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Housing policies differ from school to school.
Students might be able to choose whatever
housing they can find. Or they might have to
live in a dormitory, at least for the first
year.
Dorms come in all sizes. A building may house a
small number of students or many hundreds. Some
have suites. Each suite has several bedrooms, a
common living area and a bathroom. Six or more
students may live in one suite.
Other dorms have many rooms along a common
hallway, usually with two students in each room.
Many students say dormitories provide the best
chance to get to know other students. Also,
dorms generally cost less than apartments or
other housing not owned by the school.
Most colleges and universities offer single-sex
dorms, but usually males and females live in the
same building. They might live on the same
floors and share the same common bathrooms. But,
in most cases, they may live in the same room
only if they are married.
At many schools, male students can join
fraternities and females can join sororities.
These are mainly social organizations but
members may also be able to live at their
fraternity or sorority house.
Edward Spencer is the associate vice president
for student affairs at Virginia Tech in
Blacksburg. He says it is important to
understand the rules of the building in which
you will live.
He advises students to ask questions before they
decide about their housing. For example: If a
student requires a special diet, will the school
provide for it? How much privacy can a student
expect? Will the school provide a single room if
a student requests one?
And what about any other special needs that a
student might have?
Virginia Tech, for example, had a ban against
candles in dorms. But it changed that policy to
let students light candles for religious
purposes.
The university also has several dorms open all
year so foreign students have a place to stay
during vacation times.
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