At Smith-Steeb Hall on Wednesday, families removed bedding, bookshelves and clothing from SUVs and trucks and loaded them onto tarp carts to restock the dorm.
It was the first day of a move-in window for Ohio State University students beginning the 2024-2025 academic year, a year in which the university will likely see one of its largest freshman classes ever.
Gina Khalil of Akron helped her daughter Anna Khalil, a sophomore, move into the Smith-Steeb House. She said it was easier the second time around.
Khalil said she had also heard about the large new class, but did not believe it would affect Anna’s stay in the dorm.
“I think there are more people living in some of the other dorms, where there used to be two and now there are four,” said Gina Khalil, adding that her daughter only has one roommate.
Over at Lincoln Tower, things were different.
“I live with 15 other girls, so this is new for me,” said Farah Leblanc, a college freshman from southern Maryland. “I have a lot of stuff, so it’s going to be hard to fit everything in. But we’re going to figure it out. It’s going to be OK.”
Ohio State University received around 80,000 applications for this academic year. The university’s largest freshman class to date took place in 2020: 8,600 first-year students started on the main campus in Columbus and another 2,700 first-year students started on the regional campuses.
Last year’s class included a total of about 10,550 students across all Ohio State University campuses.
Spokesman David Isaacs said the university won’t know the exact number of this year’s freshmen until a census is conducted in mid-September, but the new class appears to be large. Isaacs said the residence halls can handle the influx.
“We have built in the flexibility to respond to this. We are ready,” Isaacs said.
Ohio State’s main campus has about 40 dormitories.
Matt Brown of Tiffin, Ohio, helped his daughter Brooke move into the Lincoln Tower. He described her suite: “They have four girls, and there are 16 in the whole space, and there are about four four-bed rooms there. So I checked it out. I think it’s pretty cool.”
The suites also have bathrooms with several toilet cubicles and sinks.
Brown said the space could be “tight.”
“But I mean, it is what it is. Yes. It’s OK. It should be OK. I mean, you’re going to meet a lot of people,” Brown said.
Leblanc said that while she was looking forward to living in a dorm with fewer people, she was excited for the start of the year.
“No dorm is perfect. And especially at a school with that many people, and they have to accommodate that many people. You’re going to have to make adjustments,” Leblanc said. “So, I mean, just make the best of the situation that you’re living in and just try to be positive.”
