<p>I have visited the campus twice, but i’d like to know what the dorms are really like. how easy is it to get the kind of room you prefer, and how does the roommate selection work out? do people end up liking their roommates? also, how quiet/comfortable/spacious do you find the dorms?</p>
<p>Hopefully students will post more as, obviously, my experience as a parent is limited to secondhand reports about my daughter’s experiences:</p>
<ol>
<li>Room selection: Your first year, you will be in the “quad”, and you will pretty much just be assigned. Barnard will send out a pretty thorough questionnaire during the summer about your habits and preferences and, as long as you answer honestly, I think you will be pleased with your roommate situation. I know my daughter loved her roomies from first year and she still does, though they no longer live together. </li>
</ol>
<p>After first year, you will get to participate in the room selection lottery…you get assigned a random number and then, when your number comes up, you pick a room for next year. Well, it’s not quite that simple: you have to find people that you want to enter the lottery with, so you have to decide if you are going in as a single, double, triple or quad. So it will depend how low your number is and the availability of those kinds of suites (doubles, singles, etc) as to how much selection you will have. </p>
<p>The dorms at Barnard vary widely. My daughter’s first year situation consisted of two relatively small adjoining rooms that she shared with two other girls. The building is older but the rooms had character…one had a bay window and the other a (non functional) fireplace, complete with mantel. She loved it. She has lived for the last three years in Plimpton, which is all apartment-style suites where each person has their own single and share a kitchen and bath. She LOVES it there.</p>
<p>All in all I would say you don’t attend Barnard for anything approaching the most spacious or luxurious dorms. You are living and going to school in NYC and, at least for my daughter, that more than makes up for the dorms. In fact, the Plimpton set-up is nicer than many NYC apartments!</p>
<p>Hope that helps some and that you get more info (particularly on the room selection thing, which I have always had a hard time understanding well).</p>
<p>You would not have any choice your first year, but Barnard Housing will honor specific requests if you select your roommate in advance. My d. met another incoming student online; they became friends over the summer and decided to room together. </p>
<p>After the first year, the room lottery system is kind of iffy. It favors students who are in pre-selected groups over individuals, and because of the lottery system it is unpredictable. Barnard has some really nice housing options available, but getting into them is a matter of luck. </p>
<p>My d. ended up opting for a housing wait list for both sophomore and junior year -part of the issue is that she wants a single room and does not want to be on the meal plan, so she needs housing with cooking facilities. It worked out very well for her sophomore year – she had a large single room in a suite with a group of terrific, amazing students. But not so good junior year (the current year) – she ended up in Elliot which is more of a hall than a suite. She’s studying abroad for the spring, so its not much of an issue at this point.</p>
<p>I’d note that I stayed with my daughter in the dorms for visits during her first 2 years… I did feel that her hall in her first year dorm was very quiet – it was a big contrast to the experience I had in college.</p>
<p>I’d note that as a parent I think the residential facilities seem adequate for student living. My daughter’s rooms the first 2 years seemed large to me; I particularly remember noticing the high ceilings the first year when she was on the quad. Many of her friends at other colleges were living in small cinderblock style dorm rooms – by comparison, Barnard housing seemed much more like living in an apartment than a dorm. So despite frustrations with the room selection system, as a parent I’m reasonably satisfied. </p>
<p>My personal frustration is with the meal plan, which is mandatory for first year students and which I think is grossly overpriced, particularly for a kid who is a light eater and a grazer. By “grazer” I mean my d. was always the type who would eat small meals and nibble throughout the day, not one to sit down for a large meal. So basically money spent on a college meal plan is money thrown away - she’s much better off buying her own food and keeping the room well-stocked with easy snack items. </p>
<p>But this isn’t a Barnard-specific problem. Most colleges seem to follow the same procedures. It’s just something to be aware of in advance, especially if you are on a tight budget.</p>
<p>Does Barnard’s meal plan use points or “a you get 3 meals a day and that’s it” type thing? Thanks Barnard Moms for answering all our questions!</p>
