<p>Having done a search, it looks like things have relaxed a bit in the last two years, especially for juniors and seniors. When I was at MIT (which is, of course, right across the river - we can see some of each other’s buildings), BU was the bogeyman that our administrators used as a foil to those of us in student government - “You guys have it great here; look how BU treats <em>their</em> students!”</p>
<p>Prior to fall 2007, even other BU students couldn’t enter a dorm that they didn’t live in after 8pm without being signed in, nobody could be in a dorm that they didn’t live in after 2am unless they got a special exemption for a study session (and even those had to end by 7am). Overnight guests had to get approved by some higher authority more than 24 hours beforehand.</p>
<p>Once, a hallmate of mine invited a friend of his from BU, who he knew from high school, to hang out with us. At about 1am, she got a frantic call from someone in her dorm saying that she needed to come home because the RA had become alarmed that she wasn’t back in the dorm yet, and had campus police out looking for her! It was crazy! Who calls the cops because a college student isn’t back in her dorm by 1am?!</p>
<p>A couple of our administrators told me about visits to BU, and RAs bragging to them about people that they’d ratted out for minor infractions and busts that they’d instigated. Our administrators, who are themselves fans of people following the rules, were weirded out and a little put off by the zeal and harshness.</p>
<p>If it has relaxed since 2007 (the year that I graduated), that is great, especially since it sounds like the changes were made in response to student input. Good for them. I understand that it’s an urban campus and people have security concerns, but we were a stone’s throw away (and in a neighborhood with a similar level of sketchiness) and we managed to be safe without being anywhere near as draconian.</p>
<p>About tiered housing…my kid attended NYU and not all dorms cost the same. Basically, dorms that are apartment style dorms cost more than traditional style dorms. I don’t see what’s wrong with that really as the set up is different and so it should cost more to have a kitchen and living room than not having that. My kid opted for apartment style dorms her first two years at NYU (she lived off campus after that). She was on financial aid. Yes, we paid for housing using loans. We wanted her to have apartment style housing. She also eventually got off the meal plan. </p>
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<p>Um, my kid lives in Brooklyn. She pays less than she did for her dorm in Manhattan. She has a nice apartment that is bigger and I have not heard of any rats. I live in a nice house where even we get mice anyway. It is in the country. Ain’t nothing wrong with livin’ in Brooklyn! Some parts are pretty nice.</p>
<p>My experience with tiered housing at GW is that what is charged for similar housing is entirely arbitrary. Students can’t choose whether they’re in doubles, triples or quads (the housing selection software doesn’t allow for it) & in my son’s building, doubles cost more than triples or quads, even though triples & quads have separate living rooms & bedrooms (doubles don’t). His building is also the only one on campus where doubles are not the same cost per student as triples & quads; they’re more expensive. The worst part is that these new housing rates were not made public until after housing selection.
Complaints about this system have so far not gotten me anywhere, but I will certainly be more aware & have my son ask lots of questions before housing selection next year.</p>
<p>Juilliard’s dorm has similar requirements to what jessiehl describes. Students have to sign in and escort guests. Overnight guests must have certain passes obtained via some office that is only open certain hours.</p>
<p>Because Juilliard shares the dorm with a HS ballet program, certain floors are completely off limits and the place is seriously guarded. Since it is in the middle of Manhattan, I really don’t mind all the precautions, though. I do wish there was a little wiggle room for common sense, though.</p>
<p>When my mother and I went to NYC to visit S, we stayed with relatives north of the city and took the train in. Since we weren’t driving and she isn’t real good about keeping track of her belongings, she chose to leave her purse at home with the relatives. So when S went to sign us in, 75 year old Grandma didn’t have her license with her, and was not allowed to enter the dorm.</p>
<p>Regarding the Lucky apartments mentioned at UW Madison- those are totally private dorms (students pay for sharing or their own room in mutibedroom apts complete with high end appliances they are unlikey to utilize) in a public/private building, NOT a joint housing venture with UW. Res Halls is separate from any private dorms (those have existed for eons, btw) and its tiered pricing is due to the newest dorms having air conditioning and much larger rooms in some cases- the pricing amounts to a few hundred, not thousands, of dollars. The new building with private housing is also an administrative building for UW- the joint effort put the apts above and (?) next to other UW campus buildings. Those apts are part of the off campus rental scene- not governed by the school. In Madison there have been private dorms with programs for incoming students that are similar, but not identical to, the programs of the UW Residence Halls. Reading the Lucky website advertising can be a bit misleading- some features are available to all students, such as the Res Halls dining hall availability across the street. Totally different than a school sponsored luxury building.</p>
