Freshmen at Washington University in St. Louis begin their first semester of school with a few sage words of advice: Don’t sign up for 9 a.m. classes unless necessary, don’t expect a consistent WUFI connection, and don’t commit floorcest.

But despite the frequent warnings from RAs and upperclassmen, many freshmen still find themselves victims of floorcest.

“I thought I was against it, but then I realized I was in the middle of it,” freshman Melanie Holmgren said. “It’s just one of those things you slip into without realizing.”

One of the main issues with floorcest, many would argue, is jumping into a state of a relationship too soon for people who have only recently met.

“The relationships that come out of [floorcest] are just different and sometimes hard to deal with because you’re basically living with your significant other right from the start,” freshman Bree Swenson said. “Some good relationships do come out of it, but it totally changes the dynamic of the floor.”

Students cite awkward floor dynamics as one of the top issues with floorcest. Due to the fact that so many students are put in such a close proximity to others for the first time, gossip is quick to travel down a hall, especially when the gossip entails relationships. With floorcest, there is the constant issue of feelings getting hurt, roommates being sexiled, and the inability to keep things secret for very long.

“It’s a different community living on a freshman floor than it is later in college,” RA Drew Sinha said. “Floorcest tends to make things awkward for students who interact with each other, and it’s not something they’re going to realize until it’s already happened.”

The ambiguity of the term floorcest can also lead to different feelings about it. Freshman Masha Popelyukhina agrees that a one-time hookup can create awkward floor situations but feels that the scenario is different with floor couples.

“Hookups can be messy, but that’s with anyone, not just someone on your floor,” Popelyukhina said. “Couples are a little more stable, which makes the idea of floorcest a little more moderate. I personally think it’s so convenient. I’m in such a relationship, and we have totally different schedules during the day, so it’s nice that no matter how late we have things into the night, we’re still able to see each other, even if it’s just casually.”

Sophomore Leah Weintrub feels differently about the idea that floor couples should fall under a different level of floorcest.

“I think [floorcest] is okay in small doses, at the beginning of freshman year, but when it turns into relationships, it can be dangerous,” Weintrub said. “You live together, so it’s hard to be in a relationship, because you start to get weird standards about time spent with each other and apart and just generally have a lot of issues with space.”

Weintrub also acknowledges that sexiling and arguments between floorcest couples can cause tension in a hall. Part of the issue, she feels, is simply the fact that it is the first year of college for these students.

“Floorcest in later years is different,” Weintrub said. “There’s a likelihood that you might’ve known each other longer, while freshman year it could just be a product of wanting someone to hook up with and not knowing other people or just wanting to get into a relationship quickly. I’ve seen freshman floorcest relationships up close and now, looking back on it, once you’re out of it you realize why it’s not the best idea.”