Frequently Asked Questions

TOP 10

1 .How big are the rooms and how long are the mattresses?

2 .What can I bring to school?

3. Can I have a car on campus?

4. What is the visiting policy?

5. How are room assignments made?

6. My son has a room in Dorchester. Would you please explain what the lofting kit does. Does it raise the bed high enough to put a desk underneath? Is it something we need to arrange ahead of time?

7. Can I get a single room?

8. What happens if I do not like my roommate?

9. Roomate Request

10. Can I live off-campus?

The four questions posted most recently:

1. I was wondering where I could find a list of the TV stations available to students living on campus.

2 .I will be in one of the North Crescent townhouses this fall. Can you tell me the dimensions of the bedrooms and if they are carpeted?

3. Are we allowed to put up posters in our rooms to liven them up?

4. When do students who are admitted and entering St. Marys for the Fall 2005 semester find out about dorm and room assignments? Will we have any choices or are rooms and roommates assigned to entering Freshmen?

How big are the rooms and how long are the mattresses?
Standard double rooms are approximately 16' x 11'. Window dimensions for Calvert, Caroline, Dorchester, Prince George, Queen Anne: 84"(L) x 42"(W). Mattresses in all of our residential areas (Calvert, Caroline, Dorchester, Lewis Quad, Prince George, Queen Anne, Townhouses, and Waring Commons) are extra long: 80" (L) x 36" (W)  back to top

What can I bring to school?
Blanket, clothes hangers, linens (standard twin in Calvert, Caroline, Prince George, Townhouses, and extra-long in Queen Anne, Dorchester, Lewis Quad, and Waring Commons), pillow, towels, washcloths, wastebasket, personal care and toiletry items, clock, radio, desk lamp, fan, hair dryer, personal care equipment, hot pot, iron, plants, popcorn popper, one refrigerator per room (not to exceed 33"), rug, small vacuum cleaner, stereo, TV, VCR, surge protector, telephone, typewriter, computer, printer, and answering machine. In addition, students should bring a phone, because none are provided. In Lewis Quad suites, one microwave is allowed per suite in the common room. In Waring Commons suites, microwaves are provided in the common room. back to top

Can I have a car on campus?
Students are permitted to have cars, as long as they purchase a parking sticker ($100). A parking lot for first-year students and overflow ("Guam") is located near the Physical Plant building. Because SMCM is a small college, students get to know each other in a short period of time, and most students carpool to town. back to top

What is the visiting policy?
SMCM has attempted to develop a degree of flexibility to accommodate varying lifestyles. As a result, we have an open visiting policy. We have confidence in the ability and inclination of SMCM students to make mature decisions about their social behavior. We also believe that no individual has the right to infringe upon another's freedom, privacy, and safety, and that students are willing to accept both the rights and responsibilities of such a policy. Our policy should not be construed as permission for members of the opposite sex to sleep overnight or to conduct themselves in such a way as to invade another individual's privacy. Students are permitted to have overnight guests for a maximum of three nights in a given month. Students are held responsible for the actions of their guests. SMCM does not have curfew. back to top

How are room assignments made?
Room assignments are made based on the date your deposit is received in the Business Office. We try to match roommates using the answers you provide on the Housing Application. Therefore, it is imperative that you be as honest as possible about your personal study and lifestyle habits.
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My son has a room in Dorchester. Would you please explain what the lofting kit does. Does it raise the bed high enough to put a desk underneath? Is it something we need to arrange ahead of time?
A lofting kit raises the bed on an extension of the headboard and footboard. The bed can be raised high enough for the dresser and/or desk to be placed beneath the bed, thus allowing more open floor space in the room. Beds in Dorchester, Lewis Quad, Queen Anne, and Waring Commons can be lofted or bunked. Beds in Calvert, Caroline, Prince George, and the Townhouses can be bunked, but not lofted. Once a student arrives on campus in Augst, the student can request a lofting kit through an RA or RHC. Our maintenance staff will bring the lofting kit to the room within a few days. Lofting kits are given out based on the size of the room (smaller doubles have higher priority for the lofts than large doubles or single rooms), class standing (upperclass students have higher priority than first or second year students), extenuating circumstances, and if any are left after that, we do a random drawing until we run out of kits. back to top

Can I get a single room?
Single rooms are available on a limited basis and are usually reserved for upperclass students, students with extenuating medical or mental health circumstances, students with certain physical or learning disabilities, and non-traditional students. If you have an extenuating medical or mental health situation and want to request a single, appropriate documentation must be sent to the Health or Counseling Center for approval. If you have a physical or learning disability, appropriate documentation must be sent to the ADA Compliance Officer for approval. If any singles are left, they will be assigned to students who request them based on credit (the more credits you have, the better your chance to get a single). back to top

