Two or more people typically share dorm rooms. The rooms are customized by the residents per their discretion, though generally rules apply which prohibit certain actions. For most colleges, this includes no painting the walls, no drilling holes, or substituting furniture. In fact, dorm furniture is rarely allowed to leave the room because the university owns it. Because students do not own the rooms, students must sign housing contracts with the university to obtain residence for semester-long or full- academic year terms.
The furniture provided in a dorm room is typically very minimal. There is usually a bed with an extra-large, twin-sized mattress, a desk, chair and a wardrobe per roommate in the dorm. Some dorm rooms have personal sinks or bathrooms for the inhabitants of the room. More traditional dorms have a certain number of bathrooms per floor, which several residents must share. Dorms can be customized as residents desire, often roommates may choose to "bunk" the beds to have more living space, bring in a sofa, musical equipment, or anything else to make the dorm feel like home.
Dorm rooms are generally on the small side. The typical dimensions measure about 14-feet-by-14-feet and are shared with one to five other people. That is barely enough room to fit the furniture that comes with the room and the limited possessions of the room's residents, so dorm room tenants usually have to plan accordingly and leave some of their larger belongings at home. In order to gain more living space, some dorm room residents will get creative in how they arrange their room.
Dorm rooms function as a place to live while away at school attending classes for millions of college students worldwide. They function as not only a place to sleep, but as a place to eat, study and socialize. They are used as a way for students to get to know one another within the room, floor, or building of the residence hall. Often the students paired up to live together in dorm rooms are not from a similar area and have never even met.
The significance of dorm rooms lies in not only the convenience they provide for the student, but for the transitional period they represent in a young adult's life. They are convenient because they are often located within walking distance of the classes that the students attend. They are symbolic in that they are often the first place a young college student will live once they move out of their parent's homes. For many, it is the first taste of independence and a transitional step into adulthood.