<p>Has anyone lived in Blackwell during their freshmen year? My D was assigned that dorm. I know it has the smallest rooms but also has a good "social" reputation. I have a few questions for anyone that is familiar with the building or dorm rooms:</p>
<ol>
<li>Does the building have any study areas? I know a few of the dorms have them. </li>
<li>From the floor plan, it looks like the room has a bunk bed with 2 closets on one side, and a built in desk and dresser along the other. Is there any floor space left for a small carpet or additional chair? </li>
<li>Is there any wall space for posters, pictures, etc? It looks like the walls are dominated by bunk beds and closests on one side and the desk/dressers and shelving on the other.</li>
<li>Is there any space for a television? </li>
</ol>
<p>Any feedback or tips for living in Blackwell is appreciated!</p>
<p>I didn’t live in Blackwell, but I spent a ton of time over there and got to see a variety of room layouts. Hopefully, there’s somebody on here who actually did live there and can offer their opinion.</p>
<p>1) I don’t think Blackwell itself does, but the surrounding buildings do. Blackwell kitchen ends up being sort of like a study area, but it’s a little too active a lot of the time to get much work done there. Lakeside has one parlor for the whole side of campus, so it’s not like every single dorm has its own. I greatly prefer studying in the academic buildings or in the library. </p>
<p>2) Your assessment is correct. The rooms are supposedly being renovated over this summer, but that doesn’t change the size of the rooms or the basic layout. There is space for probably a three or maybe four foot by five or six foot rug. About half of the rooms I went in had them. You can even go to Lowe’s after measuring the floor space and buy carpeting. I didn’t see that in Blackwell, but I did see it in another carpetless dorm. That seemed to work well. As for the chair, there is room, but you have to be a bit creative if it’s any bigger than a lawn chair. I saw one room that had a full sized couch that blocked off part of the lower bunk. The residents seemed to like that, and there was seating room for five in the couch and chairs alone, seven or eight if people got up on the top bunk.</p>
<p>3) Not much. There is space on the wall next to the beds, on the door, and in a few other spots. I don’t think there’s room for any huge posters, though. </p>
<p>4) Yes, on the desk you can put a fairly decent sized TV, so long as it is a flat-screen, or close to it.</p>
<p>Blackwell is a great place to live, and it’s a ton of fun to be around. The best part is that the rooms force everyone to get to know each other, and to get out plenty.</p>
<p>I know that Blackwell sounds scary because it is so small, but most of my friends and sisters lived in Blackwell this year and surprisingly THEY LOVED IT. Because the rooms are so small, everyone is kinda forced out into the hall and in the hall everyone hangs out and bonds! I lived in Haynsworth (which is in Lakeside Housing) and every time I went to Blackwell I was always astonished about how close they all were. They were best of friends and did everything together. And it wasn’t just the girls’ floors, it was also the guys! I really wouldn’t be worried about it because it actually is a really awesome place to live because of the friendships you make! I hope this helped!</p>
<p>A bit late, but I lived in Blackwell. I loved it, even though I didn’t expect myself to.
- Basically, no.
- Yes about the carpet. The chair can be tricky. My roommate and I had a collapsible one like this ([Dish</a> Chair, Small Wale Corduroy - Black : Target](<a href=“http://www.target.com/Dish-Chair-Small-Wale-Corduroy/dp/B0037UT092/