The Girl Who Thinks She’s a Bird called me this morning all upset because the people in her hall were up until 2:30 in the morning, being “so ridiculously loud” that her and her roommates could not fall asleep. The girls have early morning classes, and they only got 3 hours of sleep last night. Poor thing. 🙁 It kinda stinks when she has no control over the noise level in communal living.
I never lived in a dorm, so all I can really do is sympathize. I mean, you’re basically thrown into a situation where early risers and night owls have to find a way to co-habitate peacefully. Have any of your college students ever run across this problem?
In an effort to give The Girl and her friends some advice, I did a little digging. Here’s what I came up with {I’m sharing it, just in case your student is having the same issue}:
- Accept that dorms are noisy, and find a regular quiet place to study. The library is always a pretty good option.
- Buy earplugs. Your new sleep routine might have to include earplugs–they might take a bit of getting used to, but so does communal living.
- Get bold and let your neighbors know–in the nicest way possible, of course. Tell them you have an early morning class on Tuesdays {or whatever} and would they mind turning the music down after 10:00. Assume most people aren’t doing things to be jerks, they just may not have realized.
- Be-friend your R.A. They are there to make sure dorm life goes smoothly. It’s what they signed up for, so if late night music or loud voices are keeping you up, and talking to the culprit didn’t help, you may have to seek their help.
- Use dorm living as a chance to get along with all personalities. Some people are loud, some are night owls, some are reserved, some are tightly wound–no matter what category you fall into, you will spend the rest of your life having to get along with different personalities. Consider dorm living a boot camp for getting along with others–even when you don’t like them one bit.
Okay peeps, now it’s your turn. What are your best tips for The Girl and her roomies? Let me know in the comments below.
~Mavis
Alicia says
I had this problem too. It’s hard in the beginning, but after a few weeks she’ll be able to sleep through anything. Actually, there was one time when my roommate and I woke up the next morning to everyone complaining about standing outside for an hour in the middle of the night because the fire alarm went off. Neither one of us heard a thing. Slept right through it. Thankfully it wasn’t a real fire. 🙂 I had the earliest classes and my roommate had nothing before noon, so I had this trouble both inside the room and outside. It’ll get easier. I’d also try an ipod with some white noise or soothing music. Ear plugs would make me nervous that I’d sleep through my alarm.
Cassandra says
I was on a quiet/study floor in college. It helped cut down on the other noise from my floormates. We also had RAs in every wing of every floor. People tended to be quieter when their RA was only 5-6 rooms away and could hear everything. My daughter uses her ipod in place of earplugs to go to sleep.
Kara says
I always had a fan running, some sort of white noise to drown all the other noises out.
Vy says
I second this, get the loudest fan you can. On the positive side, the louder ones are usually the cheaper ones 🙂
KAte says
This is definitely an RA issue. RA’s are there to be supportive and smoothing things out, it’s their job.
Most dorms will have posted ‘quiet hours’ or ‘courtesy hours’ on school nights. On the weekend you’re on your own a bit, but on a school night there is a time when everyone is expected to quiet down enough that people with early classes can get to sleep. They’re usually something like 10pm-6am or something comparable.
Cheers,
KAte
BarbaraP says
Honestly, I learned how to sleep with a pillow over my head!!! My freshman year was the only year I had a roommate with total opposite sleep habits from mine–and our room became the place to congregate at night, even though we all had 7 am classes!!! 43 years later, my frosh roommate and I are still friends! While I no longer sleep with a pillow over my head, I do keep a fan on beside my bed at night to drown out background noises.
Leslie says
Oh the joys of #dormlyfe… I vote for the fan. Worked for me. Except when my roommate decided 2:30am was the appropriate time to use a hairdryer. In the room. While I was sleeping. Awesome…
Jennifer says
If it happens again, I would have her go straight to her RA. They get free room and board in exchange for keeping the peace and keeping noisy people quiet after hours. Like another responder said, I bet it dies down after these first few weeks. I think it’s the excitement of being out on their own!
Maranda says
After a couple of weeks, the noise will die down. The students are just celebrating their new freedom, but as soon as classes are really underway, it will die down fast. In the meantime, I second the suggestion of a fan. If the noise is ridiculous, definitely talk to the RA. I was a RA in college, and had no problem talking to residents being loud. Good luck to her!
Holly says
I second the suggestions to talk to her RA (I was one – I never minded telling people to be quiet on behalf of my residents) and get a sound machine. I still sleep with a sound machine ten years later and have never looked back.
paula says
My daughter is a very light sleeper. When she was in college, I bought her a sound machine. It works like magic. My husband and I take a small one when we travel. It takes the worries out of getting a good night sleep. I highly recommend investing in one.
