10 Worst Dorms in America

[AGDee]

My dorm had vermin too. That was the hardest thing to deal with. The typical freshman dorms were single gender and I was NOT going to be caught dead living in an all girls dorm. So, I carefully crafted my answers on the residence hall questionnaire to ensure that I got placed in the International dorm, the only other dorm where freshman could live. We had kitchens, it was open year round and through breaks so you could stay on campus and work if you needed to. Problem is, during breaks and summer is when they exterminated the other dorms. Mine never got a full extermination treatment. They would spray your room when you complained about roaches and the little critters would run next door for safety. When that room got sprayed, they'd come back to yours. Ick. We had mice rampant at one point too, but they did get those under control pretty fast. Due to the kitchens, and it being the international dorm, the smells were... uhh.. interesting? Back in the 80s you could always smoke everywhere so people smoking and smelling smoke didn't seem like a big deal. I can see how it is a big deal now. Our elevator seemed to work most of the time but I was only up one floor so I used the stairs most of the time. The laundry was awful. Three washers and three dryers for probably 200 people? Ick. I remember we had a trash disposal area where you opened the door and threw your trash down. It was a ramp that led to who knows where, the huge trash pile. Two rooms shared a bathroom but nobody from the university cleaned it, that was our job. I was so thankful not to have community bathrooms though.

[Jill1228]

Mice? Oh. HELL. NO

[ASTalumna06]

I'm surprised so many people are THAT opposed to community bathrooms. I mean, I get it, but.. looking back on it, that was probably the most entertaining part about living in the freshmen dorms.

Let’s see…

There was the drunk girl who pretended to be a matron, pushing the hand dryer button for everyone who used the bathroom.. and she handed out candy before you left.

There was the one time I got written up with one of my friends for cutting through the boys bathroom (the bathrooms were in the middle of the floor, with a door on each side), and one of my other friends WOULD have been written up too, if she hadn’t kept running.. right out the door to the floor and down the stairs. The very serious “report” written up by the RA – which I still have to this day – reads, “A third female fled the scene.”

There was the time someone used police caution tape to wrap all of the stalls.. and that other time when someone filled all of the shower stalls with Jello.

Then there was the blonde girl who had all of her friends helping her to dye her hair red.. and then came the screaming when it turned orange.

Ah, memories.

[knight_shadow]

Originally Posted by ASTalumna06

written up

Another reason I'm happy that I didn't live in dorms.

I remember visiting UF with a fraternity brother and hanging out at his sister's "dorm" (it wasn't officially on-campus, but the only tenants were female students from the university). Their community bathrooms were cleaner than the individual bathrooms in the dorms at my alma mater.

[irishpipes]

Originally Posted by lovespink88

Ditto what Gusteau said. If my dorm is really the 6th worst then every other schools' dorms must be SUPER nice. Forbes wasn't great, but it was by no means THAT BAD, lol

I liked the comment for one of the other U of I dorms. "It's too loud and E-14 is far". 1) the Six Pack dorms are the fun dorms, if you wanted quiet, you shoulda picked ISR. 2) Quit whining about E-14 (parking lot) being far. You're a freshman, you shouldn't have a car!!!

It will be a sad day when the 6-pack is no more. It's close to IMPE and the stadium and was the fun place on campus. A lot closer to classes than PAR or FAR. Fun times.

[ASTalumna06]

Originally Posted by knight_shadow

Another reason I'm happy that I didn't live in dorms.

Actually, getting written up was another awesome experience. Haha.. go figure.

First of all, I showed up in Student Affairs and had to talk to someone there about myself, and how everything was going with school, what I was involved in, blah blah blah. I guess they wanted to make sure I wasn’t “troubled.” So I said I was in a sorority. The woman asked me which one, I told her, and it turned out she was an AST, too! So we basically just hung out and talked (and later she became more involved with the sorority). So she said, “I know this is a really stupid thing to get written up for, but it’s my job and I have to do this.. so I need you to choose a small project to do.” They were little PR/safety/healthy living “advertisements,” so to speak, that you’d have to create. So I chose to design a flyer type thing to be put up around campus regarding the dangers of drinking and how to handle certain situations when it comes to alcohol.

I was bored one night (I’m pretty sure I was snowed in), so I went all out with it. What started out as a few flyers to be put up turned into something that was posted all over campus. They were also included with students’ information packets when they first arrived at school, and were handed out at different events regarding alcohol awareness. I felt pretty damn special. Lol.

And it was all because I spent 3 seconds in the guys’ bathroom.

[Munchkin03]

Originally Posted by knight_shadow

Another reason I'm happy that I didn't live in dorms.

I remember visiting UF with a fraternity brother and hanging out at his sister's "dorm" (it wasn't officially on-campus, but the only tenants were female students from the university). Their community bathrooms were cleaner than the individual bathrooms in the dorms at my alma mater.

That's more a reflection on the oollege's culture rather than dorms. It was impossible to get "written up" at my college for a dorm-related matter unless it was something that would have gotten you arrested outside the dorms.

[ASTalumna06]

Originally Posted by Munchkin03

That's more a reflection on the oollege's culture rather than dorms. It was impossible to get "written up" at my college for a dorm-related matter unless it was something that would have gotten you arrested outside the dorms.

