There are three types of on-campus housing; Corridor style, Suite style and Townhouse-style residence halls. For the past two years, I experienced both corridor and suite style. When it comes to housing selections, choosing between them would be your first step and they both have pros and cons. Today, I would like to share what I learned from my first-hand experience.
Suite: In most suite buildings, students choose a 4,5,6 or 8-person suite with a same-gender group. These groups may be mixed-gender only in Genesee Hall, Putnam Hall and Saratoga Townhouses. I lived in suite at my first semester and third semester.
Pros
- You can hang out with your roommates in common area
Having a common area is one of the best things about suite. You can put a big sofa in front of the TV and a bunch of cushions to make yourself comfortable. You and your roommates get to decorate your own common space and eat dinner together while watching TV together.
- You can have your own bathroom
There are bathrooms in each suite and you don’t have to share bathroom with your neighbors. It is closer to your room and you can care less about your clothes since you don’t have to walk the hallway. Cleaners clean the suite bathroom once a week and except for that day, you can leave your stuff in the bathroom, such as shampoo or body-wash.
- You can share big furniture with your roommates
As I mentioned above, you can share sofa or TV with your roommates. If you are an international student, it’s impossible to bring big furniture, such as a sofa, couch, tables or TVs. The more roommates you have, the more likely it is to get them.
Cons:
- If you don’t know your roommates well, it could be awkward. During my first semester, I didn’t know any of my roommates in the same suite. I came here in the spring, so I was thrown in the groups of girls who were already friends each other. I felt a little bit left out. If you and your roommates are already friends, or get along well, living in the suite would be amazing, but if not, having to pass by the common area with just “hi” and shutting yourself in your own room could be awkward.
- You need to make some ground rules. If your roommates love having parties late at night in a common space and the loud music and noise prevents you from getting enough sleep, then you need to talk with them. This is one of the biggest problems residents have in suite-style residence hall.
Corridor: Two same-gender people share one room in corridor style residence hall. Men and women are assigned in clusters close to shared men’s or women’s bathrooms, which means that most halls house both men and women on each floor. I lived in corridor for one semester in Jones.
Pros:
- You get to build strong bond with your roommate. Since you are sharing room with only one roommate, you can establish strong friendship between you and your roommate.
- No need to worry about parties. Since corridor style room is relatively small and doesn’t have enough space for bunch of people, it is less likely that you will be kept awake by loud music or noise.
- Most of corridor style rooms are accessed by keys or ID, so you don’t have to worry about random people keep coming to your room. In suite, anyone who knows the code can get inside and I felt a little bit insecure when I was living in suite because I didn’t know all my roommates friends and sometimes I was surprised by strangers getting inside by themselves. However, it won’t happen if you live in a corridor because they need key or ID to get inside
Cons:
- You need to share a bathroom with your neighbors and shower rooms are limited. You also have to walk the hallway to get back to your room after you take shower. If you live in suite, you can leave your shampoo there, but if you live in corridor, you need to bring them back every time
- There is no common area and no space for sofa or couches. Corridor room has two beds and tables and there are not enough space to put big furniture between them. I missed watching sports on TV with my friends while eating popcorn on sofa so much.
Each style room has their own pros and cons and you need to take them into consideration before you make decision about your future housing. These above are just my opinions, but I think it would be helpful if you get opinions and stories from your friends too.
-Nami Nishimura
International Student & Scholar Services 