We continue our Foreign Student Series on higher education in the United States. Now we move on to college life once you are admitted to a school. The first thing you need to value is a place to live. Housing policies differ from school to school. Students might have to live in a dormitory, at least for the first year there. Dorms come in all sizes. Some have suites. Six or more students may line in one suite. Other dorms have many rooms along a common hallway, usually with two students in each room . Many students say dormitories provide the best chance to get to know other students. Also, dorms generally cost less than apartments or other housing not owned by the school. Most colleges and universities offer singe-sex dorms, but usually males and females live in the same building. They might live on the same floors and share the same common bathrooms. They may live in the same room only if they are married. Edward Spencer is the associate vice president for student affairs at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg. He says it is important to understand the rules of the building in which you will live. He advises students to ask questions before they decide about their housing. For example, if a student requires a special diet, will the school provide it ?How much privacy can a student expect ? Will the school provide a single room if a student requests one ? And what about any other special needs that a student might have? Virginia Tech, for example, had a ban against candles in dorms . But it changed that policy to let students light up candles for religious purposes. The university also has several dorms open all year so foreign students have a place to stay during vacation time. What is the passage mainly about ?
Places to live in U.S. colleges housing polices in the U.S. Advantages of dormitories Rules of single-sex dorms