Hey! I was wondering if a current student or recent alum could offer some dorm advice (although I know freshmen often don’t get their first pick). What are each of the dorms like in terms of social-ness, cleanliness, and convenience?
John Jay is a great choice for freshman. All are pretty great for social setting and convenience. Cleanliness, especially in common rooms and bathrooms, was surprisingly better than I would have expected.
@3puppies I’ve been thinking of putting John Jay as my 1st choice but I;m worried that it may not be as social/fun as Carman… any thoughts on that?
@aliciavikanders John Jay is plenty social–at least, on some floors, and I think the odds are just as good that you’ll get a social floor as in Carman (I know Carman floors that don’t interact at all). I live in Carman and I love it but if you’d rather have a single, do John Jay and you likely won’t miss out on a social life.
Yeah I’m also trying to figure out what I should put down. I share the concern that the corridor-style will be isolating.
My S was initially concerned about the isolation of the corridor-style in JJ, but he soon found that most of his neighbors will leave their doors open while they are in there unless they are sleeping or changing clothes. It was way more social than he feared, yet he enjoyed the privacy when he wanted it. Having a single allowed him the chance to be neat when he wanted to (he tends to clean his room when he ponders a particular problem), but also his disheveled side didn’t cause him to worry about offending a roommate.
Columbia students do like to engage each other and have awesome conversations at all hours, but they respect the work that they are all doing. Prepare yourself to be impressed by your peers, and just as likely, you will be surprised that others are as impressed at you for stuff you may not have thought was so impressive.
Is carmen a good house to be in even if you’re not an athlete but are still social etc ?