It is in the policy of Arizona State University to require all incoming students to live in the dorms. Some are able to live at home but they must apply for an exception whether it be for financial reasons or anything else, and ASU then decides their residential fate. Obviously, this is their policy because they believe it is in the best interest of the students to live in an environment patrolled by university-employed individuals. I want to look deeper into the situation to see if the evidence affirms or disavows their claim.
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Coming into this school year, along with all the stress of applying for college, my living situation was at the top of my list of priorities. Although I had some prior knowledge of their policies, I was disappointed to learn that besides (the possibility of) living at home, which was not on the table for me, dorm life was my only choice. The honest reason being that I feared that the horror stories of dorm situations going wrong would become my reality. As I am a typical rebellious teen, I was motivated to search for any loopholes in the system, but found non that made sense.
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As a close friend and I grew closer to our time in higher education, we consistently discussed living in an apartment near campus instead of a dorm. Among many others, we found a viable option that would be less expensive than paying for the dorm that I am currently in, Adelphi Commons II (A2). Popular apartment complexes like The Vue and Sonoran Ridge Apartments offer 2 bedroom/ 2 bathroom setups that are a little less than half the price of A2 when considering the fact that the price is split between two individuals instead of the same for both residents. I was pretty upset to find this because the fact that ASU is able to charge double the average price of living in the area is a travesty. More goes into the best interest of a student than money though so I plan to investigate the actual benefits and setbacks of dorm life.
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To see if living in the dorms creates the best possible environment for first year students, it is important to understand what determines that. Other than financial reasons, there are many areas of grey when it comes to finding out if the university is playing fair. I concluded that the best approach is to examine the benefits listed on ASU's collection of residential pages on their website. Immediately, I found that they place a lot of importance on building relationships. Students living in the same dorm will generally be in the same general field of study and ASU believes that this will create long-lasting relationships throughout their careers of choice. Another justification for the requirements is the safety of the student so I will most definitely look into that.
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I think that the three areas of concern outlined above provide a good start for my research and will lead to more ideas on how to really discover if living in dorms at ASU is the optimal choice.
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The Complete Idiot's Guide to College Survival" by Laurie Rozakis, Ph.D. (
Part 1: Movin' In)
This book provides a mix of input from thriving college students and analysis from Rozakis who uses her expertise in book writing to create a tool for all expecting college students to succeed in school. Part 1 of the book discusses everything involving living on campus from Greek life to choosing the right dorm. I was interested in the book because the title loosely applied to my topic, but upon reading the first couple of pages, I saw that it had specific details regarding my topic. The first section goes into detail about the right choices to make in college and how those choices effect you.
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The Differential Effects of On- and Off-Campus Living Arrangements on Students’ Openness to Diversity" by Gary R. Pike (Conclusion)
This article analyzes how living on campus can directly effect students' openness to diversity, just as the title reads. The conclusion reveals that the study conducted found that living in dorms increases students' acceptance of diverse societies. It provides a benchmark of the opposite side of my argument to compare to what I am arguing for. It shows me that I need to remember that there are two sides to every argument and I have to keep opposing points in mind when arguing my point.
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"Future Residents"
This is an internal page on ASU's website that addresses many of the questions that potential dorm residents may have. I was interested in this source because it supplie sinformation straight from the horse's mouth. It adds authenticity to my research. All of the information on the page is optimistic and explains how campus living will attribute to a successful tenure at ASU.
