How to Pick a High Quality Dorm Room (14 Factors to Know)

Before deciding which dorm I wanted to live in during my freshman year, I knew there were a couple of details that I had to consider to make sure I was really going to like my new home. How much space did the room have? Did the dorm have private or hall-style bathrooms? Would I have a bunk bed? These are just three out of the many factors that incoming freshmen should consider before picking a dorm room.

Without considering these 14 frequently overlooked details, you could end up in a dorm room that you don’t like for the rest of the year.

A few things to consider are the dorm’s location, size, whether it’s old or new, if it has suite-style bathrooms or a community style one, the rules that come with living in the dorm hall, whether or not is has nice common areas and study rooms and whether it’s a coe-ed or single gendered hall.

1. Make Sure You Like Its Location

A high quality dorm room has a good location. What makes for a great location is up to your wants and needs.

One factor to consider is how close you want your home to be to your classes. It would be annoying to walk a far distance every morning to get to a class that lasts an entire semester. On the other hand, you may want to be far away from the noise of main campus in order to get some peace and quiet. In that case, the further the dorm is, the better. After staying in a dorm next to the baseball field and all of its games during my freshman year, being far away from noise was a high priority for my sophomore year.

There are other factors to consider when choosing the location of your new home: like what state, or even country, it’s going to be in. When you leave your dorm in the morning, would you rather be greeted by a view of the countryside or the city?

The scenery that you choose to surround yourself with is important. A 2019 study done by Mun-Young Shin and Won-Sop Shin tested how natural scenery affected the mental health of Korean middle schoolers. They found that the students “…viewing natural scenery showed a decrease in tension, anger, depression, fatigue and confusion and a significant increase in vigor…”. With this in mind, take a look at the landscape surrounding the dorm hall that you’re considering and ask yourself if it’s quite the eyeful or a complete eyesore.

2. Make Sure That the Dorm is Big Enough For You and a Roommate

Not all dorm rooms are the same size. They vary from school to school and even hall to hall. The best way to get a feel for the size of a dorm room is to visit the campus you’re thinking of going to.

If you can’t make the commute, then the second best way is to go to the housing services section of the university website, click on the dorm hall you’re thinking of living in, and look at the details of each room. If the square footage doesn’t give you enough of an idea, then the third best way is to go on a virtual tour or look at pictures of the room. 

3. Make Sure That the Dorm is Big Enough For Just You (single dorm)

Single dorms are even smaller than double dorms, but they still vary in size. Living alone has its perks, but it’s still a trade off since you get an even smaller space to live in for the rest of the semester, or the entire year. If you’re not used to staying in a small room, then you shouldn’t commit to staying in one without getting a feel for the lifestyle. Follow the same instructions from the previous step to determine if a single dorm is right for you.

4. Find out How New or Old are the Dorms Are

Some dorm halls were built in 2013 while others were built in 1933. Old dorm rooms tend to have less amenities and more hygienic problems than new dorm rooms. Not every school will tell you the exact date that each dorm hall was built, but if they do, then you can find out what it is by going to the housing section of your school’s website and clicking on your specific dorm hall.

5. Make Sure That It’s the Type of Dorm That You Want

This is one of, if not, the most important factor when choosing which dorm to live in. Here are the main differences between each room style to help you decide:

Single (no roommates): A single dorm is almost always going to have the least amount of space compared to the other dorm styles. It’s also the most expensive option and harder to get assigned to.

Double (1 roommate): There’s more space in this dorm than any single room and it’s a less expensive option, but not as cheap as triples or quads. 

Triple (3 roommates): Whether or not it’s bigger than a double dorm depends on the school. Two people are likely going to have to sleep in bunk style beds. It’s also one of the cheaper housing options.

Quad (4 roommates): This is typically bigger than a double or triple dorm room, so bunk beds usually aren’t required. It’s also one of the cheaper housing options.

To get a more in-depth idea on what each dorm style has to offer, check out this post.

6. Find Out if it Has Hall Style or Suite Style Bathrooms

In hall style bathrooms, you have to share the space with at least half of the other students on your floor.

Being in this setting gives you the opportunity to make more friends than you would if you used a suite-style or private bathroom. I know this sounds ridiculous, but hear me out. When you get ready for class every morning, there are going to be other students who have to get ready for class at the same time. This’ll last for at least one semester. When you run into the same people over and over again, you’ll probably start saying hi to each other while washing your hands, asking about each other’s skincare routine, talking about professors you like and dislike and, before you know it, you’re friends!

On top of expanding your social circle, you’ll also be freed from the responsibility of cleaning a bathroom. The school staff takes care of the hall-style ones for you, so that’ll leave you more time to do other stuff!

