I am a junior in high school and looking to apply to pretty well known/prestigious schools (I am involved in activities and #1 in my class). I know single dorms are in high demand and may be especially hard to acquire for a freshman, but I would really like one. I know I can push myself to be social in less forced settings, but as someone with high stress and anxiety, I need a place to be alone. I also suffer from misophonia (an extreme fight or flight reaction to certain repetitive “trigger sounds,” including eating sounds)-it would drive me insane to live with someone if they happen to eat in a triggering manner, and that would not be fair to them either. I wonder if that would be considered a legitimate medical reason for a single dorm. If anyone could break this down to me, I would really appreciate it.
If you get a medical statement and present it to the college housing office well in advance, it will likely be considered legitimate. Applying to prestigious colleges is irrelevant.
I was just trying to narrow down types of schools, like if it would be harder to get a single in a larger or more high demand (?) school
Whether or not schools have rooms designed to be singles, and have those available to freshmen, varies by university. It’s not about how well ranked a uni is. You need to check school by school.
There’s a difference between designated singles - rooms designed to be singles - and needing a single for medical reasons. If you have medical reasons, even schools that don’t have designated singles will create one for you. They’ll turn a double into a single, for example. Not all schools, but most.
With that said, if your doctors agree and will document that it’s best for you to have a single, most schools will try to accommodate you. You’d need to get your doctors on your side in terms of your treatment plan, and talk to the office of student disabilities at each school once you’re admitted.
Agree, first you need to get it documented by a medical professional and then you can check with the office of disability services as each college to see if it would be an allowable medical reason to get you a single room. If a single room is an option I would also understand the details (ex, where singles are located on campus, would it be in a freshman or upperclass dorm, a single room or a room in a suite etc.)
When my daughter was looking we found that none of the colleges she looked at will guarantee a medical single before a student matriculates. Your best bet is to speak to disability services who at very least can direct you to the best person/department to speak with. They should also be able to tell you the procedure you will need to follow after putting down a deposit since that can vary by school. Perhaps it can give you a feel for how apt they are to approve a request. You can ask them how long it takes to find out once you officially put in a request.
Way back when I was in college I had two friends with medical reasons to have an apartment in the only building with AC. They were each able to bring in a friend but didn’t have to. Perhaps you can ask if any of the current medical apartments may have openings and if they are singles even if it means living with a non freshman…
Let’s say a school will not give you a medical single. Would a suite be an alternative? That way if a person is eating in the living area you could go to the bedroom and shut the door. If this would work for you research how schools assign suites to freshman - they may be a standard option or may go with a specific living learning community etc.
If the medical exemption doesn’t work out, your best bet will be to identify those schools you might like that has solo rooms available to freshmen and beyond at schools you’d like to attend. It isn’t the optimal solution, but you should be prepared that your most prevalent solo option is likely a solo bedroom within a suite. You can use it only to sleep. There are a lot of places on campus to be alone. An honors program might give you a shot at better housing (along with some other benefits), but it likely won’t be good enough. Honors programs seems to like forcing people to live together. Good luck!
You may also want to consider looking at schools that allow freshman to live off campus so you can get a studio or one bedroom apartment. Might be helpful to have a kitchen so you don’t have to eat in the dining halls if you are triggered by people eating. Singles are very tough to come by at most colleges, even with a medical exemption.
Vassar has singles for freshmen in Strong Hall.
https://residentiallife.vassar.edu/residence-halls/halls/strong.html
Bryn Mawr has singles for freshmen
Thank you all!
For the OP, we could probably help you out with a list of colleges that have exclusive solo dorm rooms (albeit mostly within a suite) if it comes to that.