Is UGA stupid?

The1calledTKE · #1 03-12-2003, 12:05 AM

Starting fall 2004 UGA will require all freshman to live in the dorms even the ones that are origanlly from Athens. They claim the students will do better in school. First I don't believe that would be the case. Second it would hurt the local economy. Third it would cause a housing shortage. And fourth it probably would force out upperclassmen from the dorms.

http://www.accessatlanta.com/ajc/met...2ugadorms.html

Munchkin03 · #2 03-12-2003, 12:16 AM

I don't think that's stupid at all. UGA wants to be a residential college for its first-year students. I know that some schools are requiring first years to live on campus so they don't rush fraternities and sororities their first semester on campus, when they don't really understand what it is they're doing.

My school does it. Actually, seniors are the only people allowed to live off campus; but housing is guaranteed for all four years. First years are also required to be on meal plan. They do allow students who live in Prov w/ their parents to live at home, and married underclassmen. The housing's so good that I and most of my friends still live on campus as seniors--and about 3/4 of the senior class lives on-campus. Their rationale is that students who live on-campus will do better in school, and will be more involved with campus life. For the most part, I think it's true. I think it's unfair for a 17-year old to have to find an apartment because their school doesn't have enough beds.

How would it hurt the local economy? Shouldn't there be enough upperclassmen to make housing prices competitive?

Tom Earp · #3 03-12-2003, 12:39 AM

Well, yepper what the F""" Q!

It do suck, ZEKE, and I have yet to figure out. When at PSU. the College Living is limited that Frosh have to live in College Approved Living!Hell, they tore down some Dorms, ask the Greek Advisorert, yep a she and she looked at me like I was a pet Loon!

We Both Know the Students get screwed! OH OH Did I say that, Well Yepper!!!

Well Is l oate fotr me as use can see Homemade IceCream for me!!!
If want the recepie Youse got the Number!

TTFN, Give NN! HI!

Betarulz! · #4 03-12-2003, 12:45 AM

I don't like the fact that people in Athens have to live in the dorms...most of the people from Lincoln that live at home that I know of do so b/c of cost.

At Nebraska, freshmen have to live in University approved housing...either dorms, at home with a relative who is at least 25 years old living within 30(i think) miles, or a Greek house that has university approval. Last year was the first year a Greek house lost their status as University approved housing meaning that their freshmen had to move out, while the brothers could still live there.

texas*princess · #5 03-12-2003, 12:59 AM

I think it would be great so they could meet new people and have college experiences... however, I hate to sound negative when I say I think the school just wants more money by requiring people to live on campus .

My first university required all freshmen to live on campus UNLESS they had a signed paper from their parents saying they would be living at home because they were from a nearby town.

My current university does the same (i think?) and also requires the students (lowerclassmen only) to purchase a meal plan no matter what.

The hall I am currently staying in is a 'non-traditional' hall in a sense that mostly upperclassmen live here, we can have appliances like microwaves and stuff in our rooms so we're not required to have meal plans. (This is also the only hall that doesn't have a cafeteria and is a block or two from the nearest hall with a cafeteria). Still the freshmen who live here are required to pay big bucks for a meal plan even though most don't have the time to make the trip to other cafeterias on campus....

Despite the conditions of some of the halls here, room and board rates are ridiculous and it is really cheaper to get an apartment and pay bills.

P.S. I couldn't read the article b/c the linked page didn't work for me?

carnation · #6 03-12-2003, 07:40 AM

Don't they already have a housing shortage? How are they going to accomodate the freshmen?

AOX81 · #7 03-12-2003, 09:04 AM

I think it is stupid for any college/university to require freshmen who live close to live in dorms...especially walking distance. I was going to go to a school that was across the street and they said that I was required to have "dorm experience" for my freshman year. Sorry, but I am not paying $7000+ to get "dorm experience." I paid my way through college and I definitely could not afford that!

SSS1365 · #8 03-12-2003, 09:06 AM

My school did the same thing. Freshmen are required to live on campus there, unless their parents live within commuting distance and then they must live with their parents. In fact, juniors and seniors are the only ones allowed to live off campus, and they have to apply for it. I think that living on campus is good, especially for a freshman, to get involved in college life and meet new people. Now, this works for a school that has enough housing, but for a school that doesn't, it's a stupid idea... unless they can require upperclassmen to live off campus. The school I went to is facing this issue now. It's a small school with about 3,500 students, but they want to move up to 5,000 students. There isn't any room for new dorms so they're probably going to have to start requiring upperclassmen to live off campus. They do have contracts with local apartment complexes to keep costs reasonable for students. They wind up paying only a little bit more than they would if they lived on campus, and they get a whole apartment with a washer and dryer in it and a kitchen, etc. One complex there is set up solely for college students. I never lived off campus while I was at school because I was an officer in my sorority by the time I was eligible, and therefore was required to live on campus.

