<p>I didn’t live in the dorms my first year. I don’t even think it’s necessary once you have your “group” that you hang out with. You’ll always be away from your dorm most of the time either in class or with your “group” of friends anyway. There’s about a million ways to find that “group” (join a club, fraternity, volunteer for something specific, join an organisation, get involved etc etc etc).</p>