<p>What are the pros and cons of having a single or double. I like privacy but I guess it'll be more sociable having a roomie.</p>
<p>I would much rather have a single. It’s so much nicer to have your own space, and it’s not like you won’t be interacting with the other people in the dorm. Dickson is almost all singles, so if you get there, you won’t feel strange at all for not having a roommate. The cons? It’s more expensive and you don’t have someone to rely on for companionship the first two weeks. Not a big deal.</p>
<p>I don’t really see the pros of having a double other than you have at least one reliable friend during the first two weeks. I know people from other dorms who wound up hating their roommates. Studious engineers and fraternity meatheads don’t mix well…</p>
<p>Personally, I don’t see how I would manage with a roommate. I like to watch TV at weird hours.</p>
<p>^ My son is an engineer and is in a fraternity that is full of other engineers…with 40 fraternities on campus, you can have it all. The engineering school is one of the largest colleges, so they’re everywhere…</p>
<p>^
Full of engineers? Probably not one of the “typical” fraternities then.</p>
<p>My younger daughter’s best friend is an engineer and she is very pretty. They are in the same sorority. The sorority is one of those very typical sororities.</p>
<p>^
I don’t know why you feel the need to nitpick my statement. If you don’t personally pick your roommate (and even if you do pick), there’s a chance you won’t get along. I know people with that issue. That’s all.</p>
<p>You made perfect sense until you generalized engineers and fraternity members (meatheads). Both of my kids opted for singles for the exact reason you posted.</p>
<p>^
It was just an example of people I know. Not all fraternity members are overly loud, obnoxious, or drunk like those particular characters.</p>
<p>Engineers are generally more studious than the average student, but a lot of them can be slackers too.</p>
<p>Also, I never even said all fraternity members were meatheads. I said “fraternity meatheads,” a specific subset of fraternity members.</p>
<p>I just wanted to point out that there is lots of diversity - of all kinds - in the Greek system. I wouldn’t want a kid coming next year to think otherwise. Roommate issues happen everywhere…I do know a current freshman who is living in a single this year. He had requested a double. Not only is his rent higher, but he didn’t like it. Next year, he hopes to live in a double on West Campus. It’s a personal choice. If my son had to do it over, I would suggest he go for a quad. That would put him in the townhouses, where a “quad” means 2 double rooms in a townhouse. That would have worked for him. He was in a forced triple, which was ridiculous. The only up-side was the lower housing rate. No 3 girls could have lived under those conditions, for many reasons.</p>
<p>^
Why? I know girls in forced triples. Obviously those suck and there isn’t much space, but there are people who have to live in them.</p>
<p>The townhouses are probably the nicest on the inside and they actually separate the toilet and shower in different rooms. They also have access to cable.</p>
<p>The reason people don’t like them is because of the extra distance, which isn’t really so bad if you use the bus properly. In retrospect, I wish I’d considered the townhouses more.</p>
<p>All I meant about girls having a hard time in a forced triple was that the kids had wardrobes. Hardly enough room for boys’ clothes, much less a girl’s, along with all those SHOES. They guys my son lived with were bare-bones in what they brought in and survived, but it looked miserable to me. I’m a girl…</p>
<p>The townhouses are much farther than the low rises and RPCC. Looking back, if we had known, my son would have gone for the quad and most likely would have gotten it.</p>
<p>^^^^ oops!!! townhouses AREN’T much farther than the low rises and RPCC ^^^^^</p>
<p>Okay so what I inferred form these posts are that Doubles aren’t so bad and its based on chance whether I get along with my roomate or not. (Although I thought there was a matching thingy?). So I checked the rates and a single is ~$1000 more expensive than a double. What’s the opportunity cost of this in Cornell? Is this difference really worth the privacy?</p>
<p>^
You are allowed to “pick” your roommate, but sometimes they give you a random person instead-- or the person turns out to have misrepresented himself/herself.</p>
<p>If you can afford it, then in my opinion: Yes.</p>
<p>Opportunity cost? The opportunity cost of having a single would obviously be having a double. Not sure what you mean by that.</p>
<p>Well if I pick a single over a double, there will be a monetary cost difference of ~$1000. So I’m asking for the real value, that is what I can use a $1000 for at Cornell provided I have covered the rest of my expenses? (Maybe I’ll get an iPhone5 
)</p>
<p>^That totally depends on your personal situation. If you’re a billionaire, then there is no reason to not spend that $1000 if you think it will improve your experience. If you are on serious financial aid, it is probably unwise, although I believe the financial aid would offset some of the extra cost.</p>
<p>If that $1000 will have a fairly significant impact, then it might be better to just go with a double (or even a triple, which is cheaper still).</p>
<p>When it is really cold out there, it is nice to be able study in your room. Not having to listen to my kid complain about her roommate is priceless.</p>
<p>^
Exactly. Though the loud people in the hallway are still distracting.</p>
<p>So when I first get to my room is it totally empty, like do I have to get my own lamp, desk (lol), etcetera</p>