| Hi guys. I'm happy to answer any questions you may have about housing.
A quick summary may be useful:
GENERAL
- All 5 buildings have beautiful 1st-floor lounges, none of them more extravagant than Furnald's.
- All are right on the south part of the main quad, right in the middle of everything. There is no appreciable difference in quality of location, except maybe for john jay's dining hall access.
CARMAN
Pros:
- More immediately sociable; "doors always open" style means people wander around from room to room in the evenings hanging out
- Semiprivate bathrooms for each suite of 4 people
- Rooms are more spacious, and you have Air Conditioning
- elevators break less often and you have the freight elevator for the really slow times
- you can get on the roof
- Soundproofing is pretty good, and the RA-to-resident ratio is pretty high, i.e. less meddling
Cons:
- You have a roommate. Think about the implications for having a boyfriend or girlfriend. It's workable (and many just deal with it), but it's a hassle.
- Only one kitchen, in the basement
- Floor lounges, while still having free cable, are small-ish. And jackasses steal lounge furniture for their rooms.
JOHN JIZZLE
Pros:
- Single rooms. You have privacy. 100sf may not seem like much, but you'll settle into it and find you really don't need much more than that.
- It's right above the dining hall. You can get 3 meals a day in your pajamas.
- JJ's place, the late-night snack shop, is in the basement.
- Floor lounges are bigger. You could have a super bowl party there, assuming you don't have buddies in hartley/wallach or a frat.
- high RA-to-resident ratio means less meddling
Cons:
- Elevators kinda suck, especially the top floors. People routinely take the stairs even from the 8th or 9th floor just out of frustration.
- No kitchens
- No air conditioning
- entire building is older and the wear'n'tear leaves you with a slightly shabby feeling.
- Floors are not as immediately sociable. If you want to meet your floor and make friends, you will. And you'll keep those friends forever. But there are a lot more people living in john jay who are the types who go study in butler every day and come home at 3AM than there are in carman.
- soundproofing isn't so good.
FURNALD
Pros:
- Recently renovated; has that new-building feel
- Some people will get singles, others will get doubles smaller than those in carman
- Air Conditioning
- Carpeting on the floors
- Reliable elevators serving fewer floors
- Floor lounges have kitchens with them (as well as free cable / couches), so you can actually cook.
Cons:
- The doubles are small-ish
- The building is about half sophomores, who you'll have a harder time meeting and have less in common with.
- Floors are not as sociable as Carman, especially with the number of singles
- Whereas with the others, if you request it as your #1 choice you're almost certain (90%+) to get it, the 'admit rate' for Furnald is a little lower. So you may end up living in another place that you rank lower.
- RA ratio is a little higher
LLC: HARTLEY / WALLACH
Pros:
- great suite lounges that feel like a real living room
- kitchen and bathroom in the suite, meaning you can cook and don't have to traipse down a long corridor in a bathrobe
- about half of the rooms for freshmen are singles
- more of a party atmosphere / sociable, less so than carman
- Good elevator reliability but the things are damn slow.
Cons:
- Bathrooms are co-ed. Which you get used to.
- Plenty of sophomores and even some upperclassmen in the dorm
- Suite common areas end up pretty dirty, because not everyone in the suite are friends
- RA ratio is a little higher
- You have this bullsht about "community programming" events and stuff, since it's supposed to be the "Living Learning Center". Nobody takes it seriously, not even the RAs.
Obviously this is nonscientific but generally aligns with public opinion. Feel free to ask anything else you might have in mind.
-D |