Freshman Housing: Single or with Roommates

[medicaldoc]

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Okay, I will be at pre-med undergrad at Harvard in the fall. I am filling out my housing application and need some advice. I am debating between living with roommates in a suite or getting a single. Since you all are in college, I was hoping all your wisdom and experience will aide me in making my decision.

Pros of Single Dorm:
-I will have more freedom, more personal "me" time.
-I will get less disturbed. With roommates, little things like coming late and turning the lights on and disturbing my sleep may cause me to do worse in school. I am the type of person who sleeps 8 hours everyday to function at best.
-I will be free to chill with friends, and have privacy in my own dorm.
-I am not overly social (as in partying, i dont drink) , but love to make close friends to hang out with etc etc....
-I am pre-med, which means I will be aiming for 3.7ish GPA and will have to study more than most others.
-Won't have to go library to study etc etc, those little things.

Obviously, you can see that I really haven't shared a room or anything in recent years. But, I have 3 other siblings and we live in a fairly small house so it's not like I haven't been exposed to that atmosphere. I am not overly social,but at school im very involved and am very well liked etc......


Cons of a single dorm:
-get lonely
-missing out on the supposedly college experience (I think this may be overrated and if it causes me to do bad in my classes etc, then I dont believe it will be worth it).
-not in the Harvard yard
-won't have those bonding experiences (although, if I get stuck with bad roommate(s), I think my experience wont be too good).


I am thinking I will go in to a single dorm first year and then once I get to know people etc, I will go in with blockmates for 2nd year.

Any advice/thoughts on my situation will be very helpful as this is due in couple days.

 

[Narmerguy]

Get roommates. You can do the lone ranger for the other three years but this is your best shot at getting to know new people when you're all on even footing.

 

[Danlee07]

If anything, get into the biggest housing facility for at least your 1st sem... if it's too much, get to somewhere smaller for 2nd.

then ride solo. I am, but i still have tons of people just come by...but then I get to just kick them when i want to ha

 

[allie1361]

Roommates for sure. If you have the option of living in "apartment style" dorms, DO IT! Best decision I ever made. I did this fresh and soph year. It was a 4/2 apt on campus. We each got our own room and shared a bathroom with one other. I became best friends with the girl I shared a bathroom with. Lived with her every year after that, except senior yr (this past year) because of family problems on her end. Fresh yr is the best year to experiment with living situations. It's only like 7 months (since, at least at my school, you can't stay there during winter break), so if you hate it, you don't have to put up with it long. You don't want to be all alone if you're moving to a place where you don't know anyone. It's amazing how just KNOWING other people are around (even if you aren't exactly friends with them) helps with any homesickness you might feel. I'd say don't fly solo fresh yr. Just try it and see how you like it.

 

[MiniMoo]

The "being assigned to a Roommate from Hell" experience is a right of passage.

 

[allie1361]

The "being assigned to a Roommate from Hell" experience is a right of passage.

BUT, not necessarily the norm. None of my roommates were intolerable. I've only heard a handful of stories about absolutely terrible roommates...most schools try to match you with others who might be similar to you instead of just randomly putting people together.

 

[Danlee07]

when you get one that does stuff...in the night...by himself...out in the open...and then complains about the smell of bbq chicken...

i def passed that rite of passage

 

[SweetRain]

I would try and get a roommate.
Most schools have a roommate matching system where you fill out questionnaires and will match you up with someone similar.

Since you're going to a private school, I suspect you don't know very many people there. I go to a public school but I'm from a foreign country so I didn't know anyone when I came to college. Most of my life-long friends I've made here are friends from freshman/sophomore year dorm life.

btw, congrats on getting into Harvard! Must be exciting.

 

[MiniMoo]

when you get one that does stuff...in the night...by himself...out in the open...and then complains about the smell of bbq chicken...

i def passed that rite of passage

I had one that would get into screaming matches with her bf and then hide under her bed for days at a time (she would eat and sleep under there). She also ate raw ramen noodles in the dark in the middle of the night. I always heard weird crunching noises coming from her side of the room. When I asked her about it, she denied it saying she was sleeping the entire time. But then I'd find empty ramen packages littered on the floor.

 

[broken tibula]

Definitely go with roommates. You will still have to go to the library to study if you have a single, because there will still be distractions in your room and coming in and out of your room. The bonding experiences of college are more than worth it, do NOT hole up in your room every night. Also, you'll lose a whole lot less privacy than you think with a roommate.

 

[NickNaylor]

Agree with the above. Get roommates. Even if it sucks for a year, you'll still have more opportunities to get out and make friends. If you don't like it, then go with a single for the next year.

 

[JoshUNCW]

My freshman year I had a one bedroom apartment. I loved it. But, I also threw and went to parties every week so I had ways to meet people. If you don't party and aren't overly social, I would suggest getting some roommates so you actually can have some normal college experience.

 

[EMS5]

I had a roommate who was barely ever there, so it was in a way like having your own apartment...but I think having a roommate during your first year of college is definitely an experience worth having regardless of whether or not you get along

 

[VTBuc]

Freshman year: Lived with a guy named Andrew. He hated that I had 8am courses and woke him up, so he developed methods of revenge. He would hide my stuff, turn the lights on at 3am, open the windows in the wintertime and leave, make sudden loud noises, etc. I walked in on him masturbating once, which only made the situation worse(seriously...lock the door). Another time I woke up to him watching porn on his laptop. He developed a reputation as the hall panty-sniffer(for good reason...long story). At the end of the year he tried to charge me $75 for using his mini fridge.

