<p>My daughter's best friend was in a triple last year. This is a girl who haf never had to share a bathroom at home, yet alone a room. Her mother was frantic, especially when they met the other two roommates who seemed so very different than my daughter's friend. But it all worked out - all three had very different schedules so there was plenty of time for privacy in the room, and they all agreed to things like quiet time, and when each could have friends in the room, or head out elsewhere to socialize. They learned how to work out their differences, and when they were offered the chance to split up at midyear, actually ended up deciding to stay in the triple (it was much larger than a regular double room). They will all be living in doubles next year with other roommates, but it really ended up OK.</p>
<p>My daughter, who is somewhat quiet and shy, meanwhile, lived in a single freshman year (by choice). She had NO problem meeting people, but she did have problems with an obnoxious person who lived next door in another single and who would do things like barge in when my daughter was sleeping, come into the room uninvited when my daughter was down the hall and take food and clothing without permission, etc.. By the end of the year, however, my daughter had acquired the skills and confidence to stick up for herself with this person, and to set boundaries. (Aside from that, she did really love having a single and will be staying in the same room this year).</p>
<p>The point is -- learning to live in a dorm with others is never easy or ideal, but it IS a learning experience. Whether you're in a single, a double, a triple, or a suite, you learn to work things out, and that is part of the whole educational process.</p>
<p>I had a triple last year- I almost didn't go along with it. I'm glad I did.</p>
<p>The biggest advantage is that it does greatly increase the chance that you will like one of your roommates and keep that relationship later on down the road. Plus triples cost less than doubles or singles.</p>
<p>I was assigned a to a triple in a double size room way back in the 80's for freshman fall semester. There was no bunking as the two beds were affixed to the floor on platforms. So an extra bed was just hauled in and dropped in the middle of the room. We literally walked across the beds to get from one side to another! One of my roommates was a soph. who had lived in the room the year before and we had chosen to live together. The third girl was put in at the last minute when dorm space became tight. It was very tight (and hot, unairconditioned 6th floor high rise in the south!) but we managed and the the third girl moved out just before Thanksgiving when a space came open in another dorm.</p>
<p>My eldest S was squeezed into a tripled double in his freshman year, and now I see the same thing will occur with youngest, a rising freshman at college.</p>
<p>Two ideas the eldest's group came up with:
1. Since it had a wall dividing it into a double, they put all three beds in one half of the dividied room, and all three desks/music/refrig in the other room. One for sleeping, one for everything "awake."</p>
<ol>
<li>The room with 3 beds had one bunkbed one bed on the floor. They agreed to rotate sleeping assignments. Could have been by the month, or by one-third of the year. Month would be fairer, since one of them moved out mid-freshman year anyway when a space came open on campus.
After one of the boys moved out, the remaining two divided up differently:
each had their own bed/desk/music in their own half of the room.</li>
</ol>
<p>For my youngest, there will be 3 students in one room. They share a bathroom with 3 students in a tripled double on the other side of the bathroom. I foresee their biggest problem could be keeping that bathroom clean and coordinating one shower among the 6 students. They'll work it out. Hopefully some of these freshmen will fall in love with seniors and spend ample time in their single rooms (ha! not much chance!) </p>
<p>The college wrote that, due to housing crunch, all freshmen should anticipate being in a triple (and all the rooms were built to be doubles). So that's fair, but disappointing a bit. They also wrote that when it's lived in as a triple, they'll lower the bill somewhat, but if one kid moves out and it turns back to a double, the cost will pop back up to double rate structure.</p>