Cornell Housing for First-Year students

fallenmerc
Tue, 02 Apr 2013 09:48:56 +0000

I’m gonna begin my rant with raining on your parade: A good number of students don’t get the dorm/room type they requested. So… don’t get too excited.

Town Houses:
Pro - 4 people to a house, lots of space, probably the closest experience to living off campus, close to first bus stop (you won’t get screwed ever), fullest kitchen utilities available (i mean you’re not sharing with an entire floor/hallway)
Con - Feels isolated, small readily-available social groups (nobody says “let’s hang out in your townhouse” since most people are in the other dorms), expensive, farthest away from campus

Old Dorms: HighRise, LowRise 6/7, Donlon, Dickson
Pro - “open doors” social vibe (everyone leaves their door open all the time), old-school buildings, close to RPCC,
Con - old school buildings (AC/Heat issues, potential pipe burst etc), other than low rise, you might end up on a floor that you dont want to take the stairs for but have to wait for the friggin elevators.

New Dorms: Court/ Kay /Bauer, Mews
Pro - Newest buildings (you can easily tell), close to appel
Con - Doors are really heavy so while you have the hallways, it feels harder to find ppl since fewer ppl leave their doors open

Program Houses: Ujamaa, JAM, HILC
Same as low rises except with themes. Wasn’t my thing and a lot of people get put here as “overflow” (upperclassmen sometimes get assigned in these buildings).

Risley:
They have Harry Potter night here. Reputation for artsy hipsters. Older dorm

Balch:
I’m not a woman so I have no clue. It’s the closest dorm besides Risley. I hear the room sizes range from old “service” rooms to HUGE what-am-i-sposed-to-do-with-this-space rooms.

All buildings have “kitchens” but really only a sink, microwave and fridge (you can have mini fridges rented/bought for your rooms). Hmmm… actually there might’ve been oven/stove but I never used them. Mostly because you’re forced on a meal plan and I have no idea how to cook.
All buildings also have lounges for ppl to meet up and hang out. Most have TVs where you can hook up xbox n such.

I was Low rise 6 suite/hallway combo. They have “units” with short hallways with 2 singles, a double and a triple. The layout of the building was confusing but I liked it because I met a lot of ppl that I hung out with for all 4 years. The hallway style you get on westcampus in soph so you’re really not missing much.

Social opportunities is tough with Townhouses but everywhere else it’s really up to you. The low rise/donlon/dickson/high rise probably require the least effort on your part though.

I went with single for three years (very lucky I got to) cuz I don’t want to deal with other ppl’s problems. I personally did not see any benefit of having a roommate besides saving money but the potential of issues wasn’t worth the risk for me. Some friends liked having roommates, an some hated it. I know ppl who have never talked to their roommates and some who became bffs. Figure out for yourself if you like people and can deal with their problems.

If you look at a cornell campus map, the main facilities you will be using are “Robert Purcell Community Center (RPCC)” and “Appel Commons”. Both have dining halls.
RPCC - Mail, study rooms, grand piano, Bear Necessities (late night snack grill/convenience store), computer lab (~20)
Appel - Mail, cafe (bubble tea), video game nights in the lobby area, Gym (need to pay for the campus-wide gym membership)
Helen Newman is the Pool, Bowling, and other Gym. You might have PE classes here.
To give you a sense of distance, I could usually go from my room in Low Rise 6 to RPCC in a minute or two. Low Rise 6 to Engineering is 1mile, not including vertical distance from hills.
Bus stops for the morning are Jessup/Sisson Pl and in front of Risley. The buildings in the middle of North campus are awkward because you feel that you’ve already walked halfway to class by the time you get to a bus stop. The Risley stop is usually packed since the first stop is the Jessup/Sisson corner. If you’re not in engineering… just walk to class in the morning and bus back up. The Low rises and town houses are probably your best bet if you insist on bus everyday.

I played video games and was in engineering and liked to do homework in my room. (My friend was in the same hallway 10 ft away so… also I hate having to gather my books and stuff to go somewhere to “work/study”. Wastes so much time). I was in my dorm more often than most people I feel. Some of us frequented the computer labs to play games together. It’s really up to you how much you stay in.