About colllege dorm living.?

Question

How do people deal with living in the dorms? I have only been here a week and i cant stand it and am seriously considering going home.

So my questions is how to deal with dorm living? And how long into the school year can you transfer? Like would i be able to transfer now after being here for a week or do i have to wait a full semester because honestly i cant do that.

Answer 1

As someone who has lived on campus all four years of college [ two as a resident and two as a Resident Assistant], I can definitely understand your worries, because I had the same ones too.

It sounds as though your major concerns are homesickness and getting used to the new environment. When I moved in my first year, I was definitely surprised by how small the space was; I also was really homesick [I cried the first few days]. But with time, I got used to it.

To be honest, you'll probably feel homesick for awhile, especially if you're not used to being that far away from your family. To help with this, try to get involved on campus; maybe try some clubs or other organizations [like the school paper, or the radio station, etc].

How are/is your roommate[s]? If you get along with them, maybe you can go have meals with them; what about the other people on your floor? Are there floor/building programs that you can attend? Do you have a Resident Assistant/Counselor on your floor? Their role [or it should be] is to help students get adjusted/be there to talk to. And if you are having roommate issues, you should definitely talk to your RA, so you can do some mediation [or even move to another room].

In terms of your room, maybe you can try to make it feel a little more homey/more personal...sometimes a little decorating can make it a lot nicer [some band posters, or photos with friends].

I know it's really hard and a little scary, but I think the best thing to do is to wait it out this semester/quarter... since you've only been there a week, you really haven't  had time to get adjusted. If anything, you can grab meals by yourself [bring a book or your Ipod], or sit next to people you don't know and introduce yourself [I did this myself...it can be a little intimidating, but who knows, you might find some cool people].

Since it's still early in the school year, I'm sure people are in the same boat as you...so if you see some people that look cool/friendly, don't feel afraid to go up and say hi...if they're rude, oh well, better luck next time, right?

However, if by the end of the semester you are still unhappy, then you can transfer out.

I hope this helps a little bit...don't worry, things will pick up. Good luck!

Answer 2

I just cleaned my side of the room and made it more like home so that I could adjust.  But at my school, you have to complete at least one semester before you transfer. I would suggest you just try it for a semester and see how you like it, if not then yea just go home. lol Good luck!!

Answer 3

I understand exactly where you are coming from. My family moved and I have to live in the dorms, but if you want to better yourself sometimes you have to do what you don't want to do. All I can tell you to do is suck it up because life is hard. I transferred from school to school, and so many years have passed me right on by. I'm 26 years old and I still don't have a degree. If you're religious I advise you to start praying. Good Luck and I hope you do well in school!

Answer 4

Dorms are worse than high school. Same amount of drama, except you either live with the person or across the hall from them. So you can't get away from them.

Answer 5

There are things you can do to try to make the situation more bearable, but others will advise you on that. Based on your question, though, and how you phrased it, it seems the situation is urgent. If you honestly can not stay, if you've tried, but absolutely hate it where you are, and are desperate, then:

Do you like the university otherwise? Is it just the dorm that's the issue? Because if it's just the dorm that is the issue, speak to the Residence Director to see if there are any solutions. Is there another style of residence hall on your campus? If it's really that they need to move you or you're leaving, explain that, and that the situation is urgent. If it's that urgent, they may be able to move you to a suite-style or apartment-style hall, or there may be some other sort of solution.

You can not transfer now, a week into school, but you can drop your classes and you probably can get all or most of your money back. You'd likely lose your deposit for your housing, but you may be able to get your housing money back, too. All your financial aid would be returned to whence it came. And you could then apply to another university to start in their Spring term. You'd apply as a freshman, not a transfer, because you wouldn't actually have "taken" any classes, by withdrawing this early.

Whatever you do, do not simply leave your existing school. That'll mess up your transcripts, your ability to go to a new school, and your financial aid. Go through the paperwork to drop your classes and withdraw from housing, etc. But do this immediately, so you're still in the add/drop period, and so you can still get all or part of your money back. If you wait much longer, you'll be past all that, and you'll be ****ed.

It is actually possible - not likely, but possible - that you could even start a new school for the fall term, if you move very quickly. The other school would need to still be accepting applicants, and have room in housing, etc. But it's possible. If you want to, and you have other schools in mind, you can call them and check.

It's also entirely reasonable, and possible, for you to drop your classes and etc., return home, and start community college immediately. Most ccs either just started term last week, or this. You could live at home, earn college credits, and investigate other colleges you might like to transfer to without having to rush into it.

Answer 6

We could help you deal with it better if we knew exactly what is making it so horrible for you. More info would be helpful here.  

Answer 7

I'm 30, but when I was in college I had very similar issues.  In my first year I had one roommate and we got along, but it was almost as if I had to train him to go to bed at a "respectable" hour (I like to go to bed around 11:00.  I also had to deal with him occassionally going on Southern Comfort drinking binges, but there is a compromise that needs to be made.  The only issue that I had with him was when he went on a 120 ounce beer drinking binge and proceeded to vomit all over the room.  I made him clean it up while he was drunk and made him take the area rug into the shower with him.  

My second year was better because I could pick my roommates, we would often sit around and smoke pipes, or cigars, listen to opera or other fine music and all around did much better.  

I do have to admit that I ended up moving back home to take on a full time job while going to school full time as I really needed to have a bigger workload, but ultimately I had two great years.  Stick with it.