When you have a suite-style bathroom, you only have to share the bathroom with your roommate(s) or with the people next door if the bathroom is shared between rooms.

If privacy is a high priority on your list when dorming, then this is the set-up for you. Sharing a community bathroom with the rest of your hall isn’t something you’ll have to do when you have your own. Not to mention that, with fewer students using it, you won’t have to wait in a long line for your turn. That means you might be able to wake up a little later to get to class than other students. Lastly, if your school is okay with it, you’ll get an extra space to decorate and make your own!

7. Make Sure it Has Central Heating and A/C

Trust me, you’re going to want to know if your dorm room comes with this before actually moving in. Without central heating and a/c, the hot months will feel even hotter and the cold months will feel even colder. You would have to get savvy with how you keep your room at a comfortable temperature. You’re more likely to run into this problem with older dorms than newer ones.

8. Know Which Aesthetics that you Want and Don’t Want

Some dorm rooms already have a defined aesthetic without any added decoration, so that might clash with your own decor if it doesn’t fit your ideal aesthetic at all. Here are some virtual tours of examples of how different semi-empty dorm rooms can look:

1. A double dorm room with a private bathroom

2. A normal double dorm room

3. Another normal dorm room

9. Read the Dorm Hall Rules

Some schools are more strict about how students can act and what they can keep in their dorms than others. A few dorm halls allow their students to remove pieces of furniture while others don’t. Some halls have a different range of quiet hours than others do. It’s important to look up the rules of the dorm hall you’re thinking of living in to know what you’re getting yourself into.

10. Check Out the Common Area

It’s not just the dorm room that matters, but what the dorm provides outside of the room. This is because you’re not going to want to be in your room all the time, but you also won’t feel like taking off your pajamas to leave the actual hall. Does your dorm provide a good in between? Here are some factors to think about:

Are the chairs comfortable? Does it have windows with a nice view? Does it have a kitchenette? Is it close to or far away from the dorm room you want to stay in? Does it have a tv? Games? A couch?

11. Look at the Study Room

Sometimes you need a change of scenery to really focus, but you don’t feel like going all the way to the library. Does your dorm provide a study room with comfortable seats? Good sound cancellation? Good lighting? Plenty of outlets? Enough space? Is it close to or far away from the dorm room you want? Do they provide anything other than tables and chairs?

12. Look at the Type of Furniture the Room Comes With

When it comes to items, what does your dorm save you from having to buy yourself? I suggest checking out the housing section of your school of choice’s website and looking for details on the specific dorm hall you want to live in.

13. Decide If You’d Prefer All-Freshman Or All-Class Housing

Another factor to consider before choosing a dorm room is whether or not you want to live around other freshmen or students in every year level.

Staying in an all-freshman dorm hall is a good option if you want to feel a tighter sense of community. You’d be spending the year in a living space filled with other people who are experiencing college life for the first time. It’d be a constant reminder that none of you are in this alone.

By getting to know your neighbors, you’d be able to ask each other questions, form new friendships that last, attend the same GE classes together, etc. Freshmen housing also has fun events to make sure that the new students mix, mingle and get acclimated to university life. My dorm always advertised a bunch of game nights, study groups, lawn events, and other things to make sure we all bonded and had something to do in our free time.

In a dorm hall that houses freshmen, sophomores, juniors and seniors, you have the opportunity to have a more diverse friend group. Making friends with older students can give you the chance to ask for guidance and advice when it comes to your overall college life; including academics. Interacting with upperclassmen who have the same major as you is especially valuable.

On certain college campuses, choosing between all-freshmen and all-class housing aren’t your only options. There are some schools that split dorm halls up based on majors and communities. For example, Ball State University in Indiana has a nursing living-learning community where dozens of people in that major can live in a tight knit home together.

14. Pick Between a Co-ed or Single Gender Dorm Hall

Another way that a lot of universities divide up housing is by gender.

If you’re more comfortable with sticking around other girls most of the time, then it may feel more natural for you to live in an all girl’s dorm. Being in a familiar setting can help your new home feel more inviting and relaxing. Not to mention that you could form closer bonds with your hall-mates because you’ll relate to them in more aspects of life than you would with dudes. Thanks to this, you’d also be able to ask each other for advice, ask questions and support each other when it comes to navigating college life as a woman.

On the other hand, if living with only one gender would feel too isolating for you, then a co-ed dorm hall might be more your speed. This arrangement will be closer to real-world apartments, condos, etc. so it would make for a smoother transition after graduation. Living with both guys and girls might also help you diversify your friend group faster.