The end of Oak-Elm?

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Cydkar

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Apr 12, 2006
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Part of the drop in numbers has to do with Trump's anti immigrant stance and constant bashing of China. Also doesn't help having racist notes and messages out there.
Actually, Oak is ground zero for the Coronavirus.
 

BWRhasnoAC

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I wouldn't trade my experience in Friley for any of the "nicer" dorms/apartments. Damn kids
My freshman year was the same. It was like having 50 brothers. I recommend the dorms for freshmen, but after that I think its good to move around, unless you have a strong core of friends returning for the sophomore year.

My second year wasn't nearly as great because all the sophomores didn't want to live a 3rd year in the dorms. Made for a drastic change in experience from my second year in the dorms. Proximity was great, I felt like I lived in a park, it was MY campus. The food wasn't that bad, surprised people remember it negatively. I'm a great cook and rather picky but I always found something good to eat in Oak Elm.
 

c.y.c.l.o.n.e.s

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Feb 21, 2007
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College enrollment is down across the Midwest. Numbers of available students keeps decreasing in the Midwest. A drop of 3k seems big, but most schools in the state are seeing similar percentages drops. As for wanting to live there...students today are spoiled and only want the best living quarters. Apartment style dorms or a new apartment. They need all the amenities their parents have worked a lifetime for before they even finish school.

Spoiled or not, off campus is usually cheaper. Last time we calculated meal plans (at UNI and ISU) it broke down to something like $7.00/meal and that was if you used all of the allocated meals in the plan.
 
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DFWClone

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Aug 19, 2013
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There’s a real problem with Iowa State Dining that is not being addressed. The cost is outrageous and most places to eat around campus aren’t very good. They’ve closed all the good places to use dining dollars/meal swipes. And the problem is, if you live in a dorm, you are required to buy a meal plan which makes living in a dorm expensive. Which then makes it expensive to live in a dump (because most Iowa state dorms are 80+ years old with nearly zero updates).

I lived in the dorms in the Richardson court area for 2 years and loved it and I think every student/freshman should live in the dorm for one year but I can totally get why someone wouldn’t want to or couldn’t afford it.
 
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cyclones500

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Although it's way beyond 20 years, they were cheap at one time-- 1974 cost was $990 per year.

Adjusted for inflation, that's about $5,200 in 2019.

Rates 2019-20 for most dorms in RCA except Maple and Friley/Helser (for double or triple room) is around $4,800. So actually, it's slightly cheaper now vs. mid-70s.

Department of Residence Housing Rates 2019-20
 

BWRhasnoAC

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I only saved a couple grand a year by moving off campus but being farther from school made me less likely to use the facilities I was paying for, like the library, computer labs, study groups, etc.
 
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Farnsworth

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Apr 11, 2006
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I wouldn't trade my experience in Friley for any of the "nicer" dorms/apartments. Damn kids

This. I think this is part of the whole college experience. It forces you to get out more, and you get the chance to get to know a lot more people on a deeper level when forced out to meet your floor mates. When I was in school people that lived in the suites pretty much all stayed to themselves, mainly hanging with high school friends.

If I had the suites option and it wasn't that much more expensive than say Friley, I would probably pick suites as it seems safer when you don't know what you are getting into. I'm so glad though I was forced to do so many things based solely on living in an environment like Friley.
 

Pat

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Oct 20, 2011
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The $990/yr 1974 cost was room and board, not just housing.

$4800 x 2 for the roommate / 9 for the number of months you can live there = $1060/month for a one bed apartment with shared bathrooms and no kitchen. That’s... not great.
 
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Cycsk

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Does ISU Housing still operate a bunch of apartments south of Mortenson across from the Middle School? Seems like they may be contributing to their own vacancy problem.

P.S. ISU Housing is its own profit center for the university. I suspect that this is all just a way to move on from less profitable facilities.
 

Sigmapolis

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College enrollments had a "bump" with the echo from the Baby Boomers.

Lots of parents born from 1946 through 1964 had most of their kids from 1971 to 1994.

