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Students in the US are more likely to go out of town to college out of town than they are in Australia I suppose, and it's usually a good idea to not have a bunch of freshmen out living on their own without the support and stability that a college dorm provides. Most freshmen live on campus, but after that, it usually drops off. With the larger universities, there simply isn't enough space to house all the students. I can't remember the numbers exactly, but for example, the University of Texas has over 50,000 students and only a few thousand beds, so the vast majority have to live off campus. With smaller and/or colleges in places that have a high cost of living, most live on campus because it's often not feasible to live in say, the Bay Area or Boston metro on a college kid's budget.
Would you say most (more than half) of American college students live in dorms? Even if they're going to college in the same city they live in? Is it seen as a rite of passage for most college aged kids?
Here in Australia we only have a few major cities and most people go to local universities (we call them 'unis'). Most people just stayed at home (if they hadn't moved out, although in Australia there's this thing where many young middle class kids remain at home well into their 20s) and commuted to university. Only overseas students or those from the country would stay in the dorms or rent, so there was no 'dorm culture' like in the States.
I'm just wondering if it's a thing most kids do, or if that's just how it's portrayed in the movies/TV.
Yes, I'd say on average most kids go to dorms. It's a social experience and the first step to being independent by being shoved into a 10x15 room with another person for a year.
I had a number of friends who lived in the same city prior to college and still opted to live in the dorms to meet new people and gain independence from their parents. You do meet a great deal more people in the dorms and immerse yourself into college life a lot better there. It's honestly a good/bad experience because after you move out of the dorms when you graduate you realize you never want to share a tiny room with another human being ever again.
I had an Australian roommate in college and from her descriptions of uni, it isn't just the fact of living on campus that varies between Australia and the US.
Classes in the US tend to be a lot more involved, and there tend to be more assignments. A class in Australia might meet once a week for an hour and have one major paper and two exams over the course of the term....the same or similar course in an american university would likely be three days a week with an assignment nearly every week and three or four exams over the semester.
So the american system requires more presence on campus, in the classroom, in the library or labs, etc. As mentioned above there is a 'rite of passage' aspect, where dorm living teaches us valuable living skills....but some of it is just a convenience issue. If you're going to be on campus for five or six hours every day of the week, it's a whole lot easier if you live on campus, than if you have to travel across town every day.
Remember too, most aussies participate in the "gap year" wherein they establish some independence and develop valuable skills. Americans don't. It's virtually unheard of for an American to take a year off before enrolling in university. So dorm life in some respects teaches those skills like dealing with strangers, unfamiliar environments, conflict-resolution, etc that australians get from their gap year.
Also, the geography and population of Australia is just different. Most of Australia's population is already near a university, so there's not necessarily a need to go far away to uni. By contrast the population in the US is just more spread out. Yes we have dense urban centers, but we also have a vast suburban and rural population that is far far away from any higher learning opportunities.
And then on top of that, there's the whole system of how students 'choose' their schools in Australia. Unless it's changed in the past few years, students in Australia only get to pick their top choices, and then an automated system based on exam scores makes the final decision. So that has some influence on where an australian student ends up going to school. In America, the student makes the final choice. So we are far more likely to consider schools far from home, and with no computer algorithm choosing for us, we are far more likely to decide ultimately on one far away.
Location: The western periphery of Terra Australis
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Originally Posted by kodaka
I had an Australian roommate in college and from her descriptions of uni, it isn't just the fact of living on campus that varies between Australia and the US.
Classes in the US tend to be a lot more involved, and there tend to be more assignments. A class in Australia might meet once a week for an hour and have one major paper and two exams over the course of the term....the same or similar course in an american university would likely be three days a week with an assignment nearly every week and three or four exams over the semester.
So the american system requires more presence on campus, in the classroom, in the library or labs, etc. As mentioned above there is a 'rite of passage' aspect, where dorm living teaches us valuable living skills....but some of it is just a convenience issue. If you're going to be on campus for five or six hours every day of the week, it's a whole lot easier if you live on campus, than if you have to travel across town every day.
Remember too, most aussies participate in the "gap year" wherein they establish some independence and develop valuable skills. Americans don't. It's virtually unheard of for an American to take a year off before enrolling in university. So dorm life in some respects teaches those skills like dealing with strangers, unfamiliar environments, conflict-resolution, etc that australians get from their gap year.
Also, the geography and population of Australia is just different. Most of Australia's population is already near a university, so there's not necessarily a need to go far away to uni. By contrast the population in the US is just more spread out. Yes we have dense urban centers, but we also have a vast suburban and rural population that is far far away from any higher learning opportunities.
And then on top of that, there's the whole system of how students 'choose' their schools in Australia. Unless it's changed in the past few years, students in Australia only get to pick their top choices, and then an automated system based on exam scores makes the final decision. So that has some influence on where an australian student ends up going to school. In America, the student makes the final choice. So we are far more likely to consider schools far from home, and with no computer algorithm choosing for us, we are far more likely to decide ultimately on one far away.
