<p>Since many of you parents are much wiser and have had much more life experience than us freshmen who are just starting college, I will like to get your opinion on my situation.</p>
<p>I will be a freshman at harvard in the fall. I am filling out my housing application and need some advice. I am debating between living with roommates in a suite or getting a single.</p>
<p>Single
-I will have more freedom
-I will get less disturbed. With roommates, little things like coming late and turning the lights on and disturbing my sleep may cause me to do worse in school. I am the type of person who sleeps 8 hours everyday to function at best.
-I will be free to chill with friends, and have privacy in my own dorm.
-I am not overly social (as in partying, i dont drink) , but love to make close friends to hang out with etc etc…
-I am pre-med, which means I will be aiming for 3.7ish GPA and will have to study more than most others.</p>
<p>Cons of a single dorm:
-get lonely
-missing out on the supposedly college experience (I think this may be overrated and if it causes me to do bad in my classes etc, then I dont believe it will be worth it).
-not in the yard
-won’t have those bonding experiences (although, if I get stuck with bad roommate(s), I think my experience wont be too good).</p>
<p>I am thinking I will go in to a single dorm first year and then once I get to know people etc, I will go in with blockmates for 2nd year.</p>
<p>Any advice/thoughts on my situation will be very helpful as this is due in couple days.</p>
<p>cost is not a factor…basically, I just have to decide whether I want roommates (1-4) or get a single. Right now, I am leaning towards the single, but wanted other perspectives.</p>
<p>Go ahead and request a single, just do not expect a single to be guaranteed. Availability depends on which Yard the computer randomly assigns you to, then how many singles are available wihtin that Yard.</p>
<p>Don’t request a single! Get roommates. That is the part of the college experience that is the most rewarding. Yes, you may get a roommate that you have little in common with or you may find a friend for life. My best friend was my freshman year roommate. You mentioned that you tend to be somewhat reserved socially…having a single will not force you to come out of your shell. It will just be too easy to close the door. I say go for it, new friends (roommates) are one of the best things about college. You can live alone when you get your degree!</p>
<p>Thinking about it some more. Do you know where the singles would be? If the set up is around entryways I definitely wouldn’t want to be in one. But if there are singles in a set up where there are rooms off corridors I think the dynamics work out better. With corridors people were much more likely to leave doors open when they wanted to be social and go off and do things in groups. With entryways (and I only knew of entryways with suites) your social life tends to revolve much more around suitemates. Personally, I’m not too crazy about the entryway setup. I like dorms like Weld that have big corridors. I think it’s really easy to get isolated in a single. Havard does a pretty amazing job of picking roommates. I asked for someone who spoke German and French would be nice and had lived abroad. My roommate was from Bangladesh, had a German mother and lived in Paris.</p>