<p>I attended UM from 1979 to 1983 and the dorm rooms look the same!! However, the kids seem to be doing pretty creative things like elevating the beds. </p>
<p>Honestly the hurricane shutters are not the prettiest things in the world but they are a fact of life in South Florida. They darken the rooms very well, which was good if both roommates want to sleep in on a Sunday morning.</p>
<p>Enjoy the U and Go Canes!</p>
<p>My daughter had a small single in Hecht last year. Here is what I remember.
Room is very very small. It also is not completely rectangle as you have a jog in the room when you first enter it. So you open the door, walk 4 feet in and hit a 30" wall, turn to the right where the bed in on one side of the room and the desk & dresser on the other side with maybe 4 feet open between the 2 sets of furniture. You can’t move the desk or dresser. The foot of the bed is almost in the closet which occupies one end of the room. Here is what we did.
We lofted the bed (order bed loft now as they only have a certain number and I know that by early August they were out of them. You can always cancel before move in day). Under the loft she had a comfy chair, an ottoman, and a storage file cabinet where she kept her TV. My husband took off the legs from the bed as you could hit your head on them if not careful and he took off the cover for the shelving unit as it stuck out about 6" into the room and dropped that on the ground and we got some baskets and my daughter used this as an open shelf with the baskets to hold food, etc… She did not use the accordian closet but we took a shower curtain rod with 2 cloth shower curtains to cover up the closet. My husband also bought a 24" wooden open shelving unit from Home Depot that you put together and we put that against the wall where you walk in. He had to take down the towel rack for it to fit against the wall. He didn’t install the lower shelves of the shelving unit and that is where her refrig went. Then above that was the microwave and then 2 more shelves. He drilled in hooks on the side for her to hang towels and what not. She did have a carpet - 5X7 and she used an office chair instead of the desk chair. The closet is big in that it has 2 large shelves that hold lots of stuff. And she had the closet shoe and sweater organizer. Over the door hooks do not work on the door–for some reason there is not enough clearance. But the suction hooks do stick to the door. There is a mirror over the dresser and we put a suction shelf on that to hold her makeup. And since she is a clothes hound , we ended up getting a wire drawer unit that has a couple of wire drawers which we put into the closet. The printer went on the shelf above the desk but a 3 in one will not fit there either because of height or width as the shelves upon the desk are only about 10" wide if I remember correctly. You will need curtains as the windows are dirty and the single panel curtains cover this up. We just got some shears I think 54" long. There are 2 narrow windows – something like 24" by 60". One is as you come in and the other is by the desk. The room was not that clean so we wiped it down before hand. Plugs – not many – you have the desk plug and then the one on the wall right as you walk in where we put the microwave and refrig. Again, the room is very small. I think you can stand in the only open space - reach your arms out and touch both the desk and the bed no problem. Also the end of the bed is pretty much almost in the closet. Daughter is at UM for summer class and in another small single where we did not loft the bed. She only brought one suitcase of clothes and a couple of sneakers. As a minimalist, she fits fine. She was lucky my husband was handy as when she moved out he put everything back ie. legs on the bed, towel rack, storage door, etc… Her new small single for the summer is much cleaner but she still wiped everything down before moving in and mopped the floor. Hope this helps.</p>
<p>I can’t imagine that the answer is ‘yes’, but, I figure it’s easy enough to ask.</p>
<p>Do students nail or screw things to the shelves above the desk? And, if they do, are they fined for having done so?</p>
<p>I know this one has been asked before, but I can’t find the answer . . . does the fridge/micro need to be preordered, or can you get one on campus at move-in like you can with the carpet?</p>
<p>You can purchase pretty much everything on campus during move-in, but it’s cheaper to buy/bring your own. Don’t bother getting an ethernet cable; those are provided for free.</p>
<p>As for housing for freshmen, there are actually 2 layouts that freshmen could get. There has only been discussion about the more common “standard” rooms thus far. In these rooms, the only movable piece of furniture is the bed. Everything else is anchored to the wall. The closets are about 5 feet wide and have a shelf on the top. The desk has a ton of shelves above it for storage. There is short mirror above the dresser, which has a lockable drawer. The floor is laminate tile. To maximize space in these, lofting works really well. If you bring a bed frame from home, facilities service (Unico) will take the standard frame for you.</p>
<p>In the less common “X22” rooms, all the furniture is moveable but the rooms are about 2 1/2 feet less deep. There is no closet, instead there are armories about 3 feet wide. To make up for the lack of closet space, there are 2 dressers (each), but there is no lockable drawer. There is also no shelf above the desk These rooms are carpeted. These beds have adjustable heights, but the frames are obnoxious. The most logical thing to do with these rooms is put the dressers under the beds. It will be a bit high, but it will maximize space. You could also bunk these beds without any additional materials, but I STRONGLY recommend against it.</p>
<p>Thanks for the great info CanesGirl. Never heard about that alternative layout before. Any way to know in advance which room numbers are the x22s?</p>
<p>itslfs - </p>
<p>Yes. They are room numbers that end in “22”.</p>
<p>i don’t know if everyone will be able to see this, but this is an album someone put on the facebook page with lots of pictures of freshman dorm rooms. i found it really helpful!</p>
<p>Thanks those photos were a very big help. Was thinking of getting the 7" bed risers from BBB since S doesn’t want to loft his bed. Seems like bed is anchored in place and won’t be able to lift up to go on them. Is that the case? Had also ordered a good desk chair. Is there any room at all to put the chair that comes with the room if we do that?</p>
<p>Can you decide to loft your bed after you have moved in or do you need to do it in advance?</p>
<p>Please take note that the wooden lofts in some of the pictures are no longer allowed. Only the metal ones are available.</p>
<p>If you call Facilities they will remove the desk chair if you decide to use an office chair instead and do not want the desk chair in your room. This way at the end of the year, you will not be charged for a desk chair when it is not in your room. It takes normally a day for them to get around to picking up the chair.</p>
<p>@SarBear3 - thanks! Very helpful</p>
<p>so… does anyone know what the bathrooms are like?</p>
<p>Do they stuff 2 people in these x22 rooms? I think I am stuck in one . . doesn’t seem fair to be shortchanged by so much, especially no closet??!! And I assume there’s only one “unlucky” x22 room per floor?</p>
<p>I saw a x22 room and they were actually nicer than the regular dorm room. Furniture is much more modern and it appeared larger. I don’t think you are “unlucky” at all. There were 2 beds in the room when I saw one.</p>
<p>Thanks for your post DinDune. It eases my mind a little but still concerned. Any other feedback would be appreciated. Can I still loft the bed??</p>
<p>I don’t know about lofting. I’d call the company and ask them directly. I’m sure that they are familiar with the x22 rooms. No worries…if I’m not mistaken, I think your room is also carpeted…I’d check on that though. It is directly off the elevator area, which is great socially too, keep your door open and you’ll have the opportunity to know your floormates well! Great location.</p>
<p>If you’re worried about living in a X22 room, don’t be. I lived in one my freshman year and it was actually totally awesome. My roommate and I shared a fridge and a microwave, but we also had 2 storage towers (one each), a huge shelf from BBB with a TV on it, and a sling chair. We still had a ton of space and the room was super ideal for hanging out. You won’t be unhappy with the room if you try different arrangements out. I’d be happy to tell you how we arranged our room (or show you when you get to campus).</p>
<p>Does the bottom drawer of the desk have built in rails, for hanging files (like pendaflex)?</p>