Milnes Hall Dorm Reviews at UW-Stout

I am a freshman and it's COVID times so things are not as they usually would be. Move in was tightly structured, not a bad thing, but you only got 2 hours to move everything in with only your family to assist. It was barely enough time, especially since I had to rearrange the furniture and beds in my room. I started off with a room mate but he changed his mind at the last minute. Due to that I just kept the room but paid the extra fee to be a single. I am in a double extended room all by myself. It's nice to have the space, but also not nice since there is furniture for 3 people in here! This dorm was originally for females but because of the number of male students in a particular program they converted first floor of the dorm to be males - except not the bathroom; there are no urinals. The Common areas are fine except that everything is spaced for social distancing and you can't rent any equipment, etc. You can't even rent a vacuum this year and the doors to our rooms are always closed so I haven't met anyone. The laundry room and vending machines are convenient and paying with my Blue Card is easy. There is key card access at all entrances and an alarm goes off if a door is open too long. There are extra screens screwed into first floor windows for safety but that also prohibits them from being a fire escape. That's probably a fair trade. The WiFi is good as are the ethernet ports. There are enough outlets in my room and the temperature is good. The "dressers" and desks in my room are a little weird in that none really matched each other. The mattress is comfy and appeared clean and not worn. I like that each room comes with a microwave and fridge/freezer. I didn't get a chance to use any of the kitchen facilities due to COVID, but they looked pretty nice. There was a stove and fridge and a counter for people to sit at while you're cooking. I only really have two complaints - one, the desk surfaces are small and they are also kind of tall. Too tall for me to be seated comfortably on my office chair that I use so I bought a card table to use as my desk. Second, the room was REALLY dusty. I kept a fan on the floor running most of the time and didn't realize till I was cleaning up for Thanksgiving break that it was caked with dust. When I moved in I did notice some dust and debris coming out of an air vent, but didn't realize the volume it was putting out. This is an older dorm which has not been remodeled yet. I would still recommend it and it will probably be even better once it's updated.

My first semester living in the dorms at UW-Stout has been interesting to say the least. It has been fairly difficult to make friends considering the pandemic, but I have still been able to make some great friends here on campus and in Milnes Hall. During orientation, one of our first weeks here at school, my roommate and I met up with a few of the other girls on our floor and they soon became some of our best friends. We all have to find creative ways to visit and have fun together though since others are not allowed in your dorm room. That means a lot of the time we will go down to the basement of the building where people can safely socially distant and enjoy each other’s company. I will say that although it can be a pain living in a dormitory, waking up to hitting your head on the ceiling and having to share a bathroom with another two dozen girls or so, life in Milnes Hall has been an experience I’ll never regret or forget.

It’s a great community of people, I’ve really enjoyed getting to know my neighbors and my RA! Although the dorm room is small, it’s a nice space to utilize as a place to study, relax and socialize with me my roommate!