As the housing lottery approaches, a common question for underclassmen is whether they should choose suite style or communal living. I wish I knew as an incoming freshman to choose the communal living, even though the glamorous idea of suite style has more pull. Sure thing, suite style is probably the closest to home you can get with a private bathroom and living space. But the point of college is that you’re finding your new home.
My freshman year I lived in a learning and living community in a suite-style dorm building, but if I could have retraced those steps I would have chosen the shared living space and communal bathrooms. In a suite style dorm, it is a lot more quiet with a glance as you pass someone instead of a wave hello. I made a small handful of friends from my dorm building freshman year, but my circle could have been broader if I chose a communal dorm. Typically my friends came from my classes and extracurriculars. As a sophomore, I decided to live in a communal dorm. My first day I was minding my own business as I was brushing my teeth in the communal bathroom until the girl next to me asked what was my first class that day. First I was shocked, and then was pleased to know she was genuinely interested. Now she’s a face I say hello to everytime we pass in the bathroom, hall, or anywhere on campus! I could name almost everyone in my hall, where as before I did not even recognize some faces at our floor meetings. I believe as a freshman or transfer, without a question, you should live in a communal dorm because your first source of friends are going to be where you live! Even if you feel like you didn’t make the most of your freshman year, move into a communal dorm your sophomore year. There is no shame in it.
People get grossed out by the idea of sharing a bathroom with strangers, but once you meet them, they become your friends, not strangers. Honestly I prefer communal bathrooms because they get cleaned twice a day and you would never find that strict of a cleaning schedule among 4 roommates solely responsible for their bathroom.