<p>Earlier this year when S was doing a MS internship in India, he had an assignment in a health clinic in one of the larger cities of India. His bed was a hospital gurney. You'd think that this company and clinic could provide something more substantial? He survived, no compliants, and now he has another story to say, "I wasn't dead, but I slept on a guerny."</p>
<p>^^ I hope he kept a sign on himself - </p>
<p>"Please don't operate - I'm just sleeping"</p>
<p>How do these dorms get around the maximum occupancy rule? Just raise the number? Are these rooms crammed with kids legal fire safety wise? Kids at our elementary school this year can no longer hang back packs in the halls because in cut off about 8-10" on either side of the hall. Still plenty of room to maneuver, but rules are rules. :(</p>
<p>I recently visted an elite eastern LAC where we saw a fairly nice little suite that consisted of two small bedrooms, each housing two kids, on either side of a small common room.</p>
<p>Later that day my S's housing assignment arrived. As far as I can tell from the floor plan online, he shares an equivalent suite with ONE other person! They each have their own bedroom, and they share a common room. Reading about the overcrowding encountered by so many others appalls me. I hope he realizes how lucky he is!</p>
<p>One son decided against a college due to a triple. He felt he needed the space and would not enjoy a triple. I do think it will be a sign of problems elsewhere like full or larger classes and cafeterias. Let alone enough shower space if it is a shared one in the hall.</p>
<p>My other son is a sophomore at a public U and was able to get an on campus apartment next year. Three bedrooms, two baths, and a living/kitchen area for $575 a month all utilities included for three students. Not bad for your own bedroom. He is pretty happy.</p>
<p>Relax. Just wait until your child tells you, or you discover that the triple sometimes becomes a quatro; Happend when one of the roommates brings in the GF/BF for the night. Beware of thursday, friday, saturday nites.</p>
<p>Goodnite :)</p>
<p>I guess one could make an argument for air conditioned rooms under those circumstances.</p>
<p>I haven't heard anyone much mention the health consequences of turning a lot of doubles into triples. One year (some decades ago :-) I was in a dorm that nearly every double room had been turned into a triple or even quad. I stayed sick the entire semester! My immune system just could not handle living quarters that tight. Finally, the campus doctor told me I had to get out or I would never be well enough to attend classes. He gave me a medical necessity letter and I got permission to move off campus. I had to pay for the apartment by myself since everyone else was settled by that time, but it was still a vast improvement. Loneliness is preferable to being constantly sick :-)</p>
<p>Thankfully, my ds is attending an LAC with many singles and he got assigned to one. He's very excited since he's been sharing a room with 3 brothers for years and he attracts friends like flies to honey anyway! It's funny because relatives keep sending him "adjusting to college" articles that talk about learning to share space and he's not going to have to for the first time since he was two <lol>.</lol></p>
<p>My daughter just moved into her triple at NYU, meant for 2 people. But it seems more spacious than I thought. She requested a double late, so there is a freeze on assignments right now till the first 2 weeks are over then she can request the double. She is reluctant now because she likes her roomates that she is with. (haven't met but thru facebook and IM). My concern is the health issues. Living in such close quarters, staying up late because of schoolwork, etc, etc. Trying to get her to understand the importance of vitamins, rest (nag,nag) good food.</p>
<p>I agree about the health issues. It's especially a concern in the colder climates where colds and flu are common in the winter. Combine that with late night partying or studying or both and pressure and stress and and there's more potential to catch things that affect class performance.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Trying to get her to understand the importance of vitamins, rest (nag,nag) good food.
[/quote]
The other important factor in trying to avoid getting sick is to wash hands a lot. This will be more effective in staving off viruses than taking vitamins. A good item to pack with the student are those disinfectant wipes so when the roomie(s), or yourself, gets sick, the doorknobs, etc. can be disinfected easily.</p>
<p>Before worrying too much about the triple remember that quarters are usually tight even in a double - especially when so many dorm-mates are popping in and out of each others' rooms. Even if you're in a double you likely to be in fairly close contact with many others - especially if sharing a hallway bathroom. There's also the issue of sharing desks and classroom doorknobs, etc. with hundreds/thousands of others.</p>
<p>Being smart enough to not share drinking from the same container helps also.</p>
<p>My school does something really nice for Freshmen who got forced triples (even if they got to move out later in the year): they next year, they get a tiny bump in the housing lottery, enough to put them at the top of sophomores selecting housing. This means they’re the ones who get singles in the best dorms (or two room doubles in the best dorms if that is what they want). (They also do this for Sophomores who don’t get room assignments until the summer, and Juniors shut out of Junior apartments). People in forced triples also get a pretty good discount.</p>
<p>I know a lot of people who got forced triples Freshmen year who, after the end of Sophomore year a pretty happy with how things worked out overall. Does any other school do this? It tends to smooth over sour feelings, especially since the Freshmen, while still in the triples, can at least tell themselves “well, I’ll get whatever room I wan t next year.” </p>
<p>Of course, I still wouldn't trade my double Freshmen year with my bump sophmore year, but I know some people who got less than ideal sophmore year housing who feel otherwise.</p>
<p>ucd<em>ucla</em>dad, that makes good sense. I forgot, Handwashing is actually the best defense.</p>
<p>Weskid, I like that idea. Still, I feel that the freshmen should get a bump on preferred housing, and all together since a good start is so important.</p>
<p>I read an article on my son's school that they are looking into housing several hundred students at a hotel. The funny thing is that I work right next to the hotel. So he could take the shuttle bus to see me anytime he wanted to. He has an off campus apartment that's literally next door to the campus (20 second walk to his classes) but it would probably be cheaper to have him live in the "dorm" hotel next to where I work. The only problem would be the 20 minute bus ride to the campus. And he likes his apartment too. I had a pretty good laugh when I read that this morning.</p>
<p>^^ But if you give freshmen preference, you get unhappy upperclassmen. For a school looking to keep its upperclassmen on campus, that's really not going to help. URochester is this predicament, I believe.</p>
<p>There's no way to keep everyone happy. I think that a 20 minute shuttle-bus ride is a pain in the neck to get to your dorms and you can't drop your books off somewhere between classes. This is the northeast and sometimes roads are slippery early in the morning which will affect transportation.</p>
<p>It's not the end of the world but it does require more thinking about organizational issues. You can't just run to the library when you need to use local resources too. One other thing about a satellite campus is campus network access for using research databases.</p>
<p>The answer is to provide housing at a cost/quality that upper classmen will want to fill the available spaces LEFT after the freshmen are housed.</p>
<p>If only that were the case everywhere, cptofthehouse! But would you rather the school spend money on upperclass dorms or need/merit FA?</p>
<p>The problem is that schools are spending the money on very upscale upperclass apartments instead of more basic inexpensive dorm rooms in response to kids liking those arrangements. For some reason it sells the college to the prospective freshmen to see those town houses and apartments. The fact that they may be tripled or put in a barrack freshman year does not seem to come up.</p>