Just Got Back From Freshman Orientation...

parent2noles
Sun, 04 Jun 2006 08:41:37 +0000

The simple answer is that building housing facilities by state universities always seems to lag demand for such housing - especially in Florida. It’s not a bad as it seems, though, because after the freshman year many students want apartments, not dorm rooms - maybe.

More demand for dorms occur, however, when the university dorms begin to be as nice or nicer than private apartments, and this is where FSU is now. For example, all FSU dorms have AC, high-speed Internet (absolutely essential at Florida State), solid security (card-key access), no parking problems (you don’t need a car to get around campus), emergency generators (parents like this during hurricane season), extremely well-built, hurricane-resistant buildings (again - a parent thing) and so on. Not to mention proximity to food and classrooms / labs.

A dorm is also managed to fit the university schedule. You move in and move out according to the academic schedule which adds an element of convenience. No annual lease, no security deposits, no first month or last months rent and so on.

Plus, any individual weirdness by occupants is reduced because it’s a state facility and the University Police are close by and patrol the dorms. Further, the FSU Police are a fully-accredited law enforcement agency in their own right, and this is a good thing.