<p>Do schools discount the room and board when they triple up or otherwise compromise what is being paid for? I would assume they would especially if the student was a full pay student.... it would be a good faith gesture if nothing else or a small apology to the parents.</p>
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Do schools discount the room and board when they triple up or otherwise compromise what is being paid for? I would assume they would especially if the student was a full pay student.... it would be a good faith gesture if nothing else or a small apology to the parents.
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<p>Generally I they do... afterall they would have a hard time justifying charging you for a normal double if that's not what they end up providing you with. It would essentially be like a hotel giving you a smaller room and then still charging you the price for a larger room.</p>
<p>There were no triples during DD's freshman year but their were the year before and the year after. When we were at a parent session for accepted students they said that triples when necessary were discounted. They also said that many students wanted to stay in their triples (friendship reasons) as did their parents (financial reasons) but that once space was available, you had to move.</p>
<p>Son and daughter had the dreaded triples their first year. Don't worry, it should be fine. My son didn't even like his roommates, but it made him get out and do everything. He made friends and participated in many activities. He just did not want to sit around and play video games day and night. My daughter's triple didn't last as one roomie moved in with her boyfriend and only infrequently stayed in her bed.</p>
<p>This year, my D2's freshman year, she will actually have only two in her room. We were quite surprised and happy. We had just expected a triple.</p>
<p>Yeah, we pay too much, as parents, for triples, but it certainly was an adventure for them! We already have the funny "remember the triple" stories.</p>
<p>This isn't quite the same thing, but in my sorority house we switched rooms every quarter and there were triples and even one quad room that we all rotated through. I never lived in a triple, but I lived in the quad and it was great fun. Having said that, the room was big enough to accommodate 4 girls and all their things.</p>
<p>We were in the same situation. Son was assigned to a triple. Surprised me since this was not at all anticipated, given the info we were given during the tour and visits. School has great yield this year and more upperclassmen who are staying on campus housing than usual. </p>
<p>However, today we just found out that he has been reassigned to a double. Sometimes upperclassmen sign up for dorms as back up even as they are looking for apartment/house off campus arrangements. All of those things have to be factored in when the schools assign housing. </p>
<p>Both of my older boys got horrible housing. They ended up in the "outer Siberia" of dorms freshman year which was really upsetting to me. I think it did contribute to problems and issues. We did try to look at things optimistically but we had many problems directly attributable to the unfavorable housing. It seems these days if you don't send in that housing check, very very early, you lose out.</p>
<p>D finally received her housing information over this past weekend. The school claims they take so long because they try to "match" the students for the best possible outcomes. I really don't see how that is possible using a 10 question quiz, but that's what they say. Anway, D receives her housing information and is of course in a dreaded triple. Not dreaded in the sense of size because these are standard triples and the rooms are large enough to accommodate 3 students, but because she didn't like the idea of living with 2 other girls as someone always seems to feel left out. Even more upsetting is that both roommates are from the same town, although did not go to school together, and requested each other as roommates! I guess we know who's going to feel left out! I can't imagine how those in residence life who matched these 3 girls thought it would be a good idea. I can't think of anything more socially stressful to a new student than this. I'm sure the other girls are just as disappointed becuase they hadn't counted on having a 3rd roommate when they decided to room together. Luckily, my daughter signed up for a volunteer program the school runs in the local community several days before school begins. She will be the first one to check into their room and will hopefully have made some friends and become familiar with the campus before her roommates even arrive. Basically we've told her she needs to make the best of the situation; things don't always happen the way we want. She can either complain about it or figure out ways to make it work for her. She's a bright, friendly, out-going kid and I'm praying she does the latter!</p>
<p>I think that I understand the Outer Siberia comment. I got our son an apartment that was further from campus than was desirable and I saw the problems with being further from campus. Fortunately it was a tenancy at will and we found something really close in within a month. It will be interesting to see if the higher yields results in overall more usage of campus facilities.</p>
<p>Some colleges have housing that is truly on the outliers of the campus to the point that shuttle buses are necessary. Some schools have several campuses and the housing is not necessarily located on the same campus as the classes. All of this can result in problems. First of all, the shuttles may not always run regularly, have a curfew, weekend hours, etc. I visited my second son one weekend and was appalled to find out that the school halved the shuttle runs. They had made such a big deal about the frequent shuttle runs. Also, going back to ones room is really an hour ordeal as the shuttle has a number of stops and when the time factored in for running up to the room and grabbing something often means missing the next shuttle. Also son had a lot of late night gigs as he is a theatre major, and they would run past that last shuttle. Also did not like location of the south campus. Since the dorms there were apartment style it also meant less mingling with other students.</p>
