All About College Orientations: Part 3 of 5

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We have a few tips regarding campus housing right here in All About College Orientations: Part 3 of 5.  During your student’s college orientation, there are a few things to be mindful of during the campus housing portion of orientation. It’s like Dorm Life 101. 🙂

There are two main housing options for new freshman: on campus or off campus.
If your student will live in university housing his or her freshman year, you will want to be prepared to take notes during the college orientation tour.

Colleges will typically select a freshman dorm for your orientation group to tour. This may or may not be the one assigned to your student, but it will give you a good idea of university housing operations. They provide you with a lot more details than you received on your preliminary  admission tour. Now, here is what you need to know:

1. If your student’s dorm is not on the orientation tour, get off the beaten track and find it! You may be relegated to peaking in windows (universities use the summertime to refurbish dorms, hence they are oftentimes locked during orientations) but at least you will have a geographical point of reference. 
2. Ask Questions!
   The picture above was the tour we went on during our daughter’s college orientation. You can see the Campus Guide took us inside a dorm room and paused to answer questions. Here are a few questions to ask at some point during orientation:What are the after hours access policies? Universities take student safety very seriously. Precautions are in place to make sure only verified occupants enter dorms after hours. Ask the about the policies so you are prepared after a 2am study session. 
   
   What are the RA’s hours? (Residence Advisers – these are students who are paid by the
   university to monitor the living environments in the dorms.)
   
   Where are the laundry facilities? Are they coin or card operated? If the laundry facility is card operated find out about how to load funds onto the card.On move in day, is anyone available to help us? Move in day was a cinch for our family, thanks in large part to the university’s organization. We knew exactly where to be at what time. Each dorm had a tiered system of move in times so 5000 new students did not arrive all at once. SMART! They had athletic teams on site to help move bins, refrigerators, etc. AND, they had tents set up outside the dorm with hot dogs, cold waters and chips. It was seriously sooooo much better than I expected. Friends had gently warned me about how stressful move in can be do to logistics. Honestly, our family had a smooth and happy experience. Of course, the goodbyes were tough, but move logistics went like clock work.Are the beds twin size or twin extra-long? I wish I had know to ask this
   question! I purchased several sets of twin sheets at a Macy’s sale, only to find
   out that most university beds require twin xl sheets. Oops. Amazon has great sets like these in every color of the rainbow for under $25 each. DONE. (affiliate)
3. Bring a tape measure! Measure closets, etc. Go vertical – can you add storage above the beds, under the beds? Check out the closet in the dorm. It may or may not have a door to keep clothing and personal items out of view. A friend of mine who moved four children into dorms in various educational institutions gave me a GREAT tip: Buy a tension curtain rod and a panel of curtains or a nice, fabric shower curtain. It will provide privacy for the closet while maintaining ease of use when accessing the closet. BRILLIANT!

Make sure you review the Residence Life section on the university’s website for policies and procedures. Certain items (like toasters, alcohol & hot plates) may be prohibited. Find out before move in day!

We have additional tips regarding campus parking and student health services, so make sure you check those out, too!

Now, it is officially time for you to graduate on to Part 4 of All About College Orientations!

P.S. – I am not affiliated with Rollins College. I visited a friend in Winter Park, FL whose child attends the college. We stopped by campus and I snapped lots of pics along the way! It is a gorgeous campus tucked away in a pocket of Orlando known as Winter Park, FL.