Our son’s request for a double really backfired - turns out the only thing worse than limited social interaction is negative social interaction with someone you have to share a room with.
At Thacher, all freshmen have singles
Thanks for the insights! I opted in singles for the preference on the housing survey.
And then there’s my kid that wants a triple (he really wants a quad, but there aren’t any). There aren’t any singles at his school (at least for freshmen) and I guess his feeling is, at least if 1 is a dud, there’s someone else to talk to.
If you do put down info for a roommate, focus on how you use your space (prefer quiet, neat, early riser) and attributes that really matter (comfortable not talking, modest, etc.) That’s at least a recipe for a good roommate if not a good friend!
I know way more kids from BS who were housed with someone who became a close friend than I know who had tales of woe. (Not so with college, btw. )
But our school didn’t offer singles to freshmen or new sophomores, so maybe they were more invested in not creating problems they couldn’t solve?
@sparkatzz DS is very much an introvert, so he requested a single for III form so he had a place he could decompress and recharge when he got stressed or run down by too much interaction. He again got a single through the lottery for IV form. He has many friends in the dorm and they hang out in the common room or the larger rooms. He considered a double for next year, but changed his mind and applied for dorm prefect. Singles have worked out very well for him and have not caused his social life to suffer in the least.
@sparkatzz That’s so early! I haven’t even gotten a portal for Choate, besides the GoChoate admissions one…
@CavsFan2003 Haha Idk why we are so early but apparently Choate never sends out emails lol. I’m already planning my classes next year since we are doing course registration in early May.
That’s wild! I’m pretty sure we don’t get housing surveys until may and course registration sheets in like June lol
@sparkatzz @cavsFan2003 In fairness, Loomis just says you have to complete the housing survey by early June. I am, of course, procrastinating and have just had the tab open on my computer for the week with absolutely nothing filled out.
Well I use this kind of things to procrastinate on my actual work at school…so I guess these are two different kinds of procrastination lol.
You think you have a choice? Just be prepared for being disappointed. But the worse off you are, most needy, most protected and most in need of accommodations, you will have priority. If you have a medical disorder be honest about your needs.
To be fair, it’s better than the questions from incoming 10th graders to Andover who ask which dorm to choose, where the answer is that they have their choice of dorms that the current 9th graders did not want. 
I’m surprised there are choices st some schools and that the quality of the rooms vary so much.
Don’t let @Golfgr8 scare you. Not all dorm rooms are terrible.
At Thacher, there is no choice, but the freshmen dorm rooms are all quite nice, especially in the girls dorm. We love the high ceilings and skylights that make the otherwise tiny single rooms feel incredibly spacious … lots of natural light, too!
At Chatham Hall, you earn room lottery points by keeping your room neat. If you want priority in picking a room sophomore year, you just to keep your room spotless.
This varies by school. But at Andover, there are about 40 dorms, built at different times, many of which are converted homes. So aside from the fact that renovations are not all done at once, many of the layouts are unique. I found the same when I went to college.
At schools where dorms are basically cookie cutters and the doubles are a standard size with halves being mirror images, it’s less of an issue (other than perhaps distance from class buildings). But then those dorms also have less character.
My experience and my kids - in college you will look back fondly on your boarding school dorm rooms and realize how lucky you had it!