<p>My son has been accepted at Delaware, and is now deciding between two schools. We went to the accepted student program yesterday, but the program was all run by the students, and they didn't have all the answers. I wanted to stop by the Housing Dept, but time ran out and we had to leave. I have several questions regarding housing, and I hope someone can help me:</p>
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<li><p>How are freshman dorms assigned? Can you request specific areas? Is it first come, first served, according to when they get your deposit, or is it random? Based on our tour, my son would request East Campus.....he liked Russell and Harrington. He hated Rodney and the other residence hall in west, which are both located by the railroad tracks.</p></li>
<li><p>They are building a brand new residence hall next to Russell and Harrington, which will open in 2013, and will be for freshman. Our guide yesterday thought they planned to move all the freshman out of Rodney into the new hall, and turn Rodney into a sophomore hall. Does anyone know anything about this? If that's the case, you could end up with Rodney for two years. </p></li>
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<p>I happen to agree with my son, the west campus is horrible. Does anyone agree with us, or are we wrong????</p>
<p>When you fill out your housing request form on-line you can request specific dorms (and roommates) but this is not guaranteed (except for Honors Program Students who are assigned to the Russell dorms there does not appear to be any correlation of what you can do to increase your chances for a specific dorm unless you have special needs). The East dorms are in a good location but are your typical college dorm rooms with communal bathrooms/showers. The newer dorms in the North campus are larger and suite-like with 2 rooms sharing a bathroom but are a further distance from many of the classrooms. The West dorms are not terrible (location is not bad for some campus classrooms) but are generally less preferred. At least Rodney is air-conditioned (Dickenson is not). Dorm assignments come out in early August. You can put down a deposit for a more costly room (North dorms or single room) but again this does not guarantee you will get it. This is how it has been in the past.</p>
<p>Just to correct the previous post. I believe the housing deposit is the same for all rooms. But when you pay your first semesters bill you can include payment for a more costly room (i.e. North Dorm or single) but there is still no guarantee you will get it.</p>
<p>The Laird campus dorms don’t cost any more, or at least didn’t when my S was a freshman in George Read last year. (Perhaps that’s changed?) You may be thinking of Christiana Towers, which are also located up there but are not open to freshman. They do cost more, but the upside is that if you’re doing winter session you don’t have to pay the extra housing charge for those weeks.</p>
<p>The Laird Campus dorms are gorgeous, and the rooms are huge. While they’re a bit further away, the buses run often and the walk is certainly doable.</p>
<p>You can request areas and my D’s request for East Campus was met, but whether her request was being honored or it just worked out that way, I couldn’t tell you. </p>
<p>If I recall, she also listed her favored dorms, and chose some of the larger well known ones, which she didn’t get into. Instead she got into Smyth Hall, a smaller dorm accross from Perkins. It first she was concerned because everyone posting on line in Facebook mentioned one of those other larger dorms and she thought she had gotten a bad/unknown dorm assignment where she’d have less of a chance to meet people. As it turned out though, she has loved Smyth and was glad she wasn’t assigned to one of those other dorms.</p>
<p>In North Campus, are there any recreational facilities and study rooms? I know that North has a building which houses the dining hall, but are there other things in that building, too?</p>
<p>My daughter requested Harrington as her first choice but got Dickinson. At first she was upset but it worked out fine. The rooms are tiny. Her room overlooks the railroad tracks and she said the train rolls through around 4am some mornings. She never complained to us about it. Since it is all freshman, she made a lot of good friends.</p>
<p>When my D was a freshman, this was 6 years ago, they did charge more for a room on the Laird (North) campus compared to East and West campuses. I had initially paid her first semester bill to include the Laird dorms (which she had requested) but she ended up being assigned to Rodney. They credited the difference to her account. Sounds like they changed this but I suspect they just adjusted the price upwards. Rodney does have its own dining hall (Dickinson students also eat there) with a small fitness center and convenience store part of the complex. I certainly have seen worse dorm situations at other schools. She had a good time in Rodney (has a little reputation as a party dorm) but like a lot of students was glad to get out of dorm life in her sophomore year (lived in a sorority), then in an apartment on Main Street across from the new bookstore in her Jr. and Sr. years.</p>