College living arrangements

WindUpBird

So, I'm going to University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign next year. It's a pretty big place, with about 30,000 undergrads to it's name. Two extremely good friends of mine, guys I've known since 3rd grade with similar tastes (from music, to games, to hobbies) have also been accepted.

It turns out that housing in a privately owned and operated (but university sponsored) hall actually costs less with a meal plan than housing in a public dorm. It's about the same walking distance from the quad (~5 minutes) as the public dorms, and is a lot nicer.

The only issue I'm having is one of a social matter: people keep telling me than I either "won't branch out" (because of living with friends or because it's a private hall) or will end up destroying those friendships, and I don't want either of those things to happen. I'm a pretty sociable person, and I don't particularly foresee either event occurring (my friends and I are pretty well-adjusted and know how to leave well enough alone, such that we won't get one each other's nerves); that being said, I still don't particularly want invite disaster.

Anyone with any similar experiences as far as private halls or living with friends go have some advice for me?

HungryJoe

Living with friends will change relationships. Your friend's silly antics might be endearing to you now, but how will you deal with it when he doesn't put the cap back on the toothpaste? Your other friend might not be as cool, but he might turn out to be a great roommate. You'll either be closer or you'll end up hating each other.

Don't worry about branching out. That's not your job. Your job will be to make the best grades you can and learn as many new skills as you can while occasionally engaging in dangerous debauchery. You're going to want to acquire a minor misdemeanor record and have at least one terrifying experience when some girl whose name you can't remember tells you she's late, but those things don't really require much "branching out".

I had a friend that went to school there. It's a really good school. What are you going to study?

GreatTeacherMacRoss

While I was friendly with all my roomates, my best friends currently were those I met at clubs, during classes, through other friends, engaging in dangerous debauchery, or some combination of those things (dangerous debauchery club, anyone?).

'Networking' is important, but you won't do that in a dorm. I can honestly say I have no contact anymore with anyone I met by being in the same dorm as they were. Dorm life can also be sorta rough and gets old after a year or so. I can tell you horror stories about the 4th floor of Sol Human Hall at RIT from my freshman year...

Cremlian

Don't worry about branching out. That's not your job. Your job will be to make the best grades you can and learn as many new skills as you can while occasionally engaging in dangerous debauchery. You're going to want to acquire a minor misdemeanor record and have at least one terrifying experience when some girl whose name you can't remember tells you she's late, but those things don't really require much "branching out".

Depends what you are planning to do, if you are planning to become a doctor, then don't worry as much about branching out. However, the contacts you make in college will help you through the rest of your life. Making a lot of contacts throughout these 4 to ?? years is extremely important and will further your career path in the future. (especially if you need places to stay in far away cities or contacts to job leads) I recommend living in the dorms for one year just to have the experience, you can always move in with your friends after that.

Don't listen to Mr. Macross.. He's a NERD. ^_^ To be fair though RIT destroyed any real dorm culture the years we all went. They forced people out of the dorms after a year, thus causing dorm "culture" to never really mature. I know other colleges don't necessarily do this, so check into it first. While I don't talk to anyone on my floor, I did become friends with a lot of people who also lived in the dorms, since most people do not have transportation in college (or money) you tend not to move far to get your social fix. Being in a dorm with almost everyone you know is very convenient.

HungryJoe

Networking can be great. However, in my case, most of the guys I knew from college ended up becoming shiftless bums, so they were not good business contacts or good for a spare couch or anything like that. If you're networking for that purpose, choose wisely.

Doesn't U of I have at least one science/engineering fraternity?

WindUpBird

What are you going to study?

Probably bioengineering or a different engineering field, but I presently have this huge gravitation toward botany. We'll see how far that goes.

science/engineering fraternity?

At least one, but I don't think I'm rushing.

I recommend living in the dorms for one year just to have the experience

The U and the private dorm have an agreement stating that if you unsatisfied with either housing setup, you can move back and forth. I should add, though, that although it's a private hall, it IS a dorm setup: 25 floors, lots of rooms and people. The rooms themselves are all that's different.

Dkong

I just got accepted into OSU for next year and I'm also wondering about housing arrangements. As is, I know a few freshmen and sophomores from anime cons (I mean, there ARE 3 cons in Columbus alone) and alumni of my high school. To top that off, I know a good chunk of people going next year, including my best friend of the last....10 years or so. My mom is encouraging me to live with him. She doesn't want me to get stuck with a roommate that I'll end up hating, and she knows he'll keep me on track (he's good with that kind of stuff, actually). I have heard all the stories about either ending up with a better friendship or hating each other (which obviously isn't a goal here...), or that we just won't really branch out that much. So I'm not sure if I should room with him or not. I'm thinking I probably will, especially because we've had numerous experiences living with each other (though for much more brief times than a school year)...but I'm still unsure.

Newot

My freshman year I lived with one of my friends from high school. It was nice to have someone familiar being far away from home. We ended up not being great roommates for each other, but after that year we didn't live together and got along just fine. I don't think living with someone I knew from high school hurt me in branching out. We had different interests and I met a lot of new people. I really think it's all up to you and what you want to make your college experience. Also, as long you live near campus, don't worry about not living in the dorms. I think it's very important to live around campus to enrich your early college life, but if you can get something cheaper, go for it.