<p>I have heard that there are single dorms in Colonnades. Anyone know who chooses a single? Is it difficult to get it? I am concerned about the limitations meeting friends and socializing, however, there are some pluses in terms of quiet for studying, etc. Anyone know students who have lived in singles and can comment on their experience? Also, are they randomly assigned or only given if the student wants it? How many single are there? Thanks for any input.</p>
<p>For incoming freshmen, you fill out a housing questionnaire in the spring where you request your top 5 dorm choices. I do not recall a question offering a single as an option.</p>
<p>Colonnades does have some singles, but I believe those are more likely to go to juniors and seniors. There are 2-person and 4-person pods with single rooms and a shared common area, but I believe these will mostly be sophomores and up, unless you get into a pod as a freshman in a learning community.</p>
<p>Thanks Rockvillemom. When you say “pod”, is this within Colonnades? Do pods have a bathroom or is it shared for the floor? Thanks.</p>
<p>Here is a description of Colonnades from the Elon Residence Life webpage:</p>
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<p>There are also the pod suites with four single rooms, two bathroms, and small common room.</p>
<p>My son lived in Colonnades this year in a double room that shared a bathroom with the adjoining double room. Each room has a sink. The bathroom has shower and toilet. I think it is nicer than having a shared hall bath for the entire floor, but they are responsible for cleaning it themselves.</p>
<p>Thanks Rockvillemom. Sorry to bother you - I did see this on the Elon page, but for some reason I was confused… My son heard that the Learning Community is in Colonnades, but he (and I) could not figure out if it’s doubles, pods, singles… ?? Maybe the exact room choices for Learning Communities vary from year to year? Also, from what I understand the student does not necessarily get to live in a Learning Community, even if he wishes to. I think my S will be applying for one. If he applies, does anyone know when he will hear if he is accepted to it? Thanks.</p>
<p>My son is in a LC in Colonnades this year. He applied for it as part of the regular housing application in the spring and found out that he was accepted when he received his housing assignment a few weeks later.</p>
<p>The LC takes up one wing of one floor. So - within a wing - there would be a variety of types of rooms. So - some students in the LC are in double rooms - some are in the 2 single room pods. The RA would typically get the stand alone single.</p>
<p>There are a variety of LCs - some are in Colonnades - and some are not. Even within Colonnades - the floor plans will vary. For example, the Business LC does have the pods with 4 single rooms.</p>
<p>So - I would focus more on the particular LC that might interest him and less on the room configuration - as it is hard to predict where he might be placed within the options for that LC.</p>
<p>Your room in a lc is dependant on what you pay for. If you sign up for a roommate you will have one. If you sign up for a single, you pay a higher housing fee. There is a different fee structure to be aware of between doubles, pod singles, and stand alone singles. There are stand alone singles in the lcs beyond the ra. Each lc is different. My s is in biz lc and there are no doubles. Most are stand alones, but he is in a 4 person pod with each having a single, with 2 baths for the 4. Perfect if All 4 got along, but s had no choice in this and it has been a problem.</p>
<p>Also to remember, a single in nades means double bed. Keep in mind when shopping for sheets. S loves his room, just not a pod mate.</p>
<p>Samtalya - thanks for the explanation. Sorry to hear that your S’s living situation has been a problem. So I assume pod-mates are randomly assigned? (I guess the chance of it not working out is the same as a typical college dorm where roommates are randomly assigned. From our visits in seems like many schools now permit the students to find their own roommates (Facebook?) or by other means. But even then, there is no guarantee of success. Is the situation worthy of trying to switch - is this an option?</p>
<p>As an incoming freshman, when you apply to a learning center, you also select your other dorm choices. So you don’t know when you apply to the Learning Center, if you will have a roommate or not depending on what type of room you select. You can put down the name of a roommate. So my son selected a single room for the Learning Center and put down the name of a roommate in case he did not make the Learning Center. As it happens the person he put down also wanted to be in the business Learning Center. So the great thing is that they both made the Learning Center and the 2 of them are in a pod. The problem is that the other 2 people in the pod are not who the boys would have chosen. So its a mixed blessing.</p>
<p>It is all the luck of the draw. My son have some very nice people in the business Learning Center, but the amount of social activity they do together such as going to eat in the dining room and other activities on the campus, is much less than the social activity on Rockville moms sons Hall. This can happen on any floor in any dorm on campus. You never know how social the entire Hall will be at any time. Now at my son’s Hall has become much better as the year has gone on, but in the beginning of the school year it would have been nice if they all went to the dining room together went to football games and other activities on campus. You just never know. I do think that there are dorms that are specifically freshman, that will be more social. The learning centers are not typically as social, because they are mixed with some upperclassmen and it is a quieter location. My son definitely wanted to be In colonnades because of the closeness to the business center, the quietness, and the single room. I am guessing he will stay there for next year. So he has adjusted well and has found his place on campus, and is very happy.</p>
<p>Sent from my SGH-T889 using CC</p>
