The Ultimate Ranking Of Longwood University Freshman Dorms
So you’ve gotten your acceptance letter, you’ve paid your deposit, and you’re ready to graduate and move to Longwood University. Yeah, I thought so too, until they started asking questions like: Will you apply to the Cormier Honors College? What would you like to major in/what classes would you like to take? What meal plan would you like? And most importantly, where would you like to live when it comes to Longwood University freshman dorms?
My senior year of high school, I was so ready to move out and start my college life. As soon as I got my acceptance letter, I was trying to figure out the details so that I could move to my home away from home. I printed out information on all of the dorms, so that I could make the best decision on where I would live the next nine months of my life. Here’s what I wish they’d told me:
1. Cox Hall and Wheeler Hall
| Built | 1962 (but renovated in 2008) |
| Students per Room | 2 (with a couple single person rooms) |
| Bathrooms | Suite Style (shared between two rooms) |
| Air Conditioning/Heating | Yes |
| Elevator | Yes |
| Lounge Rooms | 1st and 3rd Floor |
| Study Lounges | Every Floor |
Cox and Wheeler Halls are twins. They were originally built in 1962, but have been more recently renovated (in 2008), making them among the nicest dorms available to freshmen. Each building is co-educational by floor, but not by suite (i.e. you will have both girls and boys on a floor, but each suite/bathroom is single gender). They have study lounges on every floor for group study (or when your roommate is sleeping and you need to finish a project), and recreational lounges with full kitchens on every other floor.
Suites are made up of two rooms connected by a bathroom (occasionally your roommates may forget and lock you out of the bathroom, but the lock can be undone with a penny). The bedrooms are relatively big compared to many college dorms (at least the ones I toured when I was in high school), and your closets are in your room (downside, there is no way to lock your closet).
Wheeler Hall is also the home to the Cormier Honors College, though non-honors students are also welcome to live there. In addition to everything it shares with Cox, Wheeler also has a classroom on the ground floor. I lived in Wheeler for my freshman and sophomore years, and has some fantastic memories there that I would not trade for anything.
Overall Rating: 4/5
2. Curry Hall and Frazer Hall
| Built | 1970 (planned improvements coming soon!) |
| Students per Room | 2 (with a couple single person rooms) |
| Bathrooms | Suite Style (shared between 2 or 3 rooms) |
| Air Conditioning/Heating | Yes |
| Elevator | Yes |
Curry and Frazer are another twin set on campus. At 10 stories tall, they house the majority of freshmen students and are the tallest buildings in Farmville. Fun fact: when they were built, the town of Farmville did not have a fire truck with a tall enough ladder to reach the 10th floor, so Longwood had to donate money to rectify that situation.
Curry and Frazer were built in 1970 and have not had much more than a facelift in recent years, but there are planned improvements for the buildings in the near future. Unlike Cox and Wheeler, this pair is connected by the Curry Commons (which is wickedly convenient if you need to visit a friend in the next building, but it’s raining outside).
Curry and Frazer are coeducational by floor, but again, single gender by room/suite. Their suites are a little different, rather than being connected by the bathroom, the two (or three) rooms and the bathroom are connected by a small, private hallway. The closets for these residents re also in the hallway, as opposed to being in the room itself, and can be locked if you so choose.
Overall Rating: 4/5
3. Sharp Hall and Register Hall
| Built | 2016 |
| Students per Room | 2 |
| Bathrooms | Suite Style (shared between two rooms) |
| Air Conditioning/Heating | Yes |
| Elevator | Yes |
| Lounge Rooms | Every Floor |
Sharp and Register are our last twin pair. They are brand spanking new (just opened Fall 2016) and you can tell. There is a (really nice) lounge on every floor. The rooms each house 2 people, and again, they are coeducational by floor, but not by suite. The suite is set up with a nice little entryway, and the bathroom and two bedrooms all branch off from this.
As much as I loved Wheeler Hall, if I were to be a freshman nowadays, this is where I’d want to live.
Overall Rating: 5/5
4. South Ruffner
| Built | 1900 |
| Students per Room | 1 |
| Bathrooms | Community Style |
| Air Conditioning/Heating | Yes |
| Elevator | Yes |
| Lounge Rooms | Every Floor |
South Ruffner is our oldest dormitory that still exists on campus, and only houses single rooms. The bathrooms are community style, and it’s single gender by floor. South Ruffner shows its age, and while I’m sure that it has been renovated more recently than 1900, but I could not find that information online. There have been some rumors that South Ruffner will be closing someday soon, but it hasn’t happened yet.
Overall Rating: 2/5
So that’s what there is to know about Longwood University freshman dorms. As far as dorms go, I think we have a pretty good selection. I highly recommend that you got to the Residence Halls page on the Longwood website (linked here) and check out the video tours and pictures available to see for yourself. Good luck, have fun, and welcome to Longwood!
