What is a Hall of Residence?

Answer 1

A "Hall of Residence" is a term used to refer to a college or university dormatory. It's where students live while they're going to college. Some halls of residence are for females only, others for males only, and still others are for both. Some colleges call halls of residence in which both males and females may live "co-educational." Some halls of residence have small rooms only large enough for one student to live, in which there will be a bed, a desk, a bookshelf and a closet. Others have rooms big enough for two students, with two beds, and one or two bookshelves and desks (usually two desks so both students can do homework at the same time). Still others have rooms big enough for three, four or more students. Some halls of residence (especially in military schools) are almost more like miltary barracks, having large areas with many beds, desks between them, and closets in the center aisle or footlockers at the foot of the beds. It all just depends on the school. Bathrooms with showers in most halls of residence are usually shared... one or two to a floor. Some halls of residence have one bathroom shared by every two dorm rooms. Still others have a bathroom right in the dorm room, one per room, almost like a hotel or motel (though that is very rare). There are even halls of residence where each room is really almost like a small apartment, with its own bathroom and kitchen or kitchenette... which is really rare. Some halls of residence are really just apartment buildings. This is typically the case with graduate student housing. In such cases, it's really almost a misnomer to refer to the buildings as "halls of residence." They're basically just apartment buildings, only on a college campus, and typically restricted to grad students. Again, though, it really just all depends on the school.