as the other dorms, so if the OP didn’t want to be part of the LC, I didn’t see why she wouldn’t just pick another dorm. But apparently it’s not like this at all colleges. My bad.</p>
<p>Reasonable mistake. The dorms at my school are all drastically different from each other near as I can tell. Maybe some have similarities with others, but there is definitely a lot of variation.</p>