Well, it really depended on the RAs at my school. A lot of them were cool, but the one that had me written up we would call (and I'm not using his real name) Deputy Mike. He ENJOYED writing people up.

I remember when New Found Glory played at my school, and the band's tour bus was outside, so me and my friend stood by it after the concert for about an hour. We weren’t extremely close, we didn’t run up to it, we were basically standing around in a place where people normally stand on campus, and Deputy Mike came to yell at us and told us we couldn’t be there. I asked him why, and he couldn’t come up with an answer. At this point more people were coming to stand with us, and in the middle of him being mad over nothing, the band walked onto the bus, hung out for 5 minutes, then came out to sign autographs. And the Deputy looked dumb.

Some people just don’t want others to have fun!

Oh, and that was kind of awesome, too, because news crews were around there and supposedly I was on tv for 5 seconds.

That kid inadvertently did a lot of good things for me! lol

[KSUViolet06]

Originally Posted by Munchkin03

. My freshman dorm, however, had it set up where every two rooms shared a bathroom. That was nice--and the custodians let us keep our stuff in the bathrooms. It was a nice surprise, but since we couldn't pick our freshman dorms it wasn't a big deal.

This was MY dorm. Loved it (barring the neighbor from hell one semester.)

I was also a long-time dorm dweller.

Most people were DYING to get off-campus after sophomore year (school had 2 year live-on requirement.)

I stayed on until my last year of school, when I moved into the sorority house and lived there til graduation. Sidenote: Yes, I spent my last year of college in the sorority house, and didn't die of not being able to drink. That's what bars (and other sister's apartments) are for.

People were all "OMG why don't you get your own place or rent a house with your friends!!!!"

My theory was that I'd have my whole life to pay rent and live on my own, I was going to milk my room and board scholarship for all it was worth (and take full advantage of my parents being willing to pay for me to live in Sigma.)

I was one of few people who didn't get their own apartments until grad school.

[OleMissGlitter]

Is this a joke!?!?! They have Miller Hall listed at Ole Miss. Miller Hall is in the process of being demolished! (Literally they started yesterday!) So I guess this isn't really an accurate list!

Oh and I told my husband that his alma mater (Mississippi State) was mentioned a few times. He said those most be the new dorms mentioned because when he went to State the dorms were awful!

[Munchkin03]

Originally Posted by OleMissGlitter

Is this a joke!?!?! They have Miller Hall listed at Ole Miss. Miller Hall is in the process of being demolished! (Literally they started yesterday!) So I guess this isn't really an accurate list!

Oh and I told my husband that his alma mater (Mississippi State) was mentioned a few times. He said those most be the new dorms mentioned because when he went to State the dorms were awful!

They mentioned that Miller Hall was slated for demolition; also, they discussed the fact that the dorms at State were new. They looked pretty nice in the picture, though.

[victoriana]

Originally Posted by AGDee

My old dorm only has one review and it scored a 2.2. The comment by the reviewer? "My roommate and suitemates were awful" Hello?? That doesn't have anything to do with the dorm itself!

What makes a dorm good? I would say space, closet/drawer space, amenities, community bath or not.. what do y'all think makes a dorm good?

What dorm did you live in??

[BluPhire]

Man no research went into that article. Rust College in Holly Springs MS should have been number. Them things still look like slave quarters.

[PhoenixAzul]

I purposefully chose my dorm because it was all female, close to the (then) art building, and old and pretty. I lived there for two years, and then into suites (still dorms, but four individual bedrooms, 1.5 baths, and a nice living room/kitchen/dining room) for two years. I liked both of them.

Because my first year, the dorms were all female (or all male), it was pretty quiet. But there were the common complaints of hair in the showers (and not really enough showers for how many women lived there), and male guests, and no AC, and visiting hours, but all in all, it was a nice place to be.

Sophomore year, they made the top two floors female and the bottom two male, with locks so you had to be invited on to another floor. Then our complaints were of the REEKING of Axe deodorant, and of the boys general slovenliness, but still, the dorm was nice.

Our suite was truly nice though, and I loved living there. I loved the campus living experience, and I think it's a key part of the college experience overall. I see huge differences between how my husband, who lived at home for school, and I view our alma maters, and I think that has a lot to do with living on campus.

Now, Otterbein had some pretty heinous dorms that were meant to be "temporary". Thirty years later, they're pretty dire...cinder blocks, dingy, etc. They're called the Triad, but one of the Triad, "Engle"....was truly horrendous, and was/is the most frequently complained about, most vandalized, most shenanigans hall on campus. It would be funny if not for the gross shit I've heard about happening there. *shudder*

But we've had two new halls built in the past three years, and renovations are underway on the others, so I'm sure they've got way better digs than I did, but I was happy with what I had.

[AGDee]

Originally Posted by victoriana

What dorm did you live in??

Back in my day, Walton and Putnam were the International dorms. Phelps was the male freshman dorm and Sellers was the female freshman dorm. I believe that's been reversed now? I was in Putnam and worked (and met my first husband at) DC1.