The move from home to college is a big one. In retrospect, the entire thing seems like a blur of worry and bewilderment: getting accepted, deciding on a living arrangement, packing, moving. I didn’t want to live in the dorms my first year at Western Washington University, and I’ve had conversations with lots of students about their experiences in the dorms, as well. My understanding after all this is that the dorms are not for everyone (personally, I think they’re for no one) and a lot of people at WWU specifically come out of the dorm experience with a bad taste in their mouth.
Where is the disconnect here? Wasn’t Mom suggesting the dorms to me yesterday because it would help me make friends, stay focused on school, and get comfortable with a new university?
Granted, there are plenty of different styles, locations, rooms, bathrooms, amenities, and social environments in and around college dorms. But in a lot of these living situations, the same frustrations arise in due time. The same frustrations I anticipated two years ago before I said, “Fuck it,” and put $600 down on an apartment.
1. Friends exist outside the dorms, too.
The most common reason students feel compelled to live in the dorms is to meet new friends. Not everyone has that high school-bestie they’ve been planning to room with since Kindergarten. You’re at a new school, you know absolutely no one and making friends across the hall is a lot easier than across the street. However, plenty of apartment complexes offer leasing by-the-bed and will help you find a roommate. That’s what I did. I didn’t know a single person until I was moving in my furniture and shook hands with my new roommate.
2. Two students, one room.
Everybody has a different setting on their personal bubble. And the distance you set yours to could depend on if you’re in public or a place you’re not familiar with. One thing is for sure, we all love that moment of dropping our shoes, backpack, and breathe the second our front door closes. But true relaxation is reserved for the bedroom and privacy is seldom offered to dorm-livers who are obligated to live over eight months in a 20’ by 40’ square-foot room. It’s not cozy, it’s smelly and cramped at best.
3. Cost.
Some dorms cost more than others and universities are very practiced at mixing your living costs in tuition. The reality is, if most dorms were apartments, they’d cost $800-$1000 per month all because of the meal plan. WWU requires students in the dorms to get a meal plan and although the food isn’t terrible, the thought of three meals a day there for eight months makes me want to vomit. This leads nicely into the next reason why dorms are overrated…
4. The Freshman 15.
Once the plague of college, now a struggle fiercely fought the first year you arrive… The Freshmen 15. Those easy 15 pounds might pass you by if you’re active and eat well-balanced, thought-out meals. Except the Western Commons all serve a cycle of the same meals, snacks, and dishes that get old and fattening fast, and I'm sure it's the same for other communities.
5. Recreational activities.
I’m not talking about going on a weekend ski-trip to baker. But if that’s something you like to do, don’t forget to buy a paring pass for your Subaru because on-campus parking is slim. Anyways, the type of recreational activities I’m thinking of include liquids and botanicals. Both are severely frowned upon in the dorms, assuming you get caught. Not that I know anyone who got away with it… Moving on.
6. Living where you study.
A good friend of mine raised these concerns to me last year during a conversation about his issues with living in the dorms. Almost everyone needs a change of environment when trying to focus, cram or work on something critical. But getting “away” from your usual distraction/study spots will be much more challenging when your bed is a brisk walk away.
7. It’s not mandatory.
The final reason the dorms are overrated is a simple one, Western doesn’t actually require it. I remember taking my first and only tour of Western, after I had been accepted, and hearing the guide say, “You don’t HAVE to live on campus, but 97% of students do.” And from that moment on, I’ve never regretted skipping out on the “dorm experience.”
All that to say, I want to emphasize that I’m a pretty extroverted person. I’ve never had a hard time making friends. I signed for a room at University Heights my freshman year and got placed with the guys who would later become my best friends. I knew none of them before moving in, and each of them have been influential figures in my life… Like I said, no regrets.
