<p>I spent a year at Cambridge and I loved my little (single) room. I didn’t like the lack of central heating.</p>
<p>My 1st year D at UVA loves her suite style single - it really has provided great social interaction - her suitemates all get along and they’ve been able to branch out and meet other suites male and female because of how the dorm is set up. She truly feels she got the best option for her.</p>
<p>megpmom, your S can probably get a “medical single” as a freshman at most any school, even if they usually aren’t open to freshman. That’s what I did, for a physical disability. I wouldn’t let single rooms for freshman be a defining search criterion.</p>
<p>My freshman D is in suite style honors housing at University of Alabama. There are 4 single bedrooms along a hallway with a shared living room, kitchen area (full fridge, microwave & ample storage space; no stove.) Across from the bedroom are two separate sink areas and two bathrooms. My D is fairly quiet & not the most social so I was a little worried about the living situation but I also knew that the way she recharges to to be alone. </p>
<p>I can’t begin to say how happy she (and therefore I) am with the suite. She loves her roomies (1 other freshman & 2 sophomores) but the friends she hangs out with most live in another dorm. She met them at orientation & during a 1 week pre-semester honors program. She & I talked a bit before she left about how she had to make an effort to “put herself out there” and she has. and it’s been nice NOT to hear the type of roommate nightmare stories that have been making the rounds here on CC.</p>
<p>S had a single for 6/8 semesters. D moved (due to closing of old dorm) from a double room to a triple suite (each girl has own small bedroom) after 1st semester. D loves her original roommate–they are like sisters. They are both middle children from large families–used to sharing, very easy going. They love their 3rd roomie, too.</p>
<p>I think you will see colleges offering more and more singles/suites. It is what people want. This generation has seen smaller families in bigger houses–most kids are not used to sharing a bedroom and it stresses them out. I’m all for singles. It cuts down on conflicts, eliminates sexilling. Though I’m also from a large family and grew up sharing with 2 sisters, it seems unnatural for an adult to share a small space with an unrelated person. Even if that person becomes a good friend, it is just not how young adults want to live–they are used to more privacy.</p>
<p>My son was in a “mod” structure which had single rooms, with 6 people living on a hall and 3 halls connected to a common area. His “mod” had 6 guys and 12 girls sharing the common area. It was a great way to have the best of both - friends of both sexes and the sanity of a private room.</p>
<p>Forcing new students to share a small room with a stranger who may or may not be compatible just seems really odd to me. I think singles (or suite style multiples) are a great idea, especially for freshmen who don’t know anyone yet.</p>
<p>My DD chose a single/suite setting. She said it gave her the best solution bc of her schedule and the fact that she could mingle when she wanted. This turned out to be true her first year so she chose the same setting for her second year. She does say that she would like more space, but does not want to have to deal w/a roommate that does not like to study, has overnight guests as all hours and/or parties too much. She has heard horror stories from some of her other friends that do have doubles settings.</p>
<p>Her school also offers the single room and shared living space and that works out if all the people in the group know each other and get along. Just my 2 cents.</p>
<p>My son is a sophomore at Alabama and is also in the suites. He loves it. He knew that he would have to get involved with other things if he wanted to have a social life, and he did. He is involved in all sorts of things. But having the suite has afforded him privacy. If he needs to study or take a nap, he just closes his door. This year, he has great suite mates. All are so-to-speak clean freaks. The bathrooms are cleaned weekly. They mop the floors. They take out the trash. Last Friday, my son spent some time cleaning out the freezer and frig.</p>
<p>My son is also in the super suites at Bama. As an only child, we were happy he could have his own room, but we were also worried about isolation. I lived in freshman dorms with community baths my whole college experience and loved meeting new people every year.</p>
<p>As it happens, the suites have been great for my son. He not only made one new friend, as most do with a traditional double room, but three new friends. Others from the floor have joined their social circle. They now have a group of about 12 boys that hang out together. It has been great for my son, as he now has a big family of brothers!</p>
<p>He can go to his single room to study, sleep, but the boys use the common area as a gathering place, not just for those in the suite, but for their circle of friends. Space constrictions of a traditional dorm would not allow such gatherings, but having a “living room” makes it more homey, giving them room to hang out with a larger group than just a couple of boys, but also giving them more privacy than the gathering areas found on most floors in traditional dorms.</p>
