<p>My daughter is filling out her application for housing and where it asks for dorm room preferences, she put down double as her first choice and also wrote down a triple. I tried to discourage her with the latter thinking it might make it really crowded. How much larger is it? I mean, is everyone stacked up on bunkbeds? What about floor space? Plenty of desk space, etc.? Closets? She told me it can be kind of fun with more roommates. She has a friend who is freshman at Berkeley who's in a triple. I'm still not convinced. :) Since her first choice is Sports and Society, I'm hoping she'll definitely be in a double (as noted). I thought it said that a single and a triple is more expensive. I can see a SINGLE, but wouldn't a triple be cheaper? More bodies sharing a space? I remember peeking in at a triple room when we did a Stanford tour and I have to say, it was spacious. L-shaped and NO bunkbeds. LOTS of floor space. But, that might have been an anomaly.</p>
<p>For those of you "in the know", I told her I would ask here before we submit the application. Plus, I need to read the contract more throughly before I sign it. :) Also, we're going with the $2,900 standard meal plan of 14 meals a week. That might be more than she gets at home! LOL She can always have a bowl of cereal in her dorm room, right? My friend said she made the mistake of buying the middle meal plan at her son's school and he wasted a lot of it! He didn't always get up for breakfast and she just felt she paid for more than he used.</p>
<p>I think the biggest problem with a triple can be if your daughter ends up in one with two girls who are already friends. Then she could end up being the odd man out.</p>
<p>My daughter was in a triple last year and it worked out well; none of them knew each other, although the other two were from Indiana. The room was large, it was the equivalent of a single and double room put together. There was one set of bunk beds, a regular bed, and each girl had a desk, dresser and wardrobe.</p>
<p>The meal plan works on points, not meals. So your kid only pays for what they eat, not a whole meal. And the unused points roll over. Not that mine ever has any left.</p>
<p>I was in a triple last year and it was nice. There were good aspects about it and bad aspects about it, so I will break it down:</p>
<p>Good: Both of my roommates were interesting people. We all loved videogames and played halo together ~3-4 times a week. One was pre-med, so when I came back from classes he was always studying which motivated me to study more. We hung out together a lot.</p>
<p>Bad: I was on the top bunk and there was a 10 degree difference in temperature from the top to bottom bunk. While I was burning up my roommates on the lower bunk were freezing. It was also hard to get to bed when you wanted to sleep and the other roommates were awake watching tv/doing homework. My two roommates would get into arguements a lot towards the end of the year and they tried to get me to take sides. I just told them I was staying out of it, but while they were yelling at each other it got kinda distracting.</p>
<p>Overall I would do it again if I had the choice.</p>
<p>Also, for the meal plan I got the cheapest one last year and still had 25% of my meal points left at the end. While the points do roll over, they aren’t worth as much the next year (the year you buy your points they are worth 35% more than the subsequent year).</p>
<p>Well, she crossed Triple off of her housing application. It’s been submitted. Paid the $300. Her first choice is Sports and Society. 2. Northwest. 3. Outdoor Adventure (thematic community) and 4. Central. </p>
<p>I know Sports and Society is in McNutt right now. I just hope if she gets into this community that it doesn’t become one huge 24/7 party with all the jocks and partygirls. Yes, she enjoys partying…but she’s also been able to stay focused on her studies and get all As. Of course, this is in high school. I would hope that the distractions and temptations of a party-hardy hall won’t change that. </p>
<p>Also, since Northwest is so far over from the Memorial Union and other centralized buildings, I heard there’s a shuttle that stops every 15 minutes or so. Do kids in those dorms go over to the main area of campus a lot (other than for classes?) I’m talking about the Union and Rec. building, libraries, etc. I would like to see her venture out to the main social areas rather than just hang out in McNutt and party all the time. :)</p>
<p>2Leashes–there is a free campus bus system and students can use the city bus system for free. I believe it’s all part of the fees one pays. IMO the SRSC (Student Rec Sports Center) is as close to the Northwest neighborhood as the HPER building. The Union is just across the street from the HPER. The main library is also a similar distance. I know my D uses the SRSC pretty often. All the students there can’t be from the Central neighborhood. She doesn’t go to the library to study often at night because it tends to be more of a social gathering in the evenings instead of a serious study spot. The kids on her floor will occasionally go to the Union for a movie, but it tends to be used more during the daytime than at night. Often students will find a cozy spot and study in the Union between classes. One of D’s friends is in the Outdoor Adventure community this year and seems to be enjoying it.</p>
<p>Thanks for the info, rrah. I’m loving all these little tidbits. I’m sure we’ll get a better picture once we visit in the spring. That’s the thing about finding out your child is accepted early to one school. All our energy goes toward that ONE college. You would think she had already accepted their offer and was registered. We still have 10 more schools to hear back from by April! Well, at least we won’t have as much time to devote to each school she’s accepted to like we have with IU! I have to admit, though…it’s becoming to feel more like “home”, partly because of all the friendly and helpful posts here. My daughter doesn’t visit CC, so I send her bits and pieces that I think she’ll enjoy reading.</p>
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<p>2Leashes–there is a free campus bus system and students can use the city bus system for free. I believe it’s all part of the fees one pays. IMO the SRSC (Student Rec Sports Center) is as close to the Northwest neighborhood as the HPER building. The Union is just across the street from the HPER. The main library is also a similar distance. I know my D uses the SRSC pretty often. All the students there can’t be from the Central neighborhood. She doesn’t go to the library to study often at night because it tends to be more of a social gathering in the evenings instead of a serious study spot. The kids on her floor will occasionally go to the Union for a movie, but it tends to be used more during the daytime than at night. Often students will find a cozy spot and study in the Union between classes. One of D’s friends is in the Outdoor Adventure community this year and seems to be enjoying it.</p>
<p>When my own son was in the dorms (freshman year), he said he spent most of his time at the Wells Library (the main library across from the business school) when he wanted to study, and was in his dorm mostly when he wanted to watch TV or do videogames or listen to music. He said it worked bestr for his studying habits. Since his freshman year was his best year GPA-wise (he had a 3.59 GPA at the end of the year), I guess this strategy worked well for him.</p>
<p>He said he originally tried to do his studying at the Student Union or at his dorm–but he said he had too much temptation or distractions this way–and so finding a “hideaway” at the library was his best plan. Also, he said the library was very close both to his classes and his dorm (he lived in McNutt).</p>
It’s been submitted. Paid the $300. Her first choice is Sports and Society. 2. Northwest. 3. Outdoor Adventure (thematic community) and 4. Central. </p>
You would think she had already accepted their offer and was registered. We still have 10 more schools to hear back from by April! Well, at least we won’t have as much time to devote to each school she’s accepted to like we have with IU!