<p>Daughter was in a forced triple (the smallest room in the bldg) last year and there were no discounts, we tried. Everyone in the bldg was tripled and some were 5 to a very large room with their own bathroom. She was the last to move in and the other girls could not have been nicer - making sure they all had equal room though she did get the top bunk (and was happy she did not get the lofted one). One girl was on a sports' team and the other had a boyfriend on campus so daughter had the room to herself most of the time. They all got along very well though were not what I would call friends.</p>
<p>She is tripled again this year but supposedly in a slightly bigger room, still no discounts. If it works out like year she will be very happy.</p>
<p>The colleges are not completely to blame here. It's not just a function of yield ratios. There was an article in the Boston Globe recently that a large number of students at UMass Amherst are being told there is no housing available for them. The main reason was that with energy & gas prices going up, fewer upperclassmen are choosing to live off-campus. Dorm prices are predictable; heating bills in an apartment and gas to drive to campus are unpredictable and expensive, so kids are choosing to stay on-campus who might have normally gotten an apartment nearby.</p>
<p>At UMass Amherst, kids who were not on campus last semester go to the bottom of the list for the next year's housing. This is supposed to encourage kids not to go to off-campus apartments to begin with, because the University knows that kids who live on campus do better and get into less trouble. But the policy also hit kids who were away the previous semester studying abroad or in similar programs. Those kids are just now finding out they don't have housing for the fall and are having to scramble to find apartments. And financial aid apparently pays for dorms but not for apartments.... some kids are in a real bind and may have to take a semester off.</p>
<p>But my point was that schools like Fordham (as mentioned on page 1) or other urban campuses who probably are used to a lot of upperclassmen moving off-campus are suddenly and unexpectedly faced with a higher percentage of students chosing to live in dorms. They then have a choice - deny some kids housing, or force triples. It's a lesser of two evils kind of thing. And it's not all due to poor planning on the school's part or poor freshman class yield management.</p>
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I bet they intentionally didn't disclose this information up front.
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They probably at least don't advertise it. However, go to the 'housing' section on the college's website and see if they have any reference to triples. If they do, assume that it means that there's a chance your kid can end up in one. Further, see if you can read the fine print on the housing contract. The ones I've seen (UCs) indicate that the Uni reserves the right to assign the student to any housing situation regardless of their requested spot. </p>
<p>Combine the fact that the college has triples, the college reserves the right to place students anywhere, freshmen usually have the lowest placement priority, and some colleges are seeing unexpected bumps in enrollees, and it's not surprising that people are ending up in triples.</p>
<p>I do think there should be a discount though if one's placed in a triple versus a double or single. I'm glad the UCs do the discount.</p>
<p>I got my terrific college roommate because my horrible pot luck roomie was leaving to student teach (praise the Lord) and my new roomate had been in a triple-she said there's always an "odd man out" and it was her. I'd be concerned about a triple, too.</p>
<p>This is a fantastic thread and OP, I'm glad you vented. It is a helpful wake up call for those of us with rising seniors. If a student loves everything about a school except the housing, I can see that it's very important to make your student focus on how she will feel if the "worst" happens - she is tripled, gets the dungeon dorm, or gets the dorm across the Interstate from the rest of the campus, or whatever. If that makes her not want to attend the school, then it's better to find out sooner than later.</p>
<p>My son has mild Asperger's and how roomate/housing situations are handled will be a greater than normal part of our/his decision making.</p>
<p>I chimed into this thread because I think it is too easy for parents (and/or students) to get too focused on the dorm situation and not see the bigger picture. I know a student who attends community college and since she is too poor to afford a car, rides public transportation <em>2 hours</em> to get to campus. She goes to classes and then works in the afternoons. Then she rides public transportation <em>2 hours</em> to get back home. Sometimes she gets home after 10pm. </p>
<p>You know what? She doesn't complain. She's grateful to go to college. She makes it work for her. She would be thrilled with an on-campus triple at a private college, or a "outer Siberia" room on the edge of the campus. </p>
<p>I know as parents we want the best for our children, and that we can fall into the trap of feeling entitled because of shelling out big bucks for private college tuition. But the reality is that the triple-room situation is a minor issue (so is the Siberian one). If students can't handle a triple - what on <em>earth</em> will they ever learn how to handle?? Not all concerns are created equal - some will be looked at as inconsequential and that is what I pointed out. </p>
