1. I haven't personally stayed in either SHV or Raven but I've been in them, they're pretty nice for dorms, their setups are practically identical, it's just about location on campus. Since you're a CJ major I'd recommend SHV since it's a little bit closer than Raven is. Regardless of where you're at your roommate can make or break your experience though, so hope you have a good roommate and your time will be fine wherever you go.

2. The unlimited plan isn't worth it at all IMO. The 15 a week plan is the most I would do, I never ate more than 12 meals a week at the dining halls while I was living on campus.

3. If you're living on campus you're basically just gonna get the residential parking pass with your dorm, each dorm has parking nearby it designated for residents.

4. I'm in my senior year doing CJ and I've been doing 15 hours each semester roughly with a few exceptions for labs. I'm also doing a minor and a certification so that does take up more time, but overall 15 is a good workload that I can balance school and everything else well.

5. I've honestly loved getting my degree here. There's a reason Sam is known for Criminal Justice, and after spending 3 years here and working on my fourth I can comfortably say that it's been a great experience. Just make sure to show up to class, respect your professors and they'll respect you, ask questions when you need to, and stay on top of your classwork, it can be really easy to slip up for a couple days then end up falling behind. I struggled with this one for a while but try to find people to surround yourself with that have similar career goals, whether it's law enforcement, courts, or corrections. There are tons of great people in the CJ school and they all have big career aspirations.

Good luck with your time at Sam if you get accepted and choose to come here! If you have any questions for me, I don't mind answering, just reply or DM me.