Hi! Prefrosh here thinking about housing for next year. My first choice right now is a double in John Jay; there aren’t that many of them (3 per floor), so I was wondering if this was a popular choice / if I would be likely to get it? I know there’s that 70% 1st choice statistic that gets thrown around to go off of, but of course that would vary based on what your first choice is.
Oh also, are the L-shaped doubles really as bad as they say?
Thank you!
Additionally, my second choice is a Wallach double - what’s the ease of getting that as well? Thanks again!
Hey. Don’t worry too much about freshman year housing. You pretty much get your pick with regards to housing. Columbia does that to convince prefrosh like you to accept their admission offer. Sophomore year is when you should be worried about housing.
With regards to JJ doubles and Wallach doubles, they are actually unpopular (especially JJ doubles). If you put either of them as your number one choice, you will get one. Period. Not sure why you would pick them though. JJ singles give you all the social benefits of a roommate/double but with privacy (JJ floormates tend to be close). And if you really wanted a double, Carman doubles are definitely superior to other doubles. JJ and LLC doubles are usually the last choices for freshmen.
@IWillKillForMIT Thanks for your response! Glad to hear it’s easy to get my top choices.
In response to Carman vs. JJ/Wallach doubles:
Thoughts?
Thanks again (:
I didnt live in Carman freshman year but most of freshman friends lived there. I can vouch that those rumors are overblown. It doesn’t smell like that and it isn’t that loud (though I guess John Jay is a bit quieter). I would have to say that the bathroom situation is a lot better in Carman because bathrooms are cleaned more often and sharing it with 3 people is a lot better than sharing it with 25.
Though between Wallace and JJ, I would recommend JJ. The LLC isn’t what it’s cracked out to be. It’s pretty much just filled with sophomores who want singles and don’t give a flying f about the freshmen (I would know, I was one of them). The excursions and dinners are a characteristic of every other dorm. They just don’t get as much attention.
Yeah it’s more than stupid to choose a JJ double over a Carman double. You’d rather share a bathroom with literally any rando who walks onto your floor than just 3 other suitemates? Everything you listed about Carman is just 100% untrue, and I can say that as somebody who lived there. John Jay doubles are literally terrible. They’re extremely small, cramped, not “open” whatsoever, and there’s no air conditioning. If you wanted a single I’d say sure, John Jay is fine, but there is literally less than no reason to get a double. But, whatever, you can do what you want.
@Aurelian “Stupid” is pushing it. People have their reasons. Having two dining halls that you can access with your flip flops in the middle of February is mad convenient. I live in Schapiro right now and it was annoying walking to JJ’s place last Saturday (I almost slipped three times). Though I would say that I don’t think you should be concerned about loneliness with a single. During your freshman year, your next door neighbor (or someone else on your floor) will feel like your roommate. Especially in John Jay, you’ll get the benefit of privacy as well as the benefit of social interaction because you are in a very social freshman dorm with extremely thin walls.
But I will echo your point and endorse Carman for doubles.
JJ doubles are pretty much the worst Freshman option. They are really like 2 connected singles where one person has to walk through the other person’s room. Not really the room mate buddy buddy thing you are looking for. I have no idea why but housing for class of 21 everyone seemed to not get what they asked for. My kid and most they knew got their 3rd or 4th choice. The doubles in Wallach are mostly MUCH larger than Carman but no A/C. Depends on you and the floor but the upperclassmen can be great friends/mentors. The bathrooms are super nice and recently renovated. My kid liked them better than Carman because there was more privacy. My kid hated/hates Hartley though they have nice big doubles. They are set up as big suites with mostly like 10 singles and 2 doubles but this is a case where the upperclassmen have filled the good rooms in the suites some as large friend groups and it may be weird as one of few freshmen mixed in. Dirty carpet. Old bathrooms but similar to Carman. Furnald is nice but not the freshman social experience most want. I would suggest putting Wallach double first if you want less of the drinking/up late than you find in Carman but still a really nice room set up for 2 people. If you go to admitted student days you can see them all and my kid went from wanting that JJ double to realizing it was bad. The big benefit to Wallach (or Hartley) though is that you can stay in the LLC and Wallach and Hartley are much better than most of the soph options.
i lived in a jj double freshman year - it was my first choice. not even one of the walkthrough ones, that tiny regular double that’s sandwiched in the corner. it was ok, i had no problems, my roommate was fine, the room was a bit small but it had enough space in it for my roommate to bring in a couch, TV and fridge from his house with remaining walking space. on the other hand, my floor was pretty dirty and the people were pretty loud (if my memory serves me correctly my floor had more write-ups than any floor in carman), vomit was a not infrequent occurrence, etc. etc. the view was not great either. my roommate and i were somewhat close, and we still talk to each other when we see him, but he’s kind of a shut-in, so i don’t see him much anymore. fwiw, this year is the first year i’m living in a single (i’m a junior) and i will say i am glad i went for a double freshman year. but do not trust that anybody’s experience will be the same as your own, of course. i had certain hang-ups re: my floor but i ended up hanging out on a different floor with some regularity and made some close friends on that floor. and one of my closest friends here is from my freshman year floor.
to answer your original question: no, jj doubles are not at all popular. but: i would provide a positive testimony that, yes, they are livable, and yes, they do go some length toward mitigating that initial period of anxiety that comes along with living alone among people you don’t at all know, so if you anticipate that to be a problem, i’d put it somewhere on my list.
i’m not in a position to confirm or deny any impressions re: carman. it is definitely a dorm for more extroverted people, and there are more parties there, etc. but the walls are also thick, so that’s cool. i have had friends who had very good experiences in the LLC, so i wouldn’t be as negative toward that option as other people in the thread have been. but you’re pretty much rolling the dice - the floor itself is really not as important as the people you live with in defining your social experience.