mice in the dorm

Student615
Tue, 19 Feb 2008 09:52:40 +0000

If there are older dorms on the campus, and any less-than-ideal weather (speaking from experience, even SoCal is not immune), it’s a likely sometimes problem. I say “sometimes” because it’s the sort of problem that’s likely to crop up for a semester, be taken care of over summer or winter break, and then go away for awhile. I had one problematic semester, but I lived in the same dorm for two years and had no other issues. Another semester, I heard the complaint from residents in another dorm, and it also went away after break, when the school was free to take major action by re-sealing the buildings. In the meantime, they were attentive, setting up humane traps, emptying garbage more often, informing students of the problem and asking them to please be mindful of certain things, etc., but there wasn’t a lot else that could be done.

I’ve also heard of ant problems. And cockroach problems. And the occasional scorpion issue.

In truth, a lot of this is regional, and much of it is nearly unavoidable. It’s also more likely to be problematic in certain buildings, but you might not have your choice of dorm as a freshman. You’ll want to know if there are any major, ongoing issues, of course. But otherwise, ask what the school would/does do in the case of a pest problem. This is probably handier info, and also more likely to get you a frank response from tour guides.