<p>I need some input from people who have been in Balch Hall before. I feel torn between playing the lottery system for freshman dorms or just requesting Balch or a townhouse. I basically want a quiet, clean environment. Also I COULD REALLY USE SOME PICS FROM INSIDE THE ROOMS!!! If anyone has them, please POST</p>
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<p>I have already seen what’s online… I was hoping for some student’s pictures of a room, the hallway, and bathroom? How bad are the bathrooms?</p>
<p>The rooms in Balch are huge, I’ve never been in the bathrooms though…</p>
<p>Anyway, if you’re looking for “quiet” you probably will hate the townhouses as they’re party central, just pick balch</p>
<p>Not all townhouses are “party central,” it really depends on the people that you live with. When I lived in the townhouses as a freshman, it was definitely quiet for me.</p>
<p>As for Balch, though the interiors may be a little old, the environment is definitely friendly and quiet. Friends who lived in Balch really liked it and I don’t think the bathrooms are bad at all.</p>
<p>So I just got my assignment, and I’m in a UG single in Balch and am in the 4220s… what type of view is this and can anyone who has maybe stayed in this particular area just give me some input on location/pros/cons… what they liked/disliked and how the rooms and bathrooms look like? what window view?</p>
<p>ANY INPUT on THESE rooms in this unit would be MUCH APPRECIATED!!!</p>
<p>I was assinged to Balch 4477, a single one. However, single is my last preference!!! kind of upset. But I heard that Balch single is very large, which comforts me a lot. lol</p>
<p>Yes I heard that too… I just hope that the bathrooms and the room will be clean and all! Well and then I hate the fact that I’m on the 4th floor… You know climbing stairs all the time!!</p>
<p>Balch’s floor numbering is kind of bizarre, so the 4th floor is more like the 2nd or 2.5th floor, if I remember correctly. the stairs won’t be that big of an issue.</p>
<p>so do you know anything about a room in the 4220s? Location wise??</p>
<p>yeah I do. that’s on the north side of the building, on the other side from the lake. it’s near (I think one floor above) a really nice lounge area. the laundry room is on the ground floor right below that area. I imagine it would have a sink room attached to each room like most Balch rooms do.
anything else specific I should attempt to remember?</p>
<p>I’m in Balch this fall in a triple, do you have any info on triples (especially at Balch)? I saw the online pic thing but I can’t really tell how big it is? And did people you know like having triples? Thanks! :D</p>
<p>Thanks so much! I just kind of wanted to get a vibe of the area… about how many people share the bathrooms? Are they usually messy… Also how often does the cleaning crew come to clean your room and the bathrooms? So since its not the “4th” floor… How many flights of stairs up will it be? And will these rooms face the inner Balch courtyard area? I know you said away from the lake… sorry if this is too much of a bother I’m just looking at a picture of Balch trying to figure out a location! </p>
<p>One more thing, the pictures on the website make the inside of the room actually look new, updated and more clean on the inside than I expected from such an old building, is that true of the 4220s rooms?</p>
<p>I don’t have any idea how big triples are, unfortunately. the only person I knew who lived in a Balch triple (before I met her) didn’t like it because her roommates liked to party a lot and she didn’t, but that’s kind of just something that happens in college residences, I guess.</p>
<p>I think probably around 10-15 people shared my bathroom in Balch. it had LOTS showers, toilets, etc. so there were always plenty of extras. even with that many people, I rarely even ran into other people in the bathrooms. because of the room sinks, some of the typical bathroom activities won’t actually take place there.
I can tell you that the dorm I lived in this year (west campus) had the bathrooms cleaned twice per week. they never ever clean your room. you and any roommates are solely responsible for that, unless something is broken and you need maintenance to come fix it.
I am not sure how many flights up the stairs it will be…I think approximately 2.
I have no clue if it will be on the courtyard of if it will be looking out in other directions. that will really depend on just exactly where that number falls and I’m not sure. the U shape of Balch is just a single hallway wide, so on one side of the hallway a person looks on the courtyard, on the other side they look out on a little tree-lined dead end road. </p>
<p>I think the inside of the Balch rooms (which are basically all level of modernity) is pretty nice. there were some charming old features, like hat racks in the closets, and of course the sinks. the windows were a bit out of date, which meant they got a bit drafty if you sat right next to them. you can control your own heat though with a radiator, which is nice.</p>
<p>Triples in balch are technically “force triples” but they’re in the rooms that are intended to be doubles and so are plenty sizeable. I was in a “force” double my freshman year in 51 and really loved it. My room was supposed to be a single and so had one closet with a rod which we split and another with drawers. We were given another dresser so we had plenty of space. Real doubles will have their own sink room, two closets with rods and two closets with drawers. Singles will share a sink room with the room next to them so you’re not completely alone. Bathrooms were plenty roomy and plenty clean. I think the bathrooms are cleaned every day but no they never clean your room, that’s your job.</p>