All, I just found out I got assigned to Kriby-Smith and that was the last dorm I wanted. I got a few questions. Are there a lot of people that cancel dorm reservations before school starts in the fall? I've been told I've been put on the waiting list for other dorms. Another question: how is Kirby-Smith? I hear it kinda sucks.

Thanks,
John

If ypu stay on the ball you will get moved. Try to get in one of the coed dorms. Kirby is the worst. I lucked out and lived in Highland as a freshman.

Kirby is not that bad. Most freshmen end up staying there anyway. You only share your bathroom with 3 other people plus they have made some improvements since I stayed there in there in the mid-late 90's. You can try to switch dorms when school starts but freshman are last on the list so you may not be able to.

Is it always a madhouse in there? Can you get work/studying done?

Kirby-Smith is a madhouse.

You are better off studying in the library. There are too many distractions in the dorms.

I lived in the South Stadium dormitory, and Kr-Smith is better.

I lived in Kirby for one year. Its what you make it really. You do best getting a roommate that you know. I lucked out and knew my roommate and my suite-mate whom I also knew had a private room. I also suggest you rearrange the room too. Go to Lowes and buy some cheap carpet, it will cost around 60 to 80 bucks to get enough carpet. And this is what you do:

take the dresser that is between the two beds and put it in one of the closets. Take the bed that is closest to the door and run it along the wall where the dresser used to be. Push the bed that is by the window into the corner. You will have EXACTLY enough space for a fridge between the foot of the bed along the wall and the head of the bed against the window. This gives you a rather decent open space in the middle of the room. Put your TV on top of the dresser that is between the desks and set a microwave on top of the fridge. We managed to make the place pretty livable plus we lived at the end of the hall by the stairs.

And studying doesnt happen in a dorm nor in an apartment. Suck it up and go to the library or to CEBA to hang out with us business people and engineers.

True that!....the dorms and apts are no good for studying. The library and ceba are always good, but if you're a freshman, I suggest you study in the library. It can be a good social scene at times and a good place to meet classmates that can help. I use to enjoy studying at the library, at a late night diner, or at local coffee shops.

I have a bad habit of people watching when I am at the library. I also walk around for a bit to look for any hot chicks. Sometimes I make myself go to the 4th floor and sit way in the back corner where the books havent been checked out since the 60's.

When I was a student at LSU I found the library a great place to meet girls, especially on nights when I was too short of beer money to go somewhere else. If you sit in a heavily trafficed area of the library you will find yourself falling in love with some hot babe every time you look up from your books. I tried going to a back corner. For me it was too damn quiet. I couldn't study in such deadly silence. It works for some people but not for me. To accomplish real studying you need to find some space you can call your own and control the environment. Since you are going to live in a dorm I assume that either you or your parents can't afford to finance an apartment or one of the luxury condos around the campus that the rich kids all live in these days.
I never lived in a dorm room because I am from Baton Rouge. My freshman year I lived at home with my folks and after that I was able to work part time at jobs that allowed me to afford an apartment. I did have friends who lived in dorms. Most of them at that time (in the mid 70's) were not even air conditioned and were wilder than 10 Animal House movies put together.

My suggestion is to find a decent paying part time job as soon as posible that both pays enough to allow you to pay for your own pad and is flexible enough to give you time to concentrate on your studies. Best bets are either bartending or as a waiter at a decent restaurant. If you do either one of those avoid the campus area. Your pay for bartending or waiting on tables won't be all that much but you can do well with tips in the right places. Students don't tip worth a damn so if you want to earn enough to finance a comfortable lifestyle while you are in college try to work someplace where you can get good tips. You may have skills that qualify you to work in some other field that will pay you decently but above all avoid working in the fast food business. You would be lucky to earn enough to pay for the beer you drink.

Kirby-Smith was considered the Taj Mahal...

...when I attended LSU back in the late 70's and early 80's. It's really not that bad, cinderblock walls, real institutional. Like someone else posted, you have 2 - two person suites that share a bathroom. Better than when I lived in North Stadium. 30 guys with 2 hall bathrooms. Then there were only waist high dividers between the toilets and communal showers. GET AN APARTMENT AS SOON AS POSSIBLE, much better for the social life, if you know what I mean.