Dorm Room Evolution: What's Next? (PHOTOS)

Many of us remember our college dorm rooms: the bare walls covered in band posters or table cloths serving as tapestries, all in a lame attempt to create a decent home. Even those now surrounded by prestige were subject to the same dreary conditions (let us not forget Barack Obama's reported "Barf Couch").

But were dorms always like this? Indeed, there was a promising beginning for the American dorm room, as evidenced by those oldest dorms at Princeton or Yale, where ivy sneaks up the side of a stone facade and huge windows open onto a New England style quad.

How did the dorm room transform over hundreds of years? Where is it headed?

Well, for those approaching college, you may be in luck. The ever-advancing 21st century has not left dorm rooms behind, and if you play your cards right you may end up living in a dorm with a smoothie bar, a jacuzzi, or a rock climbing wall.

Click the slideshow to see how college dorm rooms in America have evolved from the Founding Fathers' to others with swimming pools: