If you are reading this article it's probably for one of three reasons. One, is a distant memory and you want to see if anything has changed since the good ol' days. Two, you are living in a dorm now, or have recently lived in one and want to see if my review is accurate of your experience. Three, dorm life in in your near future and you want to know how bad, or good, it really is. (And if you are just reading this article because you are one of my dedicated followers, thank you for reading.)
After living in a dorm for one school year, I'd like to declare myself a seasoned expert on the subject. I feel like I've seen enough of a dorm to portray an accurate picture.
I'd like to start out by saying I am pro-dorm, and that this is about to get very TMI, very fast.
Room: 4/5
My room is pretty big compared to what I thought it was going to be. I also have a good location in the building, a nice big window, and no wall-sharing neighbors. I had a giant bulletin board that facilitated decorating and the perfect amount of space to work with. I got a little tired of how linear my room was. It's almost a perfect square with beds and desks on the side walls and a walkway through the middle. After a while, lots of straight lines can make your white-walled room seem like your cell in an asylum. And I'm not sure I can say "white-walled." I went to clean the ceiling one time (long story) and when I took a Clorox wipe to it, I could see the difference between where dirt was and was not. It grossed me out to know how much dirt was hanging above my bed. 4/5 for the large, but square and dirty room.
Bathrooms: 5/5
I shared a community bathroom this past year and it wasn't as bad as people make it out to be. I rarely had to wait for a toilet or sink and when I did it was because my friends and I went pee at the same time. I was really lucky and had floor to ceiling stalls which made the bathroom seem more private. Some of my best conversations were in the bathroom (I told you I went with friends). My bathroom also had a compost, so #ecofriendly, and were cleaned every day. The only negative comment I have is that other residents wouldn't take their hair out of the drains. Ew. Because of that, bathrooms get at 4.9/5, but I'll round to a 5/5.
Amenities: 3/5
My room came with a mini fridge/freezer combo, wifi connection, and a microwave (along with some other stuff...like a bed). The fridge and freezer worked great. The wifi was spotty, though. Some days it would kick me off and other days it would only let me on certain sites. The microwave is what really brings the score down. It could never pop a bag of popcorn fully without burning it and it took three times as long to heat things up. Since the microwave and wifi still worked (occasionally) just not well, 3/5 is the deserved amenity score.
RA: 5/5
My personal experience with my RA an the other RAs in my building has been mostly positive. I am friends with my RA and I feel comfortable going to her with issues I'm having. I feel like RAs are hit or miss, and a lot of it is based on you. If you make an effort to know your RA you can be bros like me and my RA. However, if you chose to ignore your RA, your relationship will stay as supervisor and student. I highly recommend getting to know your RA. They are a great resource for a first-year college student. My RA experience has earned a 5/5, and I hope yours does too.
Roommate: 4/5
The day before I left for school this past August, I had a mini panic attack about having a roommate because I'd never had to share a room with someone before. Sharing a room has its ups and downs. You can't lie around naked any time you want. You can't have a musical sing-along when your roommate is sleeping in on a Saturday. You can have someone to rant to about politics at midnight. You can borrow their stuff (with permission, of course). The first weekend my roommate went back home, I was lonely. Even now I don't like sleeping alone in our room—it feels weird. I'm giving having a roommate a solid 4/5, just because I'd like to sing-along to musical soundtracks naked sometimes.
Floor-mates: 6/5
I was #blessed to be placed on a floor where we all like each other. Right off the bat, we all started to hang out and get along. I know too much about these people including the last time they shaved anything and everything, their last meal, and all their party fouls. I've grown an intense attachment to some of them—like boarder-line obsessive, but also I know they are going to be in my wedding kind of attachment. My hall-mates are more than I imagined so they are off the scale with a 6/5.
Food: 3/5
Dining hall food isn't technically in the dorm, but it comes with living on campus and that has qualified it for my list. The dining hall food is mediocre. I feel like my options are fried grossness or a salad. I love a good salad, just not every day. You have to get creative with the food. My proudest dining hall moment was when I put spinach, scrambled eggs, and cheese on a bagel, threw it in the griddle press and made my own breakfast sandwich. The unfortunate thing about a dining hall is that you could be craving tacos, get tacos, but the tacos be unsatisfactory. Then you leave sad and still craving tacos. Because the dining hall food it hit or miss, it's earned a score of 3/5.
Weekend Nights: 1/5
If you didn't already know, Thursday nights are the start of the weekend in college. Why these kids can't wait until Friday to the party, I'll never know. There is one room on my floor that throws down every weekend night. When you have an 8 am on Friday, this can be irritating. Apparently pretending to be an RA or writing "STFU" on their door will not keep the noise level down. You'll have to test your own strategies. It can be frustrating to have loud partiers in your hallway. Since I had some early weekend mornings this year, weekend nights get a 1/5.
Overall: 5/5
Living in a dorm is great. Sure, sometimes there is leftover hair in the sink, hot Cheeto handprints on the walls, the sweet smell of vaporized cherry nicotine in the air, and leftover vomit on the tile, but these are the things that make it exciting! And it's not all bad. You get to live with your best friends and stay up until 2 am binge-watching Netflix without your parents telling you to go to bed. Living in a dorm is a right of passage—weird hallway stains and all. 5/5.
