The real thing isn't free. It costs an externally facing wall.

And I'm guessing pretty much any new dorm built today will have central air in any case.

My initial reaction was pretty negative and not sure how I'd feel about the overall size and the lack of windows in rooms. On the other hand, in a lot of designs even if you have a window it's often facing a wall.

However, I actually favor optimizing for the common space. I liked that kind of design. And the rooms being discussed here don't seem much if any smaller than the smaller singles I remember.

The rooms seem a little bit smaller than usual singles, but I'd gladly take the size downgrade if it meant I didn't need to share a room with 1-3 other people.