Unhappy at Notre Dame

irishmary203
Tue, 28 Feb 2012 13:46:30 +0000

LynnRed, so sorry to hear about this (especially with a soon to be freshman daughter). Have you spoken with anyone at res life about the situation or are you assuming that nothing can be done about getting out of your room? Waiting until March is probably too late now though. Although I know it is not easy, can’t you request a dorm change for next year? I am hoping that you spoke with your RA, Rector, and Res Life so that you have created a record of the problem. As a student, you have rights and the best way to protect those rights is to speak with someone about what has been going on. You are talking about illegal activities with the drug usage (and underage drinking but honestly that is a tough one to make a lot of fuss about). Surprised that this group of girls can find the time to drink, hook up, black out, be hung over and still do ok in school with the frequency you have mentioned. You seem to like the school, just not the living situation and I am hoping that you have mentioned this to your parents also. As a parent, I would have contacted the school at the end of the 1st semester if you got the run around from res life. $50000+ is too much to pay to have your experience at the school be so impacted by the bad behavior of a few. I have to be honest and tell you that I have a hard time believing that EVERYONE in your dorm acts this way. There have to be some girls who aren’t constant partiers. You are obviously a smart kid as you are at ND so I don’t think that you need anyone telling you how stupid it would be for you to give in to the pressure of your roommates.
With regard to transferring…Unfortunately this goes on everywhere. If you are serious about making a change then I would suggest that before you do that you look into the housing situation at a new school. Many schools have substance free housing and that would be a good option. Usually (sadly) it is fairly easy to move into these dorms. I really hope that you tough it out and don’t leave.
Should you stay, I would make a dorm change request. Do you have any friends at other dorms that can pull you into a room for next year? The key is to find like minded people and unfortunately that isn’t always your assigned roomate(s) freshman year. It is all part of the college experience.