<p>I was also wondering about the first year unlimited plan since I’m going to Barnard next year. When they say “unlimited” what does that really mean? Can you really only swipe your card in the dining hall like three times a day?</p>
<p>Sorry I can’t speak to specific questions about the meal plan as my d has not been on it in a while. I do agree with Calmom, though, that it’s very, very over-priced and kind of a shame that you must be on it when living in the quad. I want to think exceptions are made for Seniors who live in the upper floors of Sulz, though I could be wrong about that.</p>
<p>thanks barnard moms for all your thorough answers!</p>
<p>also, do you know about the selection of food available at the dining halls? because i’m a vegetarian, and its often hard to find a variety of options when i eat out</p>
<p>Barnard has changed the meal plan options over the years, so I am not sure exactly what they will expect or require for next year – I think they require the “unlimited” plan and I think that means that you can have breakfast, lunch & dinner in the main dining hall every day. I really wouldn’t know, because the first problem my d. ran into her first semester was that she had enrolled in a late afternoon class together with an evening class 2 days a week, and it was physically impossible with her schedule to get to the dining hall on those evenings. By the time her evening class was over, the dining hall was closed. There was a place on campus where she could get a late evening snack, using the meal plan – but the offerings there were limited, and that place has been closed down since the Nexus construction began. So basically – meal plan was a dud. </p>
<p>I want to emphasize – this tends to be a problem at MOST colleges. That is, most colleges require a pre-paid meal plan that usually ends up costing more than you would end up out-of-pocket if you simply had a pay-as-you-go plan, unless you are a big eater. So this really isn’t a “Barnard” specific complaint. </p>
<p>You have to keep in mind that living in NY is really expensive, as well. So I think that if you compared the cost of living on campus at Barnard with cost + availability of housing off campus, you’d have to come to the conclusion that you are getting a really great deal, especially when you factor in location. (Upper west side / Morningside Heights is a lot nicer area than what most students could afford ). </p>
<p>So I’m just trying to give you objective information – I think its better to know in advance what the situation is then to have a too-rosy picture and then be disappointed later on. </p>
<p>Barnard does guarantee housing for all 4 years, and there are a lot of options after first year even if getting your choice remains a matter of luck.</p>
<p>arcticlights - I don’t think you will have a problem getting enough to eat as a vegetarian; you can see menus a this web site:
[Welcome</a> to Barnard!](<a href=“http://www.campusdish.com/en-US/CSE/Barnard]Welcome”>http://www.campusdish.com/en-US/CSE/Barnard)</p>
<p>You might want to check the kosher meal plan – it’s slightly more expensive, but is rumored to be better quality food. For kosher, meat cannot be mixed with dairy products - according to this web page - [Columbia/Barnard</a> Hillel - Kosher Food on Campus](<a href=“http://www.hillel.columbia.edu/template.php?name=kosherfood]Columbia/Barnard”>http://www.hillel.columbia.edu/template.php?name=kosherfood) – breakfast & lunch at Barnard is “dairy” but dinner is a meat meal. If you are on the kosher plan you can still eat in the other dining hall, so you could choose to opt for the kosher breakfast & lunch, and then eat dinner in the regular dining hall. “Dairy” doesn’t mean that the meal consists entirely of dairy products – it just means that no meat is used in meal preparation, but milk & cheese might be used – whereas the “meat” dinners would be entirely free of dairy products, but may or may not have meat. </p>
<p>(Of course if you are vegan, then you wouldn’t want the dairy either – but you weren’t clear about that. My son has been mostly vegetarian for many years, but he’s always eaten eggs & cheese so I’m used to thinking in those terms)</p>
<p>Wow, that answered a lot of my questions too. Thanks so much!</p>
<p>Thanks, Barnard moms!</p>
<p>I’ve heard from various sources that one hall in particular in the quad is notoriously worse than the others, but I forget which one. Is it true that there is great variability in quality of rooms in the quad depending on the hall?</p>
<p>It’s not really true. Reid is sort of the “worst” because it doesn’t have air conditioning like Sulz and it doesn’t have character like Brooks, but all three are basically the same. They’re connected so it doesn’t really feel that different anyhow. And certain ones have renovated bathrooms but then you just go around the corner to the nicer bathroom. Not a big deal.</p>