<p>Only 54 beds available in Ridgecrest South has me concerned with regard to Freshman room selection. Can anyone tell me how many completely open (4 open beds) rooms are available in Ridgecrest South? Anyone have numbers of open beds/rooms in the other Honors suites?</p>
<p>I was under the impression that the Honors suites would be comprised of mostly freshmen, but am starting to feel differently.</p>
<p>In Ridgecrest South North: 8
No 4-bed suites in Ridgecrest South South</p>
<p>There are still several 4-bed suite left in the Riversides and Lakeside West and a few in Ridgecrest West.</p>
<p>But Housing also may have blocked out sections of Ridgecrest South North for incoming freshmen, so you still may land a suite there.</p>
<p>Many, if not most Honors suites will be comprised of mostly freshmen. Since Ridgecrest South is a popular dorm, there may be less freshman spaces available compared to other buildings. Currently, there are 7 empty suites in the Honors section of Ridgecrest South for males, though there may be some spaces held back by housing for incoming freshmen or in case of larger than anticipated demand for freshman housing.</p>
<p>I personally think that “all-freshman” dorms are overrated. Most of the students living in Honors housing will be freshman and those who are upperclassmen living in Honors housing are generally very nice people who can be great resources during your freshman year at UA.</p>
<p>Yeah, I am not too concerned about S being with upperclassmen. They have successfully gotten through one or two years at 'bama so that is saying something. You never know with a freshman, although you hope they will be successful, particularly in the honors college.
The whole Ridgecrest South North and Ridgecrest South South confuses me. Which is the dorm they have been having all the vandalism in? Think we will try to avoid that.</p>
<p>Indinct: Vandalism can happen in any dorm. I would not allow that to cross your mind when selecting housing. Those students who did the damage may move to another dorm, the one that you select, or they may not be returning to dorm living. Or maybe they learned their lesson and the issue will not continue.</p>
<p>i think some of the problems may stop with the installation of the cameras.</p>
<p>and i think the problems were happening in the non-honors part of the building, but i am not sure.</p>
<p>the only part of the building that is honors is north - floors 1 - 3</p>
<p>The vandalism was mostly in Ridgecrest South -South Tower (non-honors), but I was assured by housing that these issues have been addressed. The students were being spoken to and most likely sanctioned. </p>
<p>Cameras have been installed in all the halls and common areas. This should severely limit the amount of vandalism and (hopefully) false fire alarms. Housing also told me that they have beefed up patrols and these are at random times.</p>
<p>Just a reminder: Your students MUST leave their dorm rooms if a fire alarm is issued. Several students did not and they were fined. You never know when it is false or not. I know that this can occur at inconvenient times. Better safe than sorry!</p>
<p>I would not be overly concerned about this issue as it seems that the university has taken appropriate measures.</p>
<p>Good, cameras sounds like a good idea. One less thing to be concerned about when you are choosing housing. If he can’t go into a completely open suite I am thinking that a room with 2 people in it might not be bad. Obviously they are friends, but there will be 2 others. A room with 3 people sounds like you would be “the odd man out”. I think he will take his chances and not scope out room mates on fb. Only a week to the pick date.</p>
<p>I would not recommend any of my kids for room mates. My D was a messy athlete and even though they washed her uniforms I felt sorry for her neatnick roomate Fr year. Needless to say they never saw each other again.
Older S is an electric guitar player, need I say more.
Sr. S is a night owl, can be neat but not when under pressure. Heavily into post its. Can you imagine if there were complaints on the parents forum, I would be mortified. I am going to try to teach him some home economics before he heads down to 'bama though.</p>
<p>Idinct: To put your mind at rest, i have heard of no horror stories about room mates this year from anyone I know at UA, either those who picked room mates or those who took the luck of the draw.</p>
<p>In honors housing, I think that their individual bedroom becomes their very own private domain.
