The Incoming Freshman's Guide to Living in a College Dorm

As an incoming college freshman, you are experiencing uncertainty. You are about to move into the dorm and you are not sure what you should do. You can relax now. There are steps you can take to make your transition smooth. You will learn tips for freshmen living in a college dorm.

You must learn to share a television set. If you share a set with a roommate, the two of you should work out what shows you will watch and when. If you need to do all of your viewing on a set in the dormitory outside of your room, you should be respectful to others - if you walk in while others are watching television, you should not change the channel without asking them if it is okay to do it.

You should be respectful in regard to the amount of noise you make. If you want to talk on your cell phone while others are around, you should either talk for a short period of time while talking softly or take your conversation where others are not around. You should either play your radio at a comfortable volume while wearing headphones or play it very quietly while not wearing headphones.

You should attempt to learn everyone's names. It is a good idea to know who your fellow residents are.

It is good to mingle. You should be sociable and work on developing friendships.

If you smoke, you should only do it outside, even if it is allowed inside the building. It would be considerate for you to take a shower and change your clothes after coming back in to eliminate the awful tobacco stench.

If you must study at night while your roommate is sleeping, you should do it quietly. You should not play a tape recorder or orally recite your material loudly.

It is necessary to use common sense while getting dressed. For example, you should not do it in front of your roommate.

You must be respectful in regard to taking care of your business. If you have a toilet in your room, you should not stay on it long if your roommate needs to use it.

You should handle the cleaning duties with your co-inhabitant equally. The two of you should split your duties.

You should only hold parties in your room sparingly. You should not have them late at night or invite troublemakers.

Follow these tips for living in a college dorm as a freshman!