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Do you have to commit prior to room assignments?


Joker
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We did a college visit today and were really surprised by what they consider co-ed dorms. They weren't really co-ed at all because they were completely segregated on each end of the dorms. They even had doors with signs about needing an escort beyond that point if you weren't the right gender. It's especially surprising since it wasn't our experience more than 20 years ago. Co-ed meant rooming with same gender but sharing a floor with different gender. At dh's college they even shared the bathroom and just had locking doors on the showers. 

 

They apparently only have one truly gender inclusive residence and ds would need that to attend. I'm hoping to hear they give priority to those who actually need it but since they're suite style rooms I'm not sure about a freshman getting in. 

 

It's a big deal to ds since he's transgender and early in his transitioning. He mostly passes but in a set up like the above I would imagine he could be questioned often no matter which side of the dorm he was on. Now I'm questioning what every school means when they say co-ed. 

 

So, I'm wondering if students can secure room assignments before committing because nothing I've read or heard so far says that's possible but it's a big deal to us. 

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I suspect you'd need to check with housing (not admissions) at each college your student is interested in (or accepted at).  I doubt every place has the same way of doing things.  I also suspect when they find out there are special circumstances, most give priority, but only if they know in advance and plan it that way.

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You will find that the meaning of "coed" varies a great deal from school to school.  The housing office at each school will handle individual situations; since this is a major issue, I would check and see what type of accommodations will be available (although the specific room may not be assigned), once a list of colleges is fairly narrow to make sure that there will be a comfortable solution.

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Thanks, everyone.

 

In researching the gender inclusive residence more, I'm thinking those are more of a priority for who needs it since it strongly recommends those wanting it also pick their roommate themselves. It just gets confusing to hear/read about picking your own roommate and touring today and hearing about a lottery that determines who gets first choice. 

 

This is a school ds has already applied to, Purdue, and after acceptances come in I will call and talk with the individual schools to figure out if housing is going to be a bigger issue than we imagined. The other schools we toured had what we had expected from co-ed dorms. This was the first one that surprised us and made us realize we would need to do more checking. 

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Oh goodness...

 

I HIGHLY recommend researching alternative housing options at Purdue.  Dh's degree says Purdue (though he actually went to IUPUI) and DD 21 had Purdue as #2 (she was accepted to all 3 of her choices, chose Ball State for the storm chase team.)  We toured PU twice, and had she not been accepted to BSU, she would have gone PU.

 

I went to a SMALL college in Indiana, and our "co-ed" dorms mimic BSU....one floor is male, one is female, one is male, one is female. 

 

But again, I really recommend researching the off campus housing options in West Lafayette.    I can't see Purdue having fewer off campus options than BSU. 

 

Also, to be honest, we found PU's housing costs to be stupid high. 

 

We will research off campus options but it becomes difficult since he may not now anyone to room with so the cost would all be on us. He is hoping one good friend goes as well and they are both hoping to get into the housing I've previously mentioned (it recommends picking your roommate). Ds also doesn't drive so I'm not sure how that will work out with off campus housing. 

 

Ds was accepted already to IUPUI and I think it would actually be a very comfortable place for him and his doctors are right next door but he's really hoping for more of a college experience. I think IUPUI is still mostly commuters. We live really close and it wouldn't make sense for him to live on campus when he could just commute. This is our best financial choice if no merit aid comes through anywhere else. 

 

I've researched IU and they have actual co-ed living spaces within dorms so one floor would be female, one would be male, but they will also have a true co-ed floor. That's really what ds is wanting. 

 

Ds knows he may not get the experience he wants. He's okay with it if that's how it works out. Right now, we're still hoping and reaching for best case scenario. I was just really surprised by the housing at Purdue. 

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