I have a son who almost never uses the living room and does most of his cooking in the main kitchen (not that he cooks that often). The room mates usually have such varied schedules that they do not see each other that much. They just need to set some general ground rules and all should be fine.</p>
<p>my kid had one roomie chosen from a roommate match type thing and two potluck ones.</p>
<p>the “chosen” one was nice for about a month until she found a group of sorority friends that she liked better. but the other three do a LOT together!! and have a lot of fun.</p>
<p>funny thing, the roomie that my daughter thought she would like the least is the one she likes the best.</p>
<p>they didn’t use the living room much until my daughter brought a tv after xmas break. now they are in there all the time. it is noce having the single bedrooms because even if roomies have people over you can still go in your own room if you want to sleep or study.</p>
<p>ldinct: I’ve mentioned on here before about how my D’s laissez faire attitude towards roommate selection. She ended up not contacting anyone pre-room selection. The suite she selected had 2 BR’s already claimed. When we chatted later she said (just as you mentioned) she looked for suites with at least 2 beds still open so she wouldn’t be the “intruder.”</p>
<p>It’s worked out well, though she won’t be living with any of the 3 girls again next year (2 are moving off campus) as she’s moving in with friends she met this year.</p>
<p>I think this happens a lot after the first year, that room mates wind up elsewhere. Some room mates move off campus to save money or they find new (more compatible) friends to share with. It is probably the exception if all room mates stay together and highly unlikely that it would be for all four years.</p>
<p>Think of it as a chance to make some additional unexpected friends.</p>
<p>What type of furniture is in the living area of the suites? Is there a sofa, chairs & coffee table? I saw the pics online and there was furniture, but not sure if it came with the suite. Lamps? Kitchens have frig, oven & microwave? or you have to bring a microwave? Flat screen for the living area sounds key. S wants a stereo system for his ipod, something better/louder than a Bose, but not too crazy. I don’t want him being that room mate. He also wants good headphones. Think both might make a good grad gift.</p>
<p>The living room has two chairs, sofa, TV stand with shelving, small table and a coffee table. The dining room has a table and four chairs, while the kitchenette has a sink, microwave, and full-size refrigerator. Ovens are located in the kitchens shared by the entire building.</p>
<p>the furniture you can see on the housing website.</p>
<p>in ridgecrest south it is 5 sections of couch (one corner) an end table, and a tv stand. then the bar height table and two chairs.</p>
<p>i don’t care for the 5 section couch thing much or the high table and stools.</p>
<p>in my dd’s room the furniture is brown, as is the carpet.</p>
<p>no lamps included. microwave included. since the tv stand is big, even a tube tv will work, but it would be heavy. </p>
<p>i wouldn’t appreciate a roommate with a loud stereo system. in close quarters (dorm/apartment living) that is really annoying!</p>
<p>you could make the living area pretty nice and more useful with the addition of a few things (bookshelf or short shelves). a rug is nice to add some color. some pillows for the couch. artwork or posters.</p>
<p>my daughter added a tall shelf to her bedroom (target $25). gave her a place to put her tv. store books and a few other things.</p>
<p>the storage in the kitchen is a little skimpy especially when roomies don’t coordinate who is bringing what. IMO it would be good for one person to bring all the kitchen stuff and someone else could bring stuff for the living room and someone could bring the tv or some such arrangement. my DD’s room - they each brought dishes so there are way too many. each person uses their own. they each keep their food in a separate cabinet.</p>
<p>they seem to have trouble with keeping the dishes washed and whose turn it is to buy toilet paper.</p>
<p>^^^Love it, Mike! You mean girls have those problems, too!</p>
<p>yeah - i think my DD’s bigest concern when she went back was the tissue issue! haha</p>
<p>they had each previously bought a 24 roll pack (roomies was fluffy and lasted about 3 weeks, and katie’s which lasted the rest of the semester. well, then the roomie went out and bought a 4 pack. yes, a 4 pack!!! now maybe she didn’t need to buy 24, but only 4? they would be running to the store for TP every week!</p>
<p>Hi there - Happy Mardi Gras all :)</p>
<p>Mike - you mentioned that your daughter added a shelf. Does anyone know of a way to connect wall shelves to the wall? I figured out the drapery rod and 3M hooks for the curtains but other than the stand alone shelves, didn’t know about the best storage solutions.</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>Before getting to Alabama, my son did some shopping and bought a really nice folding, three-shelf bookcase. Makes it very easy to store when the school year ends. As for hanging curtains, you need to use a spring rod only. The school frowns on holes in the walls.</p>
<p>nope - no way to hang a shelf. hers is a 6 foot tall bookshelf.</p>
<p>the folding shelves are a good solution. you can find them at target (online) and other places.</p>