I would encourage you to let your son do it. Dorms can be an enlightening experience for the new college student. It's sheltered enough that your son is not out on his own thrown to the wolves, as it were, but a free enough environment to begin teaching him some adult responsibility with the rules and regulations of dorms, not to mention getting along with other people in a close environment. He will learn more about respecting other people, their space, and their things from his roommate than any other person. There are a host of other things he will learn, and he may get into trouble, but he will also learn that his actions have consequences, and he will have to pay for them. If your son does not have a good grasp of this in your home and is creating trouble for you, hence the question, what is wrong with affording your son the opportunity to learn this lesson in the dorms?

I recommend it wholeheartedly. Let me just add that most American universities have an excellent support system in place, and you can ask about it when visiting colleges with your child (preferably in such a way that you won't embarrass him :) ). Lots of schools have some form of RA (resident assistant), who is either a graduate student or an upperclassman who lives in the dorm and is available to give advice, keep an eye on what's going on, etc. Having experienced both traditional American dorm life and study abroad in Europe, I can say that we have a truly excellent network of resources for our students (and justifiably so, considering how much we pay for it here!). The dorm is a great halfway point between living at home and living completely independently. The first year can be rough because you are often arbitrarily assigned a roommate, but part of life is learning how to get along with different people, right? And then you can usually choose your roommates for the three following years, and most students are smart about knowing whose values and lifestyles are compatible with theirs.

This is a loaded question. There are two ways to interpret this. By "trouble," I am assuming you mean legal consequences derived from irresponsible behavior commonly associated with drunk, underage kids. Dorms really have nothing to do with it. You can generalize college students into three categories: those who act irresponsibly while drunk, those who act responsibly while drunk, and those who don't drink at all. These people are found both in the dorms and off-campus in apartments and houses. Obviously, it is also possible to "get into trouble" while sober. Kids get kicked out of school for cheating during their freshman year while others who don't drink "get into trouble" by flunking out of school (or performing poorly academically) after their first semester because they fell victim to the temptations of newly independent living (like poor time management, not attending classes, etc). You should change the way you are framing the question and the way you are looking at dorm life. First, you need to ask yourself if your child has the personal responsibility to succeed in an independed living atmosphere where you won't be able to control his/her everyday behavior (obviously, many don't). If yes, then you can decide between dorms and off-campus housing. If no, then you probably should have your child live at home because dorms and off-campus housing have the same kinds of problems.

I would second the answers that recommend staying in a dorm. At least for the first year. My oldest stayed in a dorm, became an RA (Resident Assistant), then a Dorm Monitor, and eventually became a Program Director for all the dorms on Campus. A full time job that gave him a free apartment in a dorm on campus but allowed him to take courses at the same time. Let to his first job out of college and has helped him ever since. .

my answer is...yes. According to several really important-sounding studies, first-year students living on campus perform better academically than those who live off campus. Perhaps it’s because students living in dorms are closer to the things they need, like the library and the computer labs. Or maybe it’s because the meal plan that comes with most dorms takes the pressure off having to forage for food, giving students more time to study. And think of all the potential study partners floating around the hallways or energetically highlighting their textbooks in the study lounge. No wonder dorm life for first years is such a good idea. and another factor is You’ll make friends easily, commiserate about school with your dormmates, study with groups of friends, always have someone to eat with, and stay up late socializing almost every night. You will share your college experience with other people who are going through the same ups and downs, and that makes everything easier. There is great strength in numbers. Studying can be difficult in a dorm, because socializing often takes priority over grades. But you can easily balance this by heading to the library or to a quiet study hall.

I am currently a college freshman and I live in a dorm. I think it would be good to allow your child to live in a dorm because it allows them more freedom than they would generally have at home, but they will still have rules. Your child will never be able to live in a dorm and be responsible if you do not give them the chance. His freshman year is a good time to allow him this freedom since everyone else in the dorm with him will probably also be freshmen who are getting their first chance to live on their own too.

I highly recommend dorming at a college. It is the best way to make friends quickly and to enjoy your college experience. Also, it helps people mature faster living on their own. Another suggestion I would make is renting a storage unit. When I was in my dorm it was so small my things and my roommates would not fit. The three of us split a rental unit from http://www.storagedeluxe.com/ and put some of our stuff in there. It was really convenient and it made our dorm so much larger. I hope this was helpful and good luck with the dorming life.

Tried to Google it, but couldn't find the answer. Sorry.