Sophomore year: Lived with a guy named Damon. He had an obsessive relationship with his GF who went to another school, so he'd pick her up every weekend and bring her back. They had sex at least 8 times a weekend(Once a king, always a king but once a knight...is enough!!) regardless of whether or not I was in the room. His ugly GF would roam around naked(which my GF at the time didn't appreciate either). He was a Red Sox fan so he always had the TV on regardless of whether or not I had an OChem final the next day. His GF and him would get into huge fights while I was studying and when I suggested they go elsewhere he said, "dude go to the library".

Junior year: Lived with Damon and 2 other guys in an apartment...thinking if we didn't share a room it would be better. Nuh uh. These jerks threw random parties on random nights(Read: Tuesdays) without warning me first. A couple times I had their drunk friends stumble into my room while I was asleep. They overcharged me on bills and wouldn't tell me what I owed them until the day it was due(hey you owe me $50 and I need it in 2 hours). I had to threaten to call the cops to get them to schedule a party the day AFTER my MCAT instead of the night before. Over the summer Damon tried to overcharge me on water and when I refused to pay an unfair amount he shut off the water and I lived 2 months without running water.

Senior year: Got out of that hellhole and lived with two friends: Matt and Brian. Matt was awesome. Brian was not. Brian never washed a dish, never helped clean, and was absolutely disgusting. Trash poured out of his room into the hallway and we lost a number of our dishes into the abyss of his living quarters. He had his own bathroom but used ours when we weren't around so he wouldn't have to buy toilet paper. Our apartment got infested with flies because of the old food in his room. He would talk loudly on his cell phone at 3am every night and wake everyone up. He brought random women of thinner moral fabric home and would mess around in the living room(cause he was embarrassed of his own bedroom). He had a subscription to the Wall Street Journal but never threw them away, so they just gathered all around our house every day. One night he came home drunk, punched a cabinet(and splintered it), and denied it was him...so Matt and I get charged for it, too.

If you can live alone...DO IT!!!! Roommates suck. I'm living with a roommate again for MS1 but she seems cool so hopefully it'll work out better. Trust me, your grades will be better and your blood pressure lower if you live solo.

 

[Slowpoke]

Pick roommates if you can. I've been living with two older individuals, a man and a woman. They happen to be married, (I know it's kind of weird). The benefits of having roommates are enormous. First, I rarely do any of the dishes. The man's wife usually does it for me. In fact, sometimes when I'm extremely busy she even offers to do my laundry AND cook for me. There was even one time I was short on money and she gave me money NOT expecting any money back. It's a great situation I'm in. Most of the time it's rent-free because I've established such a great relationship with them. But then there are drawbacks:

The lady keeps bugging me about my room.
I feel weird bringing home acquintances.
I always get harassed about coming home late.

But in the end, living with people is much better than living alone. It's fun!

 

[kikiu]

Also, if you have a bad experience, you can probably always switch rooms or get a single during the semester. For example, I switched roommates between semesters at college. However, some people really bond with their roommates-- My sister and her roommate are best friends, so you never know. I'd take a chance on a roommate, since it just gives you a better chance to have a better college experience.

However, I do see the benefit of a single too. Either way has its pros and cons...You just have to figure out which is worth it to you.

 

[mvenus929]

I was in college for three years. First year, I shared a room with another girl, and a bathroom and living room with two additional girls. I'm still friends (not close) with my roommate, but haven't really spoken to my suitemates since freshman year.

My second year, I had a bedroom to myself, and shared a bathroom with another girl, and a living room and kitchen with another. We never saw the girl who lived on the other side of the apartment, and my neighbor and I pretty much kept to ourselves. I don't talk to either of them now.

My third year, I had a room to myself, shared a bathroom with a girl who was basically never there because she moved in with her boyfriend (but didn't want her parents to know), and a kitchen and living room with a nursing major and a theater junkie. I obviously don't speak to the one I shared the bathroom with, because we never got to know each other in the first place. I don't talk to the nursing major anymore, because she's not on facebook. But, I do talk to the theater junkie on occasion. We were all pretty laid back and socialized on occasion. It was nice.

So, I didn't really have that intense bonding experience that I lot of people have. However, because I was living on campus, I participated in a lot more activities and I made some of my best friends in our Resident Halls Association (RHA). It looks like you're going to live on campus either way, but in case anyone else out there is debating, keep that in mind.

Personally, I'd get roommates, just because it's a lot easier to socialize when you have people around you. Apartment-style dorms are the best, though.

 

[rbnsafsadgf]

Get roommates! you're a freshman! make friends!

There's a very good chance that you won't be pre-med within the next year. Not saying that you can't do it, or that school shouldn't be taken seriously your first year, but come-on!

College, especially your first year, is about developing socially!

 

[URHere]

I agree that the social aspect is a vital part of college, but, for most people, that doesn't involve intense bonding with a roommate.

You may find a good friend in the room across the hall, in the next dorm over, etc. The key is to make sure that you actually leave your room and meet people. If you are the kind of person who keeps tabs on what is going on (when hallmates are going to play pool, when and where parties are happening), you will meet plenty of people and you will probably be 100% fine living alone. If you are introverted, however, living alone is a good way to keep yourself out of the loop. That is where a few suite-mates can be vital - they'll drag you along and get you out of your shell, which will only benefit you.

 

[sandys]

Definitely get a roommate!

My freshman year roommate and I weren't friends -- but we were cordial and got along just fine. There were others my year who became instant best friends with their roommates. After freshman year, all my subsequent roommates and I became best friends (when we barely knew each other before). If nothing else, you can decide to get a single your sophomore year if you found the roommate experience to be intolerable.