Balch Hall questions - Page 2

galgrl24 · 06-17-2007, 10:50 PM

seuferk - I lived in the 4360s this past year in Balch. If you message me your room number, I can tell you exactly where you'll overlook and send you a pic of the outside of the room that indicates which window is your room. And you're actually in unit 3, not unit 4. The first number indicates the floor.

UG stands for undergraduate

And my experience in Balch was great as well. The tatkon center downstairs is really nice and there's even a cafe. So you can go down and grab food or drinks really conveniently. Also, guys are allowed in Balch and can even stay the night as long as they're escorted by someone who lives in the building.

seuferk · 06-17-2007, 11:06 PM

ooops, I'm an absolute idiot. I wrote the wrong thing. I'm in the 3460s....I'm not really sure why I wrote the other. Really about the guys? wow..in a freshman dorm that kind of surprises me. Haha, I'm sorry for the confusion, but I really appreciate the help that you could have given me

I'm glad that you enjoyed it--I'm kind of sick of it being called the "nunnery"

rach719 · 06-17-2007, 11:57 PM

galgrl24...tell me something about 4360s?? since mine is 54...so do you have pictures and stuff to show???

mst3kfan · 06-18-2007, 04:15 PM

I'm a guy, but lived in Balch last summer as part of my research stipend. I've lived in several dorms at more than one university, so here are my two cents:

1. Balch is really hot during the summer. Get lots of fans or be ready to fight for couches in the air-conditioned common rooms when the heat is unbearable.

2. The rooms are huge. Square feet per person, the biggest dorms I've ever stayed in. Large windows mean they're nice and bright too. And big closets to boot! Mine had kind of a musty smell, though.

3. Good location. Right across the footbridge to academic buildings (the road bridge is out, though).

4. Weird rules. Don't know if it's different for regular term, but I got threatened with a citation for carrying beer to my room even though I was of age. Apparently I was pressuring other people to drink merely by possessing alcohol (that's what the RA told me). I went to a state school for undergrad, and by God if you were 21 you could have a full bar in your room if you wanted...so this was a little strange to me.

5. Beautiful building. But then again the whole campus is picturesque.

6. Frustrating elevator. It's old, and requires you to shut the door behind you, or it won't operate. Comes complete with an obnoxious buzzer for you to ring if you need someone to close the door. Even with just a few dozen researchers living in the building, the thing rarely worked without running up the stairs to close open elevator doors. A hall full of freshman seems like it would render the elevator effectively inoperable, but maybe not. The buzzer, however, always works.

7. Might be magical. I'm going back to Cornell for graduate work this fall, and so is my girlfriend -- whom I met in Balch while I was there last year. My research advisor, a Cornell alum, met his wife at Cornell while she was living in Balch -- over thirty years ago.

Thank you for reading my meandering, unhelpful response.

sockerchick23 · 06-18-2007, 06:57 PM

AGHH....you guys already know about housing?? Is it posted online or was it mailed??? I am an incoming freshman in HE by the way..

seuferk · 06-19-2007, 01:51 AM

online. housing.cornell.edu. sign in with your netid

doglvr88 · 06-19-2007, 07:48 PM

I lived in Balch last year as well and was in 6-4. The area was very quiet and the people were very tight knit. It's really different from the rest of Balch. Also, the rooms there are very atypical from the other rooms in Balch (some of the rooms are extremely big, as in they really should be triples and not a single while some of the rooms are very small). I was one of those people with the smaller rooms (On the facilities forms, it was referred to as the Very Small Single). I have some pictures of my room and such. For now, I'll just post this one:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...00915_6033.jpg

NishtDawg · 06-19-2007, 08:27 PM

i got placed on the 2nd floor! is this good or bad? Room 2154
it seems like not very many people are on the 2nd floor

meestasi · 06-19-2007, 09:04 PM

That just means you have less steps to walk up. I had friends on the upper floors last year, it was quite a trek getting up there sometimes.

galgrl24 · 06-19-2007, 10:28 PM

rach719 - I have a picture of the outside of the room and i can indicate where you room would be on that picture. I don't have pictures of your exact room since I didn't live in it though. If you'd like the picture of the outside, just message me and I can send it to you.

2154 is actually on the bottom floor I believe. Balch is on a hill, so I don't think there's a first floor on the north side (or on the south for that matter). The good news . . . it's close to the laundry room.

NishtDawg · 06-20-2007, 12:39 PM

oh gosh, the ground floor? can anyone confirm this? i thought the cafe was on the ground floor...

emms732 · 06-20-2007, 01:35 PM

If you enter Balch from the archway, you will be on the second floor.

The Tatkon center is on the second floor as well, but it is on the South side of Balch. All of the rooms on the second floor are on the North Side of Balch.

NishtDawg · 06-20-2007, 03:13 PM

Thanks a lot!

fd36 · 06-20-2007, 03:19 PM

they should tear down the low rises and build another balch ;x

seuferk · 06-20-2007, 04:59 PM

i thought the third floor was the bottom floor? in unit 4?