<p>I think living in the dorms all four years would be such an amazing experience and really help form and strengthen relationships, but how big of a deal is it really?</p>
<p>I’ve pretty much narrowed my choices down to UNC-Chapel Hill and Emory. At UNC, most students only live in the dorms two years, whereas at Emory most students live in them all four years. This is pretty much the deciding factor right now, but I’m curious if it should really be so important. Will dorm life grow old? Will relationships already be strong by the time I become a junior so that another two years in a dorm won’t really help much? Would living off campus provide a new experience?</p>
<p>S moved out of the dorm after freshman year. I would say that all of his friends in various universities all across the state moved out by the end of soph. yr. One year of dorm life was enough for him. The apt. complex he lives in is populated entirely by students (and he has 3 roommates)so it’s not as if he is cut off from all the other students by living off campus.</p>
<p>Dorm life grows old real fast. You’re sleeping in the same room as someone else and all that that entails (unless you have awesome single dorms,) you have to deal with freshmen,you’ve got an RA up your… ahem… anyway I wouldn’t choose a college based on wanting to stay in the dorms 4 years. I don’t know what you mean about relationships and what not; do you all actually live in the same dorm for 4 years at Emory? So if you get stuck with people you don’t like you’re stuck for 4 years? It’s just not something that should be a deciding factor.</p>
<p>Dorm life grows really old really fast. After sophomore year I was ready to get off; I’m a senior still living in the dorms, and I am bugging. I can’t wait to get to graduate school and have my own damn apartment. I live on a freshman hall because such a small percentage of seniors live on campus, and no offense to any freshman but they are loud and slightly obnoxious. The neighbor with whom I share a wall likes to blast music until midnight.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t use that as a deciding factor. Both Chapel Hill and Atlanta have relatively low off-campus housing rates and very nice areas in which to live, and a lot of cities that center around colleges have apartment complexes that are popular with students, meaning that you’ll probably live around other students but you’ll have your own crap and you won’t have to sleep on a 25-year-old mattress and eat ramen when you’re hungry. Trust me, having a kitchen and a private bathroom goes a long way at 2 am when you’re pulling an all-nighter.</p>
<p>agree w/ chuy that it shouldn’t be a deciding factor. Also schools with a 3 or 4 year residency requirement usually offer options for the upperclassmen in the form of suites or campus owned apartments so you have a more independent experience after your first or second year. Residential campuses almost always offer programs that encourage continued redisdency and focus on building the community of the campus. </p>
<p>I think the question to ask yourself is do you want a campus where you will have more anonymity or one where you will feel like everyone will know your name and care what happens to you. Basing your matriculation on the amount of time you have to live on campus is not the real issue. It’s the campus environment that stems from being more or less residential.</p>
<p>it really only matters to live in the dorm at most school the first, and maybe second year. it depends on what kind of school it is, it sounds like at UNC since most kids do it, it wouldnt be a problem. and by sophmore year anyway, youre already living with friends so you will meet lots of new people but after that its not as necessary. i think that dorm life could get old, expecially if your school dorms arent nice and the fact of dealing with RAs.</p>
<p>that said, im living in dorms all four years. at BC, most studnets live on campus 3 years and a good percentage even stay on for four. i got four years of guarenteed housing and would never dream of wanting to live off campus senior year because most seniors live on campus then and theres a great social scene. and i wouldnt want to deal with living off campus jr year when ill be abroad for one semester.</p>
<p>i wouldnt let this factor decide between unc and emory because it sounds like you would do what most of the students do, so you wouldnt really be missing out on anything. i really dont think it should be that important. when i came to BC it was just comforting to hear that campus life was so good that almost all seniors wanted to live on campus. but IMO as long as youre living with your friends within a reasonable distance to classes and theres stuff to do, it really shouldnt matter</p>
<p>You need to look at the specifics of the on-campus living you’re talking about. I don’t know anything about housing at Emery, but the key question is whether there is something special about the housing there that generates strong groups of friends, etc. (For example, there’s a big difference between living in a residential college at Yale, and a huge dorm of long halls at a big state university.) If they’re just regular dorms, it probably doesn’t make that much difference.</p>
<p>The only person that I know who lived in the dorms all four years was a RA. I know two guys that were friends in high school. After 4-5 months of living in a dorm room together they didn’t want to hang out anymore. The worst part is it can be hard to sleep when you want because of the noise. Headphones can help, but you need a very loud alarm clock to wake up. You will need extra money for food because the mess alone will not cut it. Hope for a good roommate. It is easy to meet people in the dorms. If you don’t live in the dorms hang outside your apartment, join a club, or go to a bar to meet people.</p>
<p>It depends on what the student culture and dorm life is like at your school.</p>
<p>I stayed on the same hall of the same dorm all four years, voluntarily, and wouldn’t have done anything else for the world. It changed my life and was an amazing experience. But we were allowed to choose our dorms, and we weren’t forced to move every year or term. Our dorms had real senses of home-grown identity and culture. This isn’t the case everywhere. At a lot of schools, people can’t wait to get out of the dorms.</p>
<p>I remember freshman year I loved living in the dorms. Then sophomore year, I got a bad housing lottery number and wound up on the top floor of a dorm where every other floor was freshmen only. Nobody on the hall wanted to talk, nobody ever left their doors open, and they were, for the most part, pretty lousy people. By junior year I was quite ready to move out.</p>
<p>It all depends on the school. At a school like Pomona College, where most of the rooms are singles, some with fireplaces, balconies and private bathrooms, a large majority of the students stay in the dorms all 4 years.</p>
<p>Agree with UCLA Band Mom-it really depends on the culture of the school. At Swarthmore, well over 90% of the students choose to love on campus all four years. I could see a large school being quite different.</p>