<p>I wonder about the intelligence of a student borrowing extra money for luxury accomodations, we certainly wouldn’t even pay our own money to let our son live in such luxury. I thought college was primarily about the classes and that the young can handle living conditions we parents no longer would put up with (the parents get the master suite while the kids share a room with the down the hall bathroom in many mid-upscale homes, for example).</p>
<p>Lucky was going to be a public dorm until the Legislature blocked it so they found a private developer for that part. The project is still a public-private JV. The fact that the Lucky dorm is privately operated hardly matters. I know Wis75 has some sort of hatred of private dorms but they are a big part of the UW dorm choice situation and many people like them. The constant editorials of what college is “supposed to be like” are tiresome. College can be many different things for different people. Some might even enjoy cooking in their gourmet kitchens. You could throw a nice dinner party and then enjoy the view of the Capitol from the rooftop deck. All the while your concierge is making your Tee-time appt. over at the University Ridge. And who says they are borrowing money?? Where did that even come from?</p>
<p>Frankly, the best dorm in the US is the one where your child lives and is happy. Period. I think BU went over the top. Am glad my D turned them down and I wonder where my alum donations are actually going…my father, also an alum, would be horrified.</p>
<p>Funny coincidence, having read this thread…</p>
<p>D1 was just on the phone with me. She is a graduate student at MIT. D2 is in town visiting her. Last night, they went to dinner at good friend of D2’s from our hometown who is a senior at BU. So, I asked where this girl lives (figuring an off campus apartment) and D1 says, “you would not believe it…it was the nicest dorm I have EVER seen! It had great views of the Charles and fantastic common rooms in the apartment!” Bingo…it was the dorm being talked about in the article posted on this thread. :D</p>
I get what you’re saying but the alternative is raising the prices on the dorm rooms that cost less now to subsidize the higher priced dorms, which messes over the people who had to live in them in the first place. New dorms that get built are absolutely going to be better than ones built 100 years ago, and I’d hate to be paying part of the bill for the kid who gets AC and their own bathroom while I’m stuck sharing a bathroom with 30 other people and no bathroom.</p>
<p>Also multi-tier pricing doesn’t necessarily imply more “luxury digs” for higher priced dorms. At NYU, for example, a large majority of dorms are apartment style and there are some, mostly for freshmen actually, that are traditional style and I can understand why there is a price differential as the set up is just not equal. One is not more luxurious but simply offers things like a kitchen and so on. I also believe that most dorms have AC but a couple do not and they cost a little less.</p>
<p>My son’s dorm at GW was built in the 1920’s; luxurious it is not. All sophomore dorms have kitchens & bathrooms (alot of the dorms are converted from old hotels or apartment buildings). The two-tier pricing was done arbitrarily to make GW “more affordable” for some people. To me, it would’ve been fairer to set the price for all sophomore housing at the same rate instead of decreasing the rate on about half the rooms.</p>
<p>A main reason for tiered pricing is that apartment dorms don’t require a meal plan. The University - be it BU, NYU, etc. - then charges somewhat more for the apartment but less than if you lived in a dorm with a meal plan.</p>
<p>GW doesn’t have a “meal Plan” even for freshman, but you are required to put an amount of $ on their declining balance card. All sophomores have to put the same amount of $ on their declining balance card, regardless of what they’re paying for housing.</p>
<p>IMO, such accommodation is a waste of money. Students will probably be too busy with their work to really enjoy the views and so on; isn’t this going to affect them a lot later on, especially in this economy, when they’re looking for a job and have less money available? </p>
<p>Also, isn’t college meant to be a kind of intermediary time between when someone leaves their parents’ home and when they find a home of their own - a time to learn how to budget, etc.?</p>
<p>Students are not THAT busy unless they are playing a sport or working 20+ hours per week. There is always time to sit and enjoy the view for half an hour a day. It’s a good thing actually.
As to waste of money–depends how much money you have. Is a Mercedes or Porsche a waste of money? A nice boat you use 10 times a year?</p>