What happens if I do not like my roommate?
We hope that you will get along with your roommate. The first few weeks of school are important to building a good roommate relationship. You will receive information on how to do that when you arrive in August. Open communication is the key to this relationship. If, however, you are unhappy, you will need to contact the Residence Life staff in your building. Mediation and conflict resolution services are available. If absolutely necessary, roommate changes will be considered after the first two weeks of school. back to top

Roommate Request
There is a space on the Housing Application where you can request to live with a specific roommate. Only mutual, written requests can be honored. If you have already sent back your form, simply write the name of your desired roommate on a piece of paper and send it to the Office of Residence Life or e-mail it to us.  back to top

Can I live off-campus?
Students are permitted to live off-campus. SMCM does not have a residency requirement. There is a listing of off-campus rental properties available in the Office of Residence Life. We strongly suggest that first-year students live on-campus to promote class unity and to aid in their transition to the College environment. Students who live on-campus generally have a higher G.P.A. and get more involved in school activities. By the way, campus housing is guaranteed for eight semesters.
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I was wondering where I could find a list of the TV stations available to students living on campus.
The information about available TV stations is listed in the Resident Student Guide on the Residence Life Web Page, under Facilities and Services. For your information (as noted in the Guide):

Television
In August 2003, the College installed satellite-delivered resident cable TV, providing a wider selection of channels for both entertainment and education. If you have a television set, you will need to purchase an RG-59 coaxial cable with 2 male F-59 connectors. These are available at the Campus Store, Lowe's, Target, Radio Shack, etc. Older televisions that do not have the screw-on or coaxial type connector will need a transformer. This device converts the new cable wire to a two-prong wire lead, which can be screwed to the television's screw terminals for the antenna. The basic system provides 50 channels; premium channels, such as HBO or Showtime, are not available. If the satellite system is not working in your room, please notify a member of the Residence Life staff or Media Services (ext. 3029).

The following channel line-up will be provided:
ABC-WJLA, CBS-WUSA, FOX-WTTG, NBC-WRC, PBS-WETA, UPN-WDCA, A&E, BET, Bloomberg Cartoon Network, CNN Headline News, Comedy Central, Court TV, CSPAN, CSPAN 2, Discovery Channel, Discovery Health, Family Channel, E!Entertainment, History Channel, Lifetime, Game Show Network, NASA, The Learning Channel, MTV, MTV2, Nickelodeon, Sci-Fi, Trinity Brd. Net., TBS, TNT, TV Land, USA, VH1, Free Speech TV, Discovery Science, Link Media, Discovery Civilization, RAI, Weather Channel, Colours Univision, Galavision, French TV5, Deutche Welle, Phoenix TV, Asian TV, CCTV4.

Additional channels may be added.

I hope that you will take a few minutes to review the Resident Student Guide. It contains a lot of useful information.
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I will be in one of the North Crescent townhouses this fall. Can you tell me the dimensions of the bedrooms and if they are carpeted?
The bedrooms in the townhouses (both the Townhouse Greens and the Crescent Townhouses) are approximately 11' x 13' (give or take a foot). The bedrooms are carpeted except for some of the "flats" (some of the one floor units).
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Are we allowed to put up posters in our rooms to liven them up?
Yes, you are allowed to put up posters on the walls. We encourage students to personalize their rooms (within reason!). We ask that you use the "Fun Tak" (putty) that we will provide or some other removable substance (not duct tape, nails, etc.)so as to avoid damaging the paint and the walls.
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When do students who are admitted and entering St. Marys for the Fall 2006 semester find out about dorm and room assignments? Will we have any choices or are rooms and roommates assigned to entering Freshmen?
A mailing will be sent out in mid-May to all newly admitted students that contains a great deal of information about housing, health services, New-Student days, academic information, technology services info, etc. You will be able to access the housing contract and housing questionnaire online (unless you are under 18, in which case you'll need to submit hard copies of some of the forms). We use the housing questionnaire to try to match up students who, on paper, look like they might get along (based on similar lifestyles, habits, etc.). We will assign the new students to their rooms and roommates in June. The housing confirmations, which contain your room assignment, and the name(s), address(es), phone number(s), and e-mail address(es) of your roommate(s), are sent out in mid-July.

If you wish to request a specific roommate, both of you will need to send us a note (e-mail is fine) indicating that you want to live together. If you wish to request a specific building, you can send us a note (again, e-mail is fine) indicating the request. Please note however, that we cannot guarantee that you will be assigned to that building. We try to honor as many requests as we can, but some buildings have fewer vacancies than others. We do our housing assignments based on the date the deposit was received by the College. Also, some of our buildings are requested more often than others, so depending on when your deposit was received and which building you are requesting will determine if we can honor your request.
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