That demographic wave boosted college enrollments in the 2000s and 2010s when you age those children/young adults forward to their late teens and early 20s.

But that is tailing off now. The echo generation is phasing past college-aged.

So this is not a unique Iowa State thing. This is just a demographic reality.
 

Urbandale2013

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Jan 28, 2018
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This. I think this is part of the whole college experience. It forces you to get out more, and you get the chance to get to know a lot more people on a deeper level when forced out to meet your floor mates. When I was in school people that lived in the suites pretty much all stayed to themselves, mainly hanging with high school friends.

If I had the suites option and it wasn't that much more expensive than say Friley, I would probably pick suites as it seems safer when you don't know what you are getting into. I'm so glad though I was forced to do so many things based solely on living in an environment like Friley.
It’s probably not the right place for this opinion but I always think that this is one of the dumbest arguments for dorm living. My transition to Iowa State was rough partly because of bad roommates both of my first two years.

As a result I never fully integrated into the community while at school. I absolutely hated being at school my freshmen year. It was better being in Freddy my sophomore year but still not great.

If I would have been able to stay in Ames more and actually make friends because I had a place to live where I was comfortable my experience would have been better.

I don’t understand why the discussion on housing always devolves into a traditional dorm vs apartment/suite dorms. We should have been looking for some sort of hybrid style dorm.
 
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Clone83

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Mar 25, 2006
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Does this mean I don't have to return my overdue book to the Oak library? They used to have a little library and lobby area at the main entrance. Back in the days of house mothers and visits in gals rooms had to be with an open door. Book is only 50 years overdue. :rolleyes:

... hippie . . .

 
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wxman1

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Part of the drop in numbers has to do with Trump's anti immigrant stance and constant bashing of China. Also doesn't help having racist notes and messages out there.

he is getting torn apart but it is true. I have a family member that is on the board at Kirkwood and they have 400 fewer international students this year due to Trumps immigration policies and shootings.
 

SoapyCy

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Oct 10, 2012
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It’s probably not the right place for this opinion but I always think that this is one of the dumbest arguments for dorm living. My transition to Iowa State was rough partly because of bad roommates both of my first two years.

As a result I never fully integrated into the community while at school. I absolutely hated being at school my freshmen year. It was better being in Freddy my sophomore year but still not great.

If I would have been able to stay in Ames more and actually make friends because I had a place to live where I was comfortable my experience would have been better.

I don’t understand why the discussion on housing always devolves into a traditional dorm vs apartment/suite dorms. We should have been looking for some sort of hybrid style dorm.

My roommate freshman year was 21. When you're 18 that is a huge age gap. I ended up being a raging drunk because of the easy access to alcohol, we didn't get along and he moved out without telling me, and so I was in a double room by myself for a semester. It sucked but I blamed the initial set up by the Housing Dept and my own choices for it. I definitely missed out on the "made 50 brothers" aspect to dorm living that was alluded to before. I honestly can't remember the name of a single male from my dorm floor. Females, yeah (wink).
 

Cyinthenorth

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My roommate freshman year was 21. When you're 18 that is a huge age gap. I ended up being a raging drunk because of the easy access to alcohol, we didn't get along and he moved out without telling me, and so I was in a double room by myself for a semester. It sucked but I blamed the initial set up by the Housing Dept and my own choices for it. I definitely missed out on the "made 50 brothers" aspect to dorm living that was alluded to before. I honestly can't remember the name of a single male from my dorm floor. Females, yeah (wink).
Didn't go to ISU, but lived in a dorm for my first year of college. Hated my roommate and prayed to God he would leave or one of us would get transferred. I would've loved having that whole room to myself. But yeah, I was way too antisocial and stoned to have made 50 brothers as well.
 

nfrine

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Mar 31, 2006
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I'm the weird one. Spent all four years in Friley. There were 20 of us freshman that did that in our house (Spinney). Created a lot of great friendships and we all graduated. And of course, it was long enough ago that we could still tie our horses up right outside...:D
 
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