<p>Blessing.</p>
<p>weenie, here was my experience with the same worry and I think it might be quite parallel.</p>
<p>When my S was at Bates for his Katrina semester, he was assigned a single. On the one hand, we were thrilled they found housing for him at all. OTOH, I had your type of worries - (a) he was arriving about a week late, after the normal Freshman Orientation, and so the kids would have started bonding and socializing; (b) he’s a quiet kid; makes long-lasting friends, but makes them s-l-o-w-l-y; (c) he’s not a self-starter socially - has always relied on his friends to plan activities, corral him to go along etc.; and (d) he can be quite content to spend time by himself (a good thing in some ways, but feeding my worries about becoming isolated at school).</p>
<p>When he moved in, I pointed out to him (and he listened!? can you imagine?) that other kids (in singles/doubles/triples) propped their doors open with their large bottles of Tide detergent and that he should do the same. He also mentioned to me that he wanted to have a TV in his room and some of his good DVDs with him - so that he could invite kids in for those things. He may have taken his video game machine with him there too, I don’t remember. At the techie schools, this can be a key element of socializing.</p>
<p>Anyway, even with his personality type and being a latecomer to the school, he made a wide circle of friends quickly. He still stays in touch. It was a really friendly group, there were various floor meetings/hall meetings/dorm meetings. It worked out fine. And he loved, loved, loved the benefits of the single for privacy, sleeping and studying when he wanted etc.</p>
<p>Enjoy.</p>
<p>P.S. I remember carolyn posted last year that her D did something any kid could do: posted a sign on her door (they all tend to have those dry erase boards for messages etc) “I have candy. Come on in!” or something like that. So buy a ginormous bag of M&Ms for move in day and a big plastic bowl in the school colors or something :).</p>