The transition from a comfortable life at home to the unique experience a college dormitory offers can overwhelm incoming students with countless expectations, worries and doubt.
The University's 15 residence halls attempt to make this transition as smooth as possible, but often an open mind may be the most valuable tool to prepare a students during their first year away from home.
Alan Levy, director of Housing Public Affairs, said "tolerance of things being different" is an essential key to surviving dorm life.
Levy said that "the ability to make reasonable accommodations" to new people, cultures and attitudes is necessary to comfortably slip into the residence hall community.
Roommate requests are typically honored, but the University has no other elaborate matching system, Levy said. Housing only organizes students by specified lifestyle issues, including requests for substance-free or smoking rooms.
While housing no longer allows incoming students to request a specific residence hall because of limited space and the inability to provide students with their preferences, students are still able to select between central, north and hill campuses.
Every residence hall provides students the same general resources, such as a library and a computing site and each hall is equipped with a professional security department.
Ten of the 15 dormitories house full-service dining rooms, although not all students said they appreciate the culinary delicacies offered by the cafeterias.
"The key to surviving in the dorms? Ramen noodles, lots and lots of Ramen noodles," said LSA junior Melissa Kuretzky, former East Quad resident.
Many students said one of the most difficult adjustments first-year students make is the move to an incomprehensibly cramped room.
"Bring only the bare minimum and be creative in creating storage space," said Education senior Talor Bendel.
For some residents "being creative" often results in teetering towers of milk crates and lofts to utilize space. Each year, the University sponsors a commercial vendor's fair during Welcome Week.
LSA junior Junie Dinda, a former Markley resident, said that being constantly surrounded by other people is not always a good thing.
"By second semester I realized that the dorm was more of a social place than a study place, so I had to go to the library when I wanted to study," Dinda said.
Although living in a residence hall is sometimes not looked upon positively, the residence halls saw 3,100 students return last year.
Others feel that living off-campus will limit the social opportunities that dorms offer.
"If you feel like you want to meet more people, then I think it is a good idea to live in the dorms again," said LSA junior Joe McNamara, a two-year dormitory resident.
Levy said students acquire important "life skills" through their experiences in residence halls. These lessons will aid them in the future, he added.