<p>Just my two cents: My daughter lived in Colonnades last semester as a sophomore (she is London now) and loved it! However, she had already established a very good friend group and was not too worried about making lots of new friends in her dorm, specifically.</p>
<p>She has remarked over and over how she was SO glad that she lived in the traditional style dorm as a freshman (West - all girls dorm). She felt terrible for the freshmen who were in her Colonnades floor who all seemed a bit lost for most of the semester, mainly due to the layout of Colonnades vs a traditional dorm. Colonnades is gorgeous - like a hotel, really, but very, very quiet and most people tend to keep their doors closed most of the time. The traditional dorms are just like you remember them - lots of noise, activity, impromptu gatherings in people’s rooms, etc. Very conducive to meeting lots of people quickly. There also seems to be more of a focus on doing things as a group since students quickly identify themselves as 3rd Virginia, or 2nd Smith, etc.</p>
<p>Another thing my daughter noted was/and is how FAR away Colonnades is from the “center” of campus. 100% of her freshman year classes were on the “old” side of campus. She was more apt to attend lunch lectures, Campus coffee, concerts, etc. since it was a 2 minute walk from her dorm, and she could easily sneak back up to her room for a quick nap if she needed between classes. No so easy if you live in Colonnades or even worse, Daniely. </p>
<p>Now, Elon does a terrific job getting freshman relationships going with their “Elon 101” class, so this might not be a concern for your child. Also, if your child is going to be in the business school, he will probably have at least one of his classes over in Koury freshman year. Or, if he just enjoys peace and quiet, and doesn’t mind not having a “typical” freshman dorm experience, he may love Colonnades or Daniely.</p>
<p>Just wanted to present another viewpoint.</p>
<p>Great post cmariel, that is exactly what my S has found as a freshman living in Virginia. The hall bonding has been a huge part of his 1st semester and winter term experiences, and the location is terrific. And he certainly doesn’t mind the connection that Virginia has with the West girls! :)</p>
<p>Case in point - his floor had a coed dodgeball team for winter term intramurals. For added fun, they dressed in costume for all their games - business casual, superheroes, etc. And yes, they refer to themselves by their floor name.</p>
<p>Great info cmairiel and Embrace! Thank you so much! Colonades sounds great, but probably not for my DS. He will be wanting a very social dorm as he won’t know anyone and will be looking to find friends. Any other suggestions besides Virginia to add to his list?</p>
<p>Thanks so much to the abover posters - this information is valuable. I guess my S will have a big decision, as he assumed he would want a living community. Many of the schools he visited described them, and he assumed it would be an ideal situation; he is especially interested in study groups. Obviously these are easily formed when the kids live on the same floor. However he wants a fun social situation also. I have not told him everything I read here, but I plan to direct him to this thread. I guess he will have to weigh the pros and cons. I know that he can apply to the learning community with no guarantee that he will be accepted. I wish there was a “best of both worlds” option!</p>
<p>Thanks for sharing you experiences, Elon parents. It is extremely helpful!</p>
<p>Just want to add, my S had all his classes in Koury business or in Mc Michael Science, both of which are next to nades. McMichael is across from college coffee so it was easy for S to cross street to go and nades is easy to get to mosely which he goes to once a day for activities.</p>
<p>It is all about the fit. Just like picking Elon is about picking a college that is the right fit, picking a dorm is too. Nades is perfect for my S. He wanted a single room with a bigger bed and more space. He wanted to be able to have quiet if needed. Would it have been nice if his hall was more social like RVM’s S? absolutely, but that is random and out of our control. remember, roommates can be sweet surprises or disasters. (what may start out as a great situation can change. This has happened with a friend of ours who is now miserable with her roommate in virginia) However, I don’t agree that kids shut their doors in nades until late at night. They may have single rooms, but they leave their doors open and they do hang in the common room. It is the mix of kids that make the difference.</p>
<p>Yes Sloane, Virginia are definitely known to be more social. Nades is more luxury and quiet, but you can have a good floor. If you child is studying education, arts or communications, classes will be close by if you live in east/west side of campus. If your child is studying sciences or business, nades is much closer. </p>
<p>S is happier with his floor after winter term and may stay on it as a sophomore, because he now has a group of friends and clubs that he enjoys.</p>
<p>cmariel - You mentioned that your daughter is in London, so can you tell me, does that mean that you only paid for her dorm for the Fall semester, or are you still obligated to the expense while she is in London? And also, does this mean that her roommate from last semester does not have a roommate now? Just wondering how this works?</p>
<p>My daughter specifically chose to live in Colonnades last semester with another girl who is also abroad this semester. We paid for only Fall/Winter term (even though she left for London Jan. 2nd and technically didn’t get to take a class at Elon for Winter term). She was not obligated to find someone to take her place in Colonnades for the Spring semester, unlike if she were to live in some of the other Elon housing (The Crest, The Oaks, etc). Most kids who choose to live in the Oaks, for example, try to pair themselves up with someone who is studying abroad on the opposite semester as they are (fairly easy since SO many kids are abroad all of the time). The tricky part is finding someone your remaining roommates want to live with also!</p>
<p>Thanks Cmariel - was not sure how this works- sounds like a perfect arrangement.</p>