I don't know if things are a bit different as I'm a UK student but I had a hamster when I was at uni for the first time. Her cage was in the corridor by my room, and the next year when we were in a different house she was in the living room. I didn't have her when I lived in university accomodation though, only when we rented houses. My housemates were all fine with her, I made sure to move her into the safety of my room if there was a party but generally she was fine in the communal space as my friends were trustworthy!
There is no way I could have had her in my room though as she was a bar chewer. A detolf would probably be ok as they can't make loads of noise? You'd have to have a big room for that though.
I would let her run around my room in the evenings when I was studying, so she had plenty of exercise. It was a bit distracting but I'm a mega procrastinator so anything will distract me hah!
I used to take her home in a little carrier (either in the car or on the train) and had a spare cage at home for the holidays. Depends how long your journey would be but mine was up to 3 hours and Pixie always seemed fine, just slept in her little house for the duration of the journey - hiding or sleeping I don't know but she never seemed bothered when the journey was over.
Hope that helps a bit!
What are you studying?