Noise while sleeping at college?

Question

I am a light sleeper, and I have tried to get used to people talking or typing when I am sleeping, but I can't. The people on my floor yell and run up and down the hall. I have a fan that I put on high, but it can't drown them out. I tried earplugs too but for some reason they hurt my ears....

Answer 1

Well, some colleges have special floor for students in the honors program. I don't know if that would be helpful or not -- on the one hand, I'd think it'd be quieter for studying. OTOH, those geniuses can get pretty noisy sometimes.

Check out different dorms and floors, and see if you can transfer to a quieter one. Someone might be willing to trade rooms. A graduate section might be quieter, too, but your daytime social life might be quieter as well!

There's not much you can do about other people, I'm afraid. You might try different kinds of ear plugs and see if they help. Also, self-hypnosis might be worth a try. Can you sound-proof your door a little bit by mounting cardboard and maybe insulation on it? Check if you've got a roommate, first.

Good luck.

Answer 2

I am a very light sleeper too and I have tried about everything, including self-hypnosis (doesn't work). I feel your pain because not being able to sleep is the worst! I've had some success with portable air filters with variable speed control that runs on very low frequency. Regular fans tend to be too loud. I've also tried playing nature sounds such as ocean waves and rain sounds but they didn't work as well. Room partitions also help a little bit. Be careful with the earplugs because long term usage leads to hearing loss. The easiest but also the hardest thing to do is to politely tell your roommates to keep it down. But give the air filter a try. Don't get the expensive one that makes no noise but something around $30-$40 should do.

Answer 3

You might try a White Noise machine. They can range from 20$ up into the hundreds. It should drown out some of the noise and help you go to sleep. White noise helps sleep and isn't supposed to disrupt it. And it shouldn't affect other people because they aren't that loud.

Other than that you can't change noise in the dorms. You might want to change dorms or develop a new sleeping routine. Perhaps you can make a dorm rule that one night a week is quiet night? So you'll get some rest at least.
And take naps! Usually dorm students are most active during the night, the afternoon might be more peaceful and then naps will make up some of the sleep time you are missing at night.

Answer 4

What time are the people yelling and running up and down the hall? Most colleges have some hours that are designated as quiet times. If they're doing this at 2 in the morning, then talk to your RA and have him/her get them to stop. If it's at 10 p.m. and that isn't during the quiet hours, then your only option may be to switch dorms. See if the college has one that's quieter.

In theory you could ask them to quiet down a bit, but while it may work from time to time, most of the people who do this care only about their own fun and will think you're a dweeb who doesn't know how to have fun. They may even deliberately make more noise. If you know the people and they seem like reasonable types, you might ask them to tone down the noise in the later evening. It might work.