Kevin · #9 03-12-2003, 09:59 AM

As far as Greek Life... this can work in your favor. Your new members won't be spread around town, etc. It'll be much easier to track them down or get them immediately involved because now the distance won't be so great (unless you used to require them to live in-house).

Peaches-n-Cream · #10 03-12-2003, 01:59 PM

My college required freshman under the age of 21 who didn't live in the area to live on campus. Now due to overcrowding, they have changed some housing rules.

sugar and spice · #11 03-12-2003, 02:53 PM

I definitely think it's a good idea for freshmen to live in university housing. I have a ton of friends from Madison who decided to go to the UW, and a lot of them chose to stay at home to save money. They ended up hating college -- one has since dropped out, the others are not involved in anything outside of classes, and none of them have very many friends. Meanwhile, the friends I have who lived in the dorms freshman year LOVE the school, are extremely social, are much more likely to be involved, and basically are having a much better college experience because of it.

That said, I don't think the university should require students to live on campus -- it should be their choice. It should, however, be strongly encouraged as I think it usually makes a big difference in your social life for the next four years.

Our school would probably require people to live on campus if it could, but it can't. We already have major housing shortages every year, and every year it just gets worse because the freshman class gets bigger and bigger.

dzrose93 · #12 03-12-2003, 03:36 PM

Is UGA stupid?

What a question to ask of a Georgia Tech fan.

Seriously, though... I think that it is ridiculous to make all freshmen live in on-campus housing, particularly if it's taking local kids out of their own homes and making them pay housing costs when mom and dad live 3 miles down the road. My college did this about about a year before I graduated, and it completely backfired. They actually had kids living in hotel rooms off campus for months at a time because they didn't have the housing available on-site!

I can understand the reasons why colleges would want to have all of their freshmen living on-campus, but I just don't think that it's feasible for most schools.

Cluey · #13 03-12-2003, 04:56 PM

As someone who has lived in a UGA dorm (Brumby, also known by some more colorful nicknames), this seems a bit ridiculous. I feel like I can honestly tell you that is the one experience I would never want to do over again in my lifetime.

I lived in a *TINY* room that I shared with another girl. Our closets were metal! Yes, the cheap kind that you can store all sorts of stuff in! The only way to have any kind of floor space was to put them up in lofts or bunkbeds.

Anyway, until they get better dorms, no one is going to want to live on campus. I know that they had some new ones planned over off of East Campus Road, but I thought they weren't ready, yet.

I used to have a horrid view on dorms because of my experience at UGA, but I loved my dorm experience at the smaller school that I finished up at.

damasa · #14 03-12-2003, 05:05 PM

Quote:

[i]

Our school would probably require people to live on campus if it could, but it can't. We already have major housing shortages every year, and every year it just gets worse because the freshman class gets bigger and bigger. [/B]

With the extreme budget shortage in the state I am pretty sure that the size of the freshman classes going into any UW school will shrink from the previous year. From what I hear, Milwaukee stopped accepting applications for the 03-04 school year sometime at the end of last year/early this year. I think they are only going to accept 3,000-4,000 incoming students for next year. That's including transfer students. That's almost half of the number of students that were admitted last year.

AlphaSigOU · #15 03-12-2003, 07:27 PM

Back in my days as an undergrad (and it's still valid today), incoming freshmen attending OU full time must live in University housing until they have attained a minimum of 24 credit hours. Greek housing doesn't count, and the only exception given is to students living with their parents within 20 miles of the University.

Freshman living is sex-segregated (same floor, different dorm wings). There is a co-ed floor on the 11th floor of Walker Tower, but that's reserved for upperclassmen. 12th floor of Walker is for resident grad students. 8th floor of Walker was reserved for honor students.

Part of Cross Center is used by NROTC as barracks. Couch Center (Walker's twin tower) was home to the USPS training school back in my day, but has since opened up for undergrad housing. Adams had either male-only or female-only floors because of their design, and if I remember correctly they now have alcohol free and 'no visitation' floors.