Balch Hall questions

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41

<p>ceruleanyankee - </p>

<p>I hope you know how helpful your answers have been! </p>

<p>And now that you bring up food ... do you pay for coffee, etc at Tatkon? Tatkon's open for breakfast!? Did we hear there are milk & cookie socials at Balch (not necessarily in Tatkon)? </p>

<p>As switching meal plans is permitted early on once you figure out your schedule/lifestyle, we chose 14 meals/wk (careful budgeting) at first which may be too many ... knowing now that the dorm is Balch). Did you find you rarely went to the North Campus Dining for breakfast (meal plan) (opposite direction of class) ? Did you utilize Risley Dining at all, or stick with North Campus (dinners on meal plan?). And, if there's a fridge in each unit, would there be any additional need for a fridge in your room?</p>

<p>Regarding triple sleeping - if one of the three in the triplet has a need to power nap at an odd hour - (or even crash early on a weekend nite) - are there out-of-the-way quiet places to do that in Balch so as not to disturb the social plans of the 2 other roomates in the triplet?</p>

42

<p>cornellmama- I would recommend the 10 meal plan option but your daughter should stick with 14 for now and try it for the first two weeks or so. She'll most likely end up eating at Appel or RPU for dinner. No one really every eats in Risley except the people who live there. She'll also probably be using her Big Red Bucks to get sandwiches or whatever from the a-la-carte places between classes.</p>

<p>Also, some people keep fridges in their room to hold personal things such as milk or beer.</p>

43

<p>Haha, it's a good thing I don't have much to do at work... otherwise my productivity would be terrible...
(1) Yes, everything at the Tatkon is BRBs, and they open at 8am. They have sandwiches, coffee, snacks, etc... great place to go late at night. And I don't kid you, everyone gets VERY jealous about the slippers.
(2) Shh, you must know someone on the inside! Yes, every Friday at Balch the RAs/mentors host something called 'Tasty Treats'. One RA will go and buy a zillion yummy things, and one of the Faculty Fellows will come. Every week has a theme - chocolate, desserts around the world, milkshakes, cookies, etc. AMAZING! Plus, the RAs in Balch are very good at hosting programs and doing fun things (I have a very close friend who was a hallmate in Balch who will be an RA there again this year!) - not that all of the RAs aren't amazing, but I found that Balch really did a decent amount of activities (not too too many, because then you'd wonder how they did well in school).
At the beginning of the year, the Faculty-in-Residence (who actually don't live in the dorm, but at a house nearby) hosts a milk/cookie social for all residents. They also (when I was there) had a 'birthday party' every month for residents, and brought cake and ice cream and balloons!
So, in short, there are many ways to gain weight in Balch. :)
(3) I personally went to the dining hall for breakfast, because I liked having a warm meal/time to sit. However, Appel is the only one open in the mornings, and it's a little bit out of the way in terms of going to class. I thought it was worth it... but most of my friends didn't go there, and skipped breakfast/grabbed something in the cafe/didn't eat.
I found that I went to the dining halls fairly often, mostly on North, to eat with friends. I had 14/week which worked out fine, maybe it was too many, but you figure out what works best eventually (you can always change 2nd semester). Risley is on North, so eating there was great (always empty for lunch, and Friday dinners were great there).
(4) I had a fridge because I liked the accesibility of having milk, yogurt, fruit, water, etc in my room (breakfast, the days I didn't go to Appel). This year I didn't have a fridge, and I wish I had just so I didn't have to go to the end of the hall every time I wanted milk (although I lived in Cook, and having a dining hall in your dorm is as convenient as it gets). I would find a cheap small one just to have - even if you rarely use it, you'll appreciate it - especially if you have roommates who will use one, you could split the cost (my bf did that w/his roommate freshman year). It's just nice to have some quick snacks at your disposal!
(5) Absolutely. Every unit has a beautiful lounge- unit 1 has a beautiful study longe, unit 2 has a beautiful study lounge and TV lounge, unit 3 has a tv lounge, and unit 4 has both (although both are smaller). It's so easy to go around the building that you really bounce around - and as I recall, my friends didn't have too many problems w/sleeping/noise - they got used to each others' schedules.</p>

<p>glad to know this helps. please ask more if you need to!</p>

44

<p>Are all of the units connected?</p>

45

<p>how noisy is balch. would living near the stairs be annoyingly noisy? where is the elevator located? i really cant sleep with a lot of noise.</p>

46

<p>the elevator really isn't that loud at all - i know on the north side (units 1 and 2), it's right in the middle, where the units connect (although I can't really tell you the room numbers nearby it).
The stairs could be a little noisy - depends which stairs you're near. For the most part, there aren't any rooms that are right next to the stairs - usually there's a little hallway NEAR the stairs, but the stairs a little secluded. Besides, since it's all girls, it just tends to be quieter (sorry guys).</p>

<p>The units are all connected - you can walk completely around the building on the 4th or 5th floors.</p>

47

<p>is second floor in unit one on the ground level? its not the basement is it?</p>

48

<p>Yes, second floor is the first floor. It's actually near the arch, so you'll be able to run out/get to class! :)</p>

49

<p>mmm balch arch...</p>

50

<p>galgrl24 - I sent you a private message to see if you could help with a couple of questions about Balch Hall.</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

51

<p>i know that this thread is old but i'm in balch for the summer (i'm a guy) so i TOO can now answer balch questions...should any more arise</p>

52

<p>soo first one here for '08 Balch...any body still answering questions??</p>

53

<p>i'll answer questions lol</p>

54

<p>is it true that balch 6-4 is more antisocial than the rest? is it hard to meet boys and find out about parties if you live in balch?</p>

55

<p>What about 5th floor, unit 4? Small rooms?</p>

56

<p>The social quality of each unit or hallway varies from year to year because it really depends on the girls living there. If you're worried about it being antisocial, I'd just say talk to people you know are in your hall now through facebook or whatever and when you get there leave your door open but also walk around and meet people. If your hall mates are truly antisocial, wander down the hall a bit and you will definitely find a group who is social. Just try not to get lost- its hard to find your way around the first couple weeks haha.</p>

<p>Also, again Balch rooms are big! Don't worry about them being small. Even if they are small compared to other Balch rooms, they are still big compared to most singles on campus. And you should definitely appreciate your single... a lot of other people in other dorms will be very envious a short time into the semester.</p>

57

<p>As for the social scene, Balch really doesn't hurt your chances of meeting boys or finding out about parties. You'll just meet boys elsewhere instead of down the hall- orientation events, classes, through other friends, etc. Finding out about parties isn't an issue for any college student no matter where you live haha. Its all about social networking so if you are worried about Balch, just go out and meet people! Oh when boys find out that you live in Balch they always want to come see the dorm- I guess they think since its all girls that we walk around naked or something?? haha</p>

58

<p>ill answer questions...just finished my year living there</p>

59

<p>
[quote]
Oh when boys find out that you live in Balch they always want to come see the dorm- I guess they think since its all girls that we walk around naked or something?? haha

[/quote]
</p>

<p>That's not it. Boy's want to come to see the dorm because it brings them to the room of the girl who is showing them around. It's like asking a girl over to your room to "watch a movie," or "see my pictures."</p>

<p>Nevertheless, I wish Balch was all boys so I could live there. You girls should consider yourselves lucky.</p>

60

<p>boys like the thrill of going into an all-girls dorm...makes them seem like a rebel lol</p>

<p>note: one of my guy friends told me that in the beginning of the year</p>