Alan has found that the location beside the listener, above and slightly forward has the best sound.
I've found that right next to the listener (out a couple of feet) and up a foot or so is best for me. However, i have also tried them directly behind my couch sitting at the couch ends which is about a half foot above my ears and the surround effect is still very good, just different.
If you play around with the speaker placement a little bit once you order it and before your daughter goes away, you will find that with the quadpole design, the sound is dispersed up, down and angled to left and rights. In almost any placement, you will get a diffuse sound and 'surround effect'.
The QSx really works well in this regard and if the position of the surround speakers will be limited as you seem to suggest, then i would recommend nothing BUT the QSx design over the direct speakers.
link to my M22 vs QS8 review in the forums
In any event, your daughter should be thrilled. These really are great quality speakers to be bringing to college. I only wish i had the foresight to know about better audio before i spent a good chunk of my own cash on a low end Technics system ten years ago.
