Cramped Quarters

This aspect should be a given, so I feel that it's a good place for me to start. Many freshman dorms, mine included, were set up as triples. This meant that three 18-year old guys were trying to fit all their school supplies and personal items into a small cinder block room. Even with all the storage bins in the world, it would be near impossible to have a proper place for everything. We worked it out, thank God, but it's still not a fun experience.

Not to mention, we each would have friends or classmates in our room on occasion. Trying to find space for them to sit while we were hanging out could be a struggle. I'm sure living in a double is an improvement, but from what I've heard, not by much.

Loud Neighbors

Instead of loud, inconsiderate roommates, a major problem I had while in the dorms was having loud, inconsiderate neighbors. Don't get me wrong, there were some lovely people living on my floor. I've even made friends and established connections with some of them. However, there are always people who fall on the other end of the spectrum.

For context, my dorm building had four floors and a basement, with each floor having a communal lounge, laundry, and was split into two wings. I lived towards the end of my wing on the first floor. However, the group of guys that had the first room entering the wing was always very loud. Normally, this isn't an issue, since I'm rarely ever in my dorm. The trouble comes when you're trying to sleep at night and they have a large group of friends over, are very loud, and are playing loud music. News Flash: WE CAN HEAR YOU!! I was never one for confrontation, so I usually let it go.

Another awkward moment was when I made an occasional stop back to my room in between classes. There were days when these people would just be standing in the hallway, being very loud, as you walked in. There was always an awkward silence as you tried to get by. Once you were gone, the loudness resumed. Thankfully, there was a back door at the end of the hall, so I could just exit that way to avoid more awkwardness.

COMMUNAL BATHROOMS!

I feel like anyone who has had to use a communal bathroom can relate to this point. Sharing a bathroom with 15 to 20 guys your age has got to be one of the worst concepts known to man. I won't go into detail, but I'm sure most people can recognize that it is GROSS. Not to mention, the paper towels take forever to be replaced if there are no more in the dispenser. Also, I always found it incredibly awkward to be in the bathroom when the cleaning crew came in. Interpret that how you will. I know they work way too hard to have me complain, but they always seemed to clean or do repairs at timed I'd be in there.

It made me glad to be living in a dorm without communal bathrooms during my sophomore year.

Communal Laundry

The laundry situation is almost as bad as the bathrooms. In Barlow Hall, there was a small laundry room on each floor with 2 washers and 2 dryers. Other buildings had a full row of machines in the basement. In either case, laundry day was frustrating because you had to wait for the perfect time to grab an empty machine.

Once you started laundry, you were kind of tied down for the next few hours. The reason being, since you shared the machines with dozens of other people, you need to be back to take out your clothes. Still, there were some people who would leave their clothes in the machines for hours. PLEASE DON'T BE THIS PERSON!! The rest of us need to get laundry done, too. I refused to touch other people's laundry, so when this happened, I just took my clothes to the basement, which was usually free.

Also, the machines were never the best at cleaning/drying your clothes. Moreover, even if I shoved everything into one machine and selected the cheapest cycle and shortest time, I would be out almost $3 (can reach $4-$5) and several hours of my day.

Unfortunately, there's no real escaping the laundry problem. All dorms have communal laundry, so unless you can get home on a regular basis, you're stuck with it unless you can get off-campus housing.

Broken Stuff/Stuff That Needs to be Replaced

This isn't a gigantic issue, but the point still stands.

I get it, accidents happen, and nobody's perfect. However, waiting days to get light bulbs replaced in the halls is simply annoying. I mentioned earlier that often when the paper towel dispenser in the bathroom ran out, it wouldn't be refilled for a few days. That's obviously annoying when you go to dry your hands and you realize that the only thing you can do is shake your arms violently, waiting for them to dry naturally.

Another thing that often caused a problem was the soda/drink machine on the first floor. In the first month or so of the school year, students would pay for their drink and make the selection, but then the machine wouldn't dispense. Paying $3 for a Coke is frustrating enough, but to not ACTUALLY get the drink is worse. Students would take the liberty of taping makeshift "Out of Order" signs to the machine while we waited for it to be fixed. This isn't so much a "dorm" problem, but I still included it.

The Smells

Obviously when you have hundreds of young adults living in one building for the better part of a year, things can get a bit stinky. This could easily be solved by cleaning up after yourself. My roommates and I always had air freshener for our specific room, but the halls would smell from time to time.

Long Walks To Literally Anywhere

I briefly mentioned this in another one of my articles; My dorm was in an area of campus that was fairly distant from many of my classes, the library, and other areas I often visited. There were other dorms that were more centrally located, but most people will have to do a fair bit of walking no matter what. Even if I wasn't going too far, my dorm was at the bottom of a hill. Walking up a steep hill trying to get to your 9:00 Communications class is a struggle. There was a campus shuttle, but people don't always have time to wait for that.

Move Out Day

Both Move In and Move Out were hectic experiences. However, in my case, there were upperclassmen helping new students bring stuff to their rooms during move-in. That's not the case during move out since everyone is leaving at different times. Students and their families are responsible for clearing out the room by themselves. I was lucky to be on the ground floor since people on the higher floors had to lug heavy suitcases and appliances down the stairs, or waiting for the (very small) elevator.

Moreover, there are check out procedures you have to follow in order to ensure that there's no extra billing. I get why it's necessary, but it's annoying because, by the time people are moving out, they just wanna get home and start their summer.