Very good summary kodaka. At one point in my studies I was very interested in participating in the exchange program to the University of Illinois at Urbana but lacked the money. It would've been an interesting experience. I'm glad I didn't study in America, then, it seems like alot of work! Actually that sounds a bit more like high school.
I wouldn't say most Aussies take a 'gap year' off to travel. First off you have to save up alot of money to travel to Europe etc unless you have arrangements to work there. Depending on how much you've got saved up my estimate is that perhaps a third of 18 year olds take a 'gap year'. Some to travel and some just to work.
Yes that last thing cleared up something I was wondering about. Since there were so many cities in the US I expected each big city to at least have one university. Yet I also realise many students would want to go to a more prestigious out of state uni. Among my peers 95% went to a Perth university (the few who went interstate had very high TEE scores) and none of the locals stayed in the dorms.
I think US television shows and movies give the impression that all or most students live on campus in dormitories. I did my undergraduate work at a small college in New England where this was very true.
However, I went to a larger university farther west where at least 98% of the students did not live in dormitories. Most students lived at home and commuted. I now teach at that university. We have more dormitories, but there is still a huge majority who commute.
People from outside the United States may be surprised that many students here are actually substantially older than they would expect. Many students are in their late 20s, in their 30s and even older. I began teaching when I was 25 years old and was never the oldest person in the classroom until I was well into my 30s.
Location: The western periphery of Terra Australis
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Originally Posted by YtownGuy
I think US television shows and movies give the impression that all or most students live on campus in dormitories. I did my undergraduate work at a small college in New England where this was very true.
However, I went to a larger university farther west where at least 98% of the students did not live in dormitories. Most students lived at home and commuted. I now teach at that university. We have more dormitories, but there is still a huge majority who commute.
People from outside the United States may be surprised that many students here are actually substantially older than they would expect. Many students are in their late 20s, in their 30s and even older. I began teaching when I was 25 years old and was never the oldest person in the classroom until I was well into my 30s.
Same here, I had classes with people into their 60s.
I attended a small liberal arts school in a small town that wasn't within easy commuting distance of any major metro area. Students overwhelmingly lived in campus housing, most of it dormitory-style residence hall. My sister, same experience, different town and school. We both lived in campus housing all four years. My senior year was in an on-campus, college-owned apartment, but other than that, dorms the rest of the time. Commuter students were very rare, nontraditional students were very rare, and there were some private rental opportunities for students off campus, but not a lot. Living on campus was very much part of the campus culture, there.
By contrast, one of my brothers attended a large public university where it wasn't common to live on campus unless you were a freshman. He lived in a high-rise dorm his freshman year, but after that, rented a townhome with a bunch of guys he was on the baseball team with. My other brother attended a small private school in a major metro, where most students were commuters and there was little campus housing. He lived in the dorms for a year, and then moved in with his girlfriend/now wife, a commuter student from the area.
My boyfriend went to college in Boston and lived in a rowhouse off campus...there was also very little college-provided housing at his school.
One of the reasons many students stay in the dorms is because American public universities, especially in the west, are not located in the major cities. Here are some examples:
Oklahoma: Major cities: Tulsa and Ok City; Universities in Norman and Stillwater
Kansas: Major City: Kansas City; Universities in Lawrence and Manhattan
Colorado: Major Cities: Denver and Colo Springs; Universities in Boulder and Ft. Collins
Texas: Major Cities: Dallas and Houston; Universities in Austin (not so small anymore) and College Station.
The same is true for major universities in Illinois, Missouri, Michigan, Indiana, Florida, Oregon, and many more states.
Major metropolitan areas do have public universities, but those universities were often created after the flagship university was established, and in many cases were set up to be commuter colleges and often cater to older students or working people seeking a degree.
There are private dorms around some schools like UT Austin. I don't know if they count in the school's total bed count as they are not affiliated with the school. For instance there is Hardin House and Scottish Rite Dorm. Welcome to the Austin Private Dormitory Association
One of the reasons many students stay in the dorms is because American public universities, especially in the west, are not located in the major cities. Here are some examples:
Oklahoma: Major cities: Tulsa and Ok City; Universities in Norman and Stillwater
Kansas: Major City: Kansas City; Universities in Lawrence and Manhattan
Colorado: Major Cities: Denver and Colo Springs; Universities in Boulder and Ft. Collins
Texas: Major Cities: Dallas and Houston; Universities in Austin (not so small anymore) and College Station.
The same is true for major universities in Illinois, Missouri, Michigan, Indiana, Florida, Oregon, and many more states.
Major metropolitan areas do have public universities, but those universities were often created after the flagship university was established, and in many cases were set up to be commuter colleges and often cater to older students or working people seeking a degree.
add Massachusetts to that list. UMass Amherst is quite a ways from Boston and most kids I knew that went there lived on campus. UMass Boston doesn't even have dorms, though I've heard they're trying to build some. it fits your description to a T: school catered more towards commuter and non traditional students.
the University of Illinois has a campus in Chicago, but it seems like the flagship school in Urbana is the more popular/prestigious one and most of the students there seem to live on campus
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