<p>This is a public forum with thousands of readers and commentators - you won't like everything you hear.</p>
<p>Annika</p>
<p>1968, Oregon/OregonState put kids into the common areas, and did not have rooms available until spring term. Same in 1969 but to a lesser extent. By 1970, the housing shortage was gone with new apartments and one new dorm. Today, there is a surplus of housing even with higher enrollments. </p>
<p>DS wanted triples (cheaper) and have made fast friends. They were rarely together other than party weekends in the dorm.</p>
<p>In the provided company housing that he has, he feels mightly lonely.</p>
<p>It does bother me to be paying such prime rates for triples or substandard housing. Especially after listening to them brag about the school and looking at all the pretty pictures up on their websites and in their view books. This is something that I checked more carefully after being burned twice. School 1 guaranteed 4 university housing to all who got forms in on time, but it didn't mention that some of the housing was way, way out there, or were hotel rooms or private apartments temporarily converted. School 2 did not mention the quads and the triples. The numbers of those who got their first choices included the upper classmen who got first dibs with their housing lottery. I would say 40% of the freshmen are housed on South Campus which is a shuttle bus ride away. This is not unusual at a number of state unis. School3 sounded very promising housingwise, so I was pretty hot under the collar when S3 got his triple room assignment. I had inquired specifically about housing and took the time to get the info this time around, and still..... But now all is well as he has been moved to a double.Believe me when I go through this again in 2 and half years, housing will be high on the priority list. I am NOT interested in sticking my kid in a triple or in non dorm situations freshman year. Nor do I want them having to take a bus to classes. It would have to be a danged special school and opportunity to make the list if the school has issues that way.</p>
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Today, there is a surplus of housing even with higher enrollments.
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<p>News</a> and Events - University Housing</p>
<p>I heard that Oregon had several hundred more attending than anticipated. The record number of freshmen plus the record cost of gas adds up to not enough dorm rooms anywhere.</p>
<p>Tripling isn't the ideal if the room was meant to be a double. Some prefer tripling in a room-built-for=3 because it gives them more chance to like a roommate.</p>
<p>S-1 and S-2 both got assigned triples, although one university made it a point to mention it in the websites and housing brochures, so it was no surprise.</p>
<p>If I can make some positive suggestions if that's your housing result: who gets the top bunk is usually the issue, as it's harder to make the bed (as if). But there are many variables in any room. In S-1's, the boy who took the top bunk was saved (by the other 2 boys) the campus window view for his desk as consolation prize. And he said, when he arrived, that he'd been in residential prep schools for years, so was used to bunking upper and lower. He had stopped caring about that years ago, he said. </p>
<p>S-2 and a roommate arrived almost a day before the third roommate. There was one freestanding bed and a bunk, with not enough room to put all 3 on the floor. They tried as long as they could not to choose beds but finally it was getting dark, so they each claimed lower beds. The third family arrived at dinnertime and was very upset that only the top bunk was left. When they came back from dinner, the son initiated a major discussion. One of the boys already there (not my son) just shrugged his shoulders and offered to move to the top bunk to show a spirit of compromise. Everyone did better after the parents left the room.</p>
<p>Some of their ideas I heard them discuss as they awaited the 3rd boy's arrival: </p>
<p>Rotate beds after l/3 of the year.
Rotate beds every month.
Trade off some other thing that's really excellent to make up for the top bunk.
Find out if someone really loves the top bunk.
See if the furniture is stable. IF the beds nest into each other rock-steady, that's going to be different than if it's a shaky iron bed like a summer camp. Don't assume.</p>
<p>End-year reports: For S=1 tripling was wretched because one of the rooommates had huge issues re: consideration. S kept his ears open for other opportunities and moved out to double with a sophomore by mid-year freshman year into a great situation, at which point the remaining 2 moved on either side of their divided double and came and went without much comment for the rest of that year. Because the school knew it had a crowding problem, they were eager to untriple rooms, so S didn't have to make any kind of case or claim against the difficult roommate. All he had to do was locate the room (himself) and ResLife said "thanks" and let him leave without a question. No drama.</p>
<p>S-2 found friendship among the 3 of them and had no problems whatsoever. His room, however, was built as a triple and I didn';t think they were crowded.</p>
<p>When younger D was a freshman at BC, she lived on Newton Campus, about 1-1/2 to 2 miles from the main campus and used the shuttle bus to get back and forth. She didn't mind the shuttle at all - said she made many friends on the bus. She brought home a t-shirt after freshman year that said something like "Keyes Dorm: Freshman Year Abroad". The kids do adapt much better than we do.</p>
<p>When I visited for S graduation, his other two roommates stay elsewhere, one at home, and another with visiting family in hotel. I took son's bed, he took a roommates bed, without changing sheets. </p>
<p>After a while, they will just sleep in what is available and most easily accessible.</p>