I did… twice! 
And was very pleased with the results both times. I know that’s not the way most people do it though.
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That is exactly what dorms are. You see the model, and there are singles or twins with a bathroom for 12, and when your freshman housing assignment comes you’re in a quad (or worse) with a coed bathroom a half a mile from most of your classes and the dining hall.
A LOT of people are unhappy with their freshman dorm assignments, and you’re already $70k into the process.
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Some of the worst freshman dorms are at the Ivies.
If a college has ritzy freshman dorms that may be the best thing the have to offer the students.
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One of the tours I went on they showed a “model dorm room” that they said was actually a converted closet, and was apparently 2/3 the size of a “real” dorm room. It was funny to me that they would show a “dorm” that was not an accurate representation, and therefore not a very useful add on.
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I understand the desire to look inside buildings, both academic and residential. But think about it in terms of your soon-to-be college student, and what they’ll want then. I appreciate the colleges that prioritize the needs of their current students. Most students don’t want tour groups parading through their living spaces.
I live near a large state university (~36,000 students). I just looked at their website, and every day Monday through Saturday, they have two general information tours. Additionally, they have departmental tours and group-specific special tours rotating throughout the week. That’s a lot of visitors. Admissions at this university don’t take tour groups into the dorms to protect student privacy. It’s also impossible to show a representative room. The university has 15 dorm complexes, plus one under construction. There are eleven different housing rates ranging from $3300 to $5800 per semester, which indicates the variety of choices. They do provide virtual tours, photographs, floor plans, and full descriptions of all dormitories online. It’s not the same as seeing one in person, but it really gives a more accurate picture of what’s available than seeing one random room.
Students who choose to take a departmental tour get to see inside the academic buildings attached to their major. The general tours have limited building access because classes are in session.
With so many students touring so many colleges, I think universities struggle to balance putting their enrolled students first while still presenting a positive impression to potential students and their parents.
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I did too once! Although my husband saw it and tried to email me pictures (in 2001) and the file size was huge and I didn’t know how to be able to view the whole picture at once so my view was old dirty grout that filled the entire computer screen. And we were moving from a cheap southern city and new house to an expensive northern city and an 85 year old house. But it all worked out and I loved that house, dirty grout and all.
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That’s a great story! Neither spouse nor I saw either of the houses we’ve bought. For both houses, we literally pulled up with the UHaul and got the keys from where the realtor hid them. Just like in the movies.
We were moving a long distance on a tight timeline in each case. We simply didn’t have the time to visit for househunting (we’d poked around during interview visits), and had limited house options anyway.
The alternative would have been to move our stuff into storage and deal with an expensive rental and moving twice and possibly changing schools. We thought: what’s the worst that can happen? We hate the house and have to move again? We took the possibility of moving twice over the sure chance of moving twice. Worked out great both times! But we will take our sweet time for our next move (the big downsizing).
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There’s so many videos posted by the university or students currently/recently in the dorms, that’s good enough for me. From a security standpoint, I don’t want a group of strangers allowed in the dorms. At USC, dorm security is very tight, I’m happy with that.
btw, Campusreel can be a great resource for campus videos including dorms.
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I’d put it more like renting an apartment without seeing it first, and people do that all the time.
Of course, there are a lot of schools that do let you visit dorm rooms and if you feel it is necessary to see before you ‘buy’ then you’ll have to go to one of those schools. If you really really want to see a dorm room at a particular school, find a student who lives in one and get that student to give you a tour. You can do that through your hs connections with students who go there, through a sports team, through a special interest (band, student govt, newspaper). Lots of kids arrange a ‘private’ tour through friends.
But remember that if you ask for this, there are going to be other kids asking for this when your child attends, meaning strangers trudging through the dorms, libraries, cafeterias when your child is trying to sleep, study, and eat.
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Totally agree. It’s somewhere between renting an apartment or renting a hotel room (or rental car). You see pictures, you accept the price, and you make your reservation. When you arrive, it’s rarely what you believed it would be. Sometimes it’s better. Usually, it’s worse. If you want a car or hotel room during your temporary stay, you accept the situation and deal with it.
Housing’s impact on application and attendance decisions (I suspect) has an inverse relationship with selectivity. Schools that reject 90% of applicants worry less about the creature comfort aspects than does a school that rejects 50% of their applicants. Private vs. public and size also have a great deal to do with it.
The comments above about a range of pricing and amenities reflect the explosive growth of REITs managing on and off-campus housing over the past few decades. Those REITs created the 4 bedroom /4 bathroom, apartment-style housing that is so popular. Those REITs have all been acquired by venture capital. The last one standing, ACC, was acquired by Blackstone recently for $12.8B. Big schools, big housing, big business.
The majority of US colleges admit the majority of their applicants. It’s a competitive business, and housing has become a differentiator. As selectivity increases and populations shrink, the likelihood that the dorms will be “underwhelming” increases.
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I have a friend who builds student housing with private equity. It’s great when it’s new. For bond ratings they need rising enrollment and endowment. National enrollment is going to get tight in the next few years.
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How is national enrollment going to get tight? The number of college-going individuals is dropping.
I’m guessing tight in the sense of making it harder for the owners to get a return on their investment.
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That’s the way I read the comment… bond ratings need more enrollment…tightening would suggest more difficult.
The operating margins on large residential are always small. There aren’t a lot of efficiencies to gain in the rental biz, and the combination of fewer potential students and high-interest rates is a bad mix for owners.
The money in real estate as a business is on the transaction fees.
Good thing this is THE off-topic thread, because we’re deep in the woods on housing.
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Yes, tight in terms of an impending cliff of enrollment. A school like Purdue has been ideal for real estate investment. Growing undergrad enrollment, improving rankings, sound fiscal management. Good mix of OOS wealthier students. Depends on zoning. I didn’t see a lot of new development in West Lafayette despite students being housed in hotels.
Fees are huge. My friend gets paid on the management fee. Trick is to get to 95% occupancy and make the interest rate work. Must be investment grade. Minimize parking as well.
Fortunately my kids went to Greek housing after dorms. That can be a better value in a high cost area.
There is a bunch of new housing going up in WL - construction everywhere!
@eschuke, has your son made a decision yet? Wisconsin, Minnesota, Clemson…? Or some other school? I’ve got a hunch it might be Minnesota from your description, but I could easily be wrong!
He hasn’t officially decided yet but I do think that is where he is going to choose. It admittedly started as an afterthought but interest has really grown over time (they also gave a good financial package which left a major impression). Love the one who loves you back?
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Smart. We visited in June 2021.
Sorry you had such a bad time at Northwestern, my alma mater. Seems like you caught it on an off day with a terrible tour guide. There really is a lot of school spirit, and it persists after graduation. My wife and I tried to go to the designated NU bar in NYC for the UCLA tournament game and it was so packed we couldn’t even find standing room — spilled over to another bar nearby with some other fans. But it sounds like your son found a good fit elsewhere.
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