Hi, it’s been a while since I haven’t been here. Since I have been accepted in UTSA, I have been thinking which is a better place to live…as for dorms, apartments in campus or a place to rent outside college campus. But still haven’t made a decision. I was thinking that dorms and apartments with roomates have a negative sides to consider. Many collegues have been complaining about their roomates, expenses, and their inability to study. Can somebody help me, and give me some advices. I really need it.
What is it that you like about living in campus and what is it that you dont like?
<p>Dorms have pros and cons. Many colleges require freshmen to live in dorms, because they feel they become more a part of the community that way and connect with other students. And I think that is a valid point. If you live off-campus, you will generally head home once classes are over. You will probably have a quieter place to study, but you will not have as many chances to meet new people, to make friends, to take part in those spur-of-the-moment activities that turn strangers into friends for life. Yes, dorms are noisy. Roommates can be incompatible. (But you can always trade roommates. It happened to me, and it turned out to be for the best.) But I am very glad that I lived in dorms in college–it was a great learning opportunity.</p>
<p>Living off-campus your first year is a MAJOR isolator. I did it. It was a big mistake, and I sincerely regret not living on-campus. I had good reasons (it cost WAY too much to live on campus, and I couldn’t afford it), but I still sincerely wish I had found some way to live there.</p>
<p>Yes, there are problems. Communal bathrooms can get annoying; paper-thin walls can get annoying. Roommates can get in the way. Overly peppy RAs can get in the way of any real fun. Having a roommate can be great. You’ll have someone to sit in the hall with your first couple of weeks. You’ll have someone who can help you get your bearings. There’ll be someone to help you decorate your room! Someone to help you get to know other people. If you get really lucky, your roommate can turn into one of your life-long best friends. </p>
<p>If nothing else, it means you don’t have to worry about a car (gas! theft! destruction! parking!) or taking an hour to get home after class, and then having to cook when you’ve got studying to do. ;)</p>
<p>Having a roommate or dorm mates from hell can make or break your dorm experience. First semester, I changed roommates 2 times! The 1st one went through my personal property and stole from me. The 2nd was an upperclassman who was the ultimate neat freak and let me know in no uncertain terms that the room belonged to him and I was an unwanted intrusion. The 3rd one had a car (yeah), so I learned to like him. Actually, he really wasn’t that bad…just very opinionated and too conservative for me. </p>
<p>Having to deal with openly racist dorm mates is not a fun experience, but I got through it.</p>
<p>ouch!!!, some of ya’ll really had a bad experience. I’m glad some of you, well i would say, most of ya’ll believe that dorms is better than outside of campus, I guess I should try that, even if I may get to trade with different roomates. ;)</p>
<p>Well, you DID ask what we hated most about dorms. You should have also asked what we loved about dorm life, i.e.</p>
<ul>
<li><p>lots of instant friends, especially since I was from out of state. my being from California seemed to be a novelty to them. (i went to college in Detroit) </p></li>
<li><p>just knock on anyone’s door and ask if they want to walk over to the cafeteria together or whatever. many are like you…just waiting to be invited to particate, but are afraid to make the first move.</p></li>
<li><p>my roommate had a car (yeah!), so we were able get off campus from time-to-time.</p></li>
<li><p>sophomores on my floor were willing to give freshman the '411 about what freshmen classes to take and which professors to avoid. juniors and seniors were not very friendly, except for senior dogs trying to hit on freshman girls. (u know…fresh new meat)</p></li>
<li><p>community restrooms really weren’t that bad, except when idiots try to flush all of the toilets on all of the floors at the same time. so immature!</p></li>
<li><p>getting drunk and playing football in the snow at 2 am was cool for a kid like me from California. getting hit with a puck from kids playing hockey in the hallway WAS NOT! </p></li>
<li><p>being stuck in the dorms during Thanksgiving weekend was definitely the worst experience!</p></li>
</ul>
<p>We have “quads” at my school and all the girls in our quad are on the varsity soccer team. Not to be stereotypical or anything but they all seem to attract random drunk guys in the middle of the night. Not fun.
My roomie, thank goodness, is awesome and is my best friend at college. We are waiting for the housing people to come in contact with us any day as their poster children for “yes housing doesn’t mess up all the time after all!” ;)</p>
<p>Nope, Case Western. Which is even odder because sports at our school are nonexistant so I don’t know how we managed to discover the soccer team! Heck I otherwise probably wouldn’t have been aware of their existance.</p>