Shari says
A white noise app and earbuds are all you need these days. Just as effective and a whole lot cheaper.
GigHarborJoyce says
White noise is a beautiful thing. I’ve slept with a fan on for more than 30 yrs. It helped me in the dorms at WSU.
Teresa says
White noise is good, but I honestly can’t believe the dorn is still that lively during the week. It must be a RA that isn’t very aggressive. She might want to visit her RA and see what rules are (she probably knows them but this will put the RA on notice so to speak). Set up music on a timer to help her relax and sleep if none of that works. OR take the see who it is and be SURE you visit their door at 6 am when you must be up to insure they get up good and early and won’t be able to be up late…haha All is fair in the life in dorms!
Candace says
Walmart sells a fabulous sound machine (amazon also carries it) for $20. It is fabulous!
Chris says
I used to be a Residence Hall Director and this is one of the most common complaints that we get. Often the noise will die down after students realize they have to do homework and study for tests. Realistically, her RA and RHD will encourage her to talk with the neighbors, but we all realize this doesn’t always happen and some people aren’t comfortable with it. There is usually a quiet hours policy in the residence halls and her noisy neighbors aren’t following it. The RA is the best person to confront it, but usually they are asleep when noise violations happen (because they’re students too!). She may need to talk with her RA to devise a “game plan” to get her to alert them when it’s an issue so they can take care of it.
Best of luck to her!
Vy says
Also, she might want to look into whether there is a “quiet dorm” she can move into. Some schools have them.
Debbie says
Quiet dorm and talking with RA sounds like a good plan.
Freshmen are often required to live in dorms – then after the first year students have the option of moving into condo like buildings where each person has their own room and common living and kitchen areas. If this is an option I would encourage the move. By the second year your daughter will have met friends with similar lifestyles and the condo option is so much better than dorm style living.
Catherine Foster says
Boy, lots of life lessons in this. I’m a light sleeper, so early on got used to ear plugs and white noise machines. (Also, a low-dose meltonin). I think a long-range strategy of befriending these loud girls and getting to know them, goes a long way when you have to ask them to turn it dow. Then you’re their friend, a real person, not the prissy, annoying schoolmarm they think you are if you ask them cold. I agree with the other posters in thinking that this may calm down, but I sympathize with how hard it must seem right now.
Emily says
Ear plugs and a good sleep mask are a must for dorm life if your daughter is a light sleeper like me. Being able to create your own dark, quiet space is helpful. I usually sleep with only one ear plug in for the concern of missing my alarm as one poster mentioned. She might to try it once on the weekend just to make sure she doesn’t miss her early class.
Lea says
I’ll chip in with the same things everyone else has said: Quiet dorm, talking to the RA and/or a fan. I’m not sure earplugs are a good option because she will be way more tired later in the semester and may just sleep through that alarm clock with the ear plugs in! I also had to put the alarm across the room so I physically had to get out of bed or I’d just fall back asleep. Yes, I was that tired!
Most dorms have some kind of policy about being quiet after some specific time on school nights whether they are designated quiet or not, though in some cases that designated time is midnight. So talking to the RA or RHD would be a good option to start with.
I also agree that most students calm down (at least during the week!) after about 2 weeks – they realize they need to study or they’re going to flunk out and it means that everyone has work to do, if they like it or not! 🙂
Lea
Angie says
It’s still early in the year – people are excited to be away from home for the first time, and to be living with their friends and making new friends. I know when I was in university, my dorm didn’t settle down for a few weeks. Talking to an R.A. can help, but there’s only so much they can do – Yes, it’s their job to keep the peace and order, but everyone is an adult at this point, and will act of their own free will. A fan will help a lot, or ear plugs. Just be sure that she takes part in the late night fun now and then – it’s a part of dorm life, and no matter how tiring it can be; lifelong bonds are form and she won’t want to miss out 🙂
Sheila says
Do what my nephew did and bounce a basketball up and down the hall about 8 AM. His dorm mates got the message and tiptoed in the next time they went out drinking. Apparently being awakened by a dribbling basketball isn’t fun when you have a pounding hangover headache.
Sam says
The neighbors have been loud since school started and I’ve tried everything. Talking to the girls, talking to the RA, talking to the hall director and the area coordinator. The girls won’t quiet down and the hall director told me to just buy a white noise machine instead of dealing with the issue!! She suggested a single dorm room, but with the full $500 extra full price charge after complaints for over a month without any solutions! I can’t sleep with headphones because they get tangled around my neck and choke me. Any suggestions?