<p>UMDCP and VT both require medical reasons for the most part to get a single as a freshman, regardless of honors.</p>
<p>Singles can be great, but I think it is important to look at the dorm to see if it is a good idea.</p>
<p>For example, UMDCP does have singles, but they are held for upperclassmen, unless you have a medical issue. This hurts the freshman because now they are in a dorm with kids who have been there for yrs and have their formed social circle. </p>
<p>I guess I am old school, part of my college memories were all about the crappy dorms eating pizza on the floor with 5 of my friends. </p>
<p>Our DD at VT has a roommate issue, but it is the traditional thing where with time they will work it out.</p>
<p>I think for girls it is harder because they are a little bit more fussy when it comes o living with other people…i.e. our DS’s room looked like a Bomb exploded in it all yr long. DD doesn’t mind if beds are un-made, but it drives her insane if empty water bottles are left hanging around or a wet towel on the floor.</p>
<p>My D is a HS junior and we’re already thinking about the dorm situation because she has a good friend who is a college sophomore and had a bad roommate experience last year and has spent most of this year being “sexiled” by her current roommate. D has always had her own room, loves her privacy and alone time, and is a shy, passive person. On the one hand she’s the type of girl who might benefit from a traditional dorm situation, because she’s not particularly social, but on the other hand she’s the type who could easily be walked on by an inconsiderate roommate. We’ve got Alabama on her list if only for the honors suite-style housing. Anyone know of other schools with a similar setup that’s available to freshmen?</p>
<p>I think more and more colleges are building the Bama type dorms. Whether they’re guaranteed to kids beyond freshman year is another matter. We always assumed Bama and Auburn were the only ones around here who had this setup, we’re in the south, but I think Missississippi State might have something similar as well. I notice you’re from Illinois. I’ve heard that Iowa has some nice dorms, though I don’t know if they’re exactly like the Bama dorms. </p>
<p>I don’t know how the sexile situation is handled in these super suites. My son is and is around a lot of engineering majors, so there haven’t been any girls around. (Old joke-see the engineering thread). However, I have heard that Auburn, which has similar dorms to Bama, does have a rule against co-ed visitors in the dorms after certain hours, which is something I thought only happened at Christian/Catholic colleges nowadays.</p>
<p>Coastal Carolina has private bedroom suite style dorms available to freshmen.</p>
<p>Montegut: I don’t think sexiling is an issue in the super suites, because the roomie & “visitor” will go into the roomies bedroom and close the door. Now noise may be an issue…but that’s a less invasive issue than being tossed out of one’s own room.</p>
<p>Beth’s mom wrote:
</p>
<p>I am also interested in such housing for my D, and the Alabama honors dorms look great. The idea that all freshmen should have to live in two-person hall-style dorms as a rite of passage or part of the true college experience doesn’t make sense to me. I would also love to hear of other places that offer housing similar to Alabama’s!</p>
<p>Our daughter is in a single along a dorm hallway at Hampshire College, which has about 80% single rooms. Virtually all 1st-year students are in one of the two dorms, and obviously, most of those students are in single rooms. Most returning students are in mod-style residence suites that each hold between 4 and 10 students. Each suite usually has one double room, with the remainder being singles. As others indicated, it seems like an ideal arrangement; communal living, but the chance to study or sleep in a private location. Also, as others noted, it is probably best for 1st-year students to live in a hallway-style dorm, where they will get a chance to meet others.</p>
<p>^^ my D isalso in a single on a hall. It seems like a good arrangement and she says she can sleep. Her house has ~45 all single rooms and lots of interaction among all in the house</p>
<p>If you are looking for honors college, check out the Barrett Honors College at ASU. They have freshman only buildings with different type of housing options. My DD loves it there.</p>
<p>[Barrett</a> Honors Barrett Housing](<a href=“http://barretthonors.asu.edu/home/category/2-futurestudents/4-barrett-housing/]Barrett”>http://barretthonors.asu.edu/home/category/2-futurestudents/4-barrett-housing/)</p>
<p>My graduating senior at Williams has had a single for all four years, as does about half the population.</p>
<p>Half the frosh rooms are singles. They have standard doubles and then singles. The doubles and singles are in different dorms. Therefore, in the singles dorm everyone has singles. It’s hall living, but there in a common room. Williams has a unique entry system that fosters community for frosh. Lots of time in the common room together.</p>
<p>My son adored having his own room all four years.</p>