I lived in a dormitory last year (apartment style) and had no trouble with any neighbors other than downstairs neighbors. I actually knew those guys and knew they liked their videogames loud. So loud my floor was vibrating while I was trying to get to sleep. I didn't consider it a favor, so I went down and told them to cut it out because I had an 8AM class in the morning. They did, and from that moment on, they only got loud during daylight hours. I could live with that. But sometimes Dan would come over and think it was funny to go right under my bedroom and bang a 2x4 against the ceiling while I was doing a paper or something. I'd have to get up and stomp on the floor to satisfy him.

Not so bad at all, really.

We'll see about this year. But I've got an apartment in a pretty okay part of town, and I'm on the top level of a three story unit (it's an old renovated house). The landlord lives on the lowest level, and he doesn't seem like the nosey type. I'm crossing my fingers.