Dorm room living has similar rules to living in a county jail. It’s going to be your first time living in a dorm and you don’t want to piss off any of your new roommates or do anything that could ruin your reputation at the college dorms or even worse, the entire university! If you stick to this simple dorm room etiquette guide, you can successfully live in harmony with your college dorm mates without any drama and getting shanked.
1.) Discuss Ground Rules First
This is very important, if you have allergies, or anything which your dorm mates should know about, you should clue them in. It’s important to set up boundaries right away so your roommates can respect them. Of course you don’t want to sound like a dick, or be one of “those” but even if you are, if you are nice enough to lay it out there, they will respect your wishes.
2.) Keep the Music Down
You now have to share a room with 3 to 4 people and you might even be in a hangar that accommodates up to 25 students. Each one has a different schedule, so they wake up and sleep at different times. You should respect them and keep your music down because at any given time, a student could be catching up some much needed sleep. You should also be quick to stop your alarm from ringing, some students have late nights and don’t need to get up as early as you might. Also no one likes your taste in music. This includes TV volumes and video game volumes. Only exception are parties, but make sure to respect everyone and invite everyone in your building to your party.
3.) Storage is Scarce
Don’t be a pig or even worse, a hoarder. Space is already limited, no one wants to deal with someone who isn’t organized and doesn’t know how to utilize space. Don’t place your dirty towels on someone else’s bunk bed and don’t put your stuff on their desk. You might have a roommate who is a minimalist, but that doesn’t mean you clutter their space with your junk. You will need proper storage supplies to utilize the small space.
4.) Cleanliness is Next to Godliness
With such limited space, the dorm room can clutter up quite easily. It’s important to keep your dorm clean at all times. Only get what you need; laundry, food, school supplies, clothes, electronics should have a neat place to be stored. You should take the trash out daily and not let it pile up. Make it a habit, when you lead, others will follow.
5.) Get Permission for Guests & Visitors
It’s not only your dorm room, you have roommates and so it should be common courtesy to inform your roommates and ask them if its cool to have a friend over. Most will probably have no problem with it, but no one wants to upset someone you have to live with, so get permission.
6.) Knock Before Entering
This is common sense if a door is involved anyways. But if you don’t know, it’s good to always do this, you never know what compromising position you can see your roommate in.. and then it can’t be unseen ..ugh! Privacy is scarce, so every bit matters.
7.) Should You Eat It?
Don’t eat something which you didn’t buy. Keep the kitchen clean. And finally no stinky foods. Can you imagine sleeping there then having to inhale a kimchi hot-dog? Be respectful, although it might taste bomb as F, it might not smell the greatest, especially if the food is culturally diverse. I can personally say I can’t stand the smell of Parmesan cheese, it just doesn’t sit well with me. Eat by a window and avoid eating these types of foods at night when most are sleeping.
8.) In the Bathroom
First it’s very important to obey the order of the lines. Don’t cut in-front of somebody just because you have to go worse than them. You should at the least ask them if its okay. It’s also very important to keep the bathroom clean, including any vomit which could happen with all the binge drinking. Remember when we mentioned that a college dorm is a lot like a prison? Well it’s very important to not stink up the bathroom, this means that after every.. drop, you should flush, so no one has to endure that. Lastly, it’s very important to wear flipflops in the bathroom, see the next rule for why.
9.) Sexy Time
Sex is gonna happen if you’re in a dorm room and things can get complicated very quickly because there’s a certain code of ethic you must follow. One, try your best not to commit “dormcest“- when you have sexy time with someone that lives in the same dorm building as you. Everyone WILL find out, so you better think long and hard about that. If you do happen to find a partner, you want to keep it quiet, that is find a quiet place to have sex. Remember when we said to wear flipflops in the bathroom? Especially in the shower, that is hook up central. You don’t want your dorm mates to find out, again gossip isn’t good, it can stop you from having more sex! Always wait till your roommate leaves the room, you don’t want them to hear you have sex, have some class. You can set up a schedule with your mate, so they can give you privacy when you need it.
10.) Making Friends
The best way to go about this is to adhere to the golden rule, which is of course, treat others the way you want to be treated. We also suggest not shutting your door all the time, this way other students can drop by and say hi. We also suggest you do the same when you see an open door, of course respect their wishes, but no one minds someone dropping by to say hi. Another great way to make friends is to share, if you have something to eat, offer them some of it, it will pay off later.
We hope this list will help you assimilate to dorm life. If you have anymore tips, comment them below.
You forgot no smoking in the dorms! People still do it even when they shouldn’t!