<p>Just curious, are the kids on single sex floors or quiet floors less social or well-adjusted than those who opt for the coed floors? Are there subtle advantages in one typle of floor or dorm over another that are not readily apparent? Thought it might be interesting to hear parents reports on their kids experiences in different dorm set ups. Seems like there are many choices, even for freshman, available at most schools. Thanks and happy holidays.</p>
<p>Mommamia:</p>
<p>I think that the answers to your questions really depend on the particular school. You might want to repost on the specific school forum.</p>
<p>At my daughter's school <grin>, for example, the single-sex option is somewhat unique in that student rooms are on the top two floors of oldest building on campus -- a building which also houses the admissions office, the Deans offices, the Provosts offices, and the President's offices on the first two floors.</grin></p>
<p>Depending on what you are looking for it could be the best of both worlds, you hang out with your friends and come home to your queit dorm.</p>
<p>Part of the problem is that you can never predict who you are going to live with and the dynamics of the group of people you will share a floor with. My D lived on floor that was quiet, but it was an all freshman floor. the residents on their floor got along extremely well and hung out with each other outside of the dorm. The floor above them which was also an all freshman floor had a totally different dynamic where students did not get along with each other.</p>
<p>i'm a little biased since i go to a women's college but while i think same sex floors are great, i miss the opportunity to live with both guys and girls, and i feel less social because of it, even if i wasn't before. (in other words, i don't think i am naturally less social than someone who opts to go to a coed school, but i think my situation is making me so.) but there can also be a lot of weird tensions on coed floors, so i think it does completely depend on the environment of the school and also each individual floor.</p>
<p>Definitely have your kid ask some current students about the housing situation for freshman. They'll tell the truth. I think a lot of it really depends on his/her personality and desires, though. People want different atmospheres, and I think it's great that even freshman have some choices about housing that allow them to find the type of housing most suitable for them.</p>
<p><em>student</em></p>
<p>D is in freshman dorm - single sex, sub free floor. The kids on her floor except one are wonderful. She has made friends on her floor and with others ( male and female) from other dorms. Where she lives didn't preclude making all kinds of friends. And just because the floor is single sex doesn't mean that boys don't come by. There have been many movie nights, etc., and one of her friends has a steady boyfriend who comes by a lot from his college. I met all the girls on her floor and would label all but one socially well-adjusted. She has found a couple friends who are like her and they live in the partying dorms. You never know who you will find in any of the dorms.</p>
<p>S lived in a freshman dorm, co-ed, but separated by floor. The "male bonding" was quite strong on his floor, but girls were up and down (and I assume, vice-versa) regularly. Unless one chooses a single-sex dorm, I always thought ( but this was just a thought, no evidence) that the separated by wing/floor/alternate rooms was a function of how the school does things, rather than a reflection of the kids' personalities.</p>
<p>Gee ... I remember when I was at UConn in the 70s. Coed by floor big dorms yes, but coed-by-dorm small dorms were standard. Once upon a time, sexes were segregated by residental campus ...South Campus for women, North Campus for men, and even in the 70s South retained it's southern belle atmosphere, even as some dorms became men's dorms and even co-ed by floor dorms. </p>
<p>H was at Villanova. No coed dorms there. </p>
<p>How things have changed!</p>
<p>My D was assigned the only single-sex floor in her dorm complex freshman year and was initially concnerned that she ahd her roommate and their neighbors would not have a chance to meet male students. however, it turned out that the single-sex floor, which was in the basement, was known for being quite social nad meeting boys was no problem at all; the girls just went upstairs and introduced themselves when they got there and it was a great year, with lots of visitiing back and forth. I think the girls on the floor were especially cohesive (in part because of their special location). In any case, the school has single-sex bathrooms, and even coed floors are separated by a doorway, so the situation isn't quite the same as a completely mixed floor where men and women live next door to each other. (Single-sex bathrooms seem to be fiarky common even on fully coed floors though from what I observed at my older child's school and on college tours.)</p>
<p>As far as a quiet floor, neither of my children had that option, and both rejected the notion of substance-free floors despite my own interest in them. I don't think either of my children really had that much of an issue with nighttime noise in their dorm, since studying is so often done in the library or even during the day when your roommate is out. and both stay up pretty late. In my D's case (and I suspect at many schools), there are generally agreed-upon quiet hours anyway so in most cases the floor would not be especially noisy on week nights.</p>
<p>My DD lived for two years in the single-sex-floor dorm Interesteddad mentions in his post. I can vouch for the benefits she experienced there. She did find it quieter (especially since she had a single) and I know the place was seemingly more civilized than her previous two dorms. She had been adamant about living in a coed dorm the first year, but realized it was not nirvana to be around boys ALL THE TIME. :)</p>
<p>S1 is in a coed dorm sub-free dorm, and has a lot of trouble sleeping. Usually he doesn't have any trouble sleeping through noise, and I have come to believe he is just over-stimulated by having friends and GIRLS around all the time. Does this make sense? I have no proof this is it, just a good guess.</p>
<p>Mommamia,
At my S's school (wink,wink) there are no designated quiet floors or sub-free housing. Some of the floors end up to be more quiet because they are heavily populated by juniors and seniors in singles, especially the old building which houses administrative offices on the first couple of floors. There are two dorms with single sex floors for girls and it is S's opinion that they are definitely less social than the fully coed dorms. He has enjoyed living in coed halls. The bathrooms have been single sex.</p>
<p>My D has the option of a sinlge sex and/or substance free floor (defined as no alcohol or drugs). Since the school has separate freshman dorms, she said "aren't all dorms supposed to be substance free in that alcohol is illegal at age 18 and drugs are illegal at all ages?" So is the college saying that alcohol and drugs are okay with them unless you are on a substance free floor?
My D was concerned that maybe a substance free floor attracts primarily conservative Christians (she has nothing against them but isn't one ) and that a single ex floor might be primarily populated by gays (again, nothing against them but she isn't).
I told her I thought she was probably wrong about her assumptions, but thought I'd ask here.</p>
<p>Catherine,
I'm gay, and I would want to live on a coed floor. I'm not a conservative Christian (as you could probably get from my last statement!), but I'm not a heavy drinker or user. I would not choose to live on a substance free floor. </p>
<p>-student</p>
<p>in my college experience the all-guys floor was the better place. Girls were just a floor away, there was plenty of chances to meet them. But being on the floor was like automatically being in a fraternity in the sense that there was a lot of male bonding -- sports teams, hanging out together, bull sessions, etc. By contrast on the coed floors it seemed like HS all over again -- cliques quickly formed, it just wasn't the same open and friendly place the single-sex floor was.</p>
<p>catherine, i think colleges are aware that even though you're not supposed to buy alcohol until you're 21, college students are not deterred. people who want to live in a substance free dorm commit to never stumbling in drunk or high. at my school, that floor is called a "wellness" floor and in addition to their substance free policy they do wellness activities, like yoga or going to nutrition workshops. for some reason at my school many girls on that floor have eating disorders, and there are a few orthodox jews and international students from more restrictive cultures than the u.s.<br>
it's an interesting concept, but just because you don't live on a subfree floor doesn't mean you have to engage in those substances, or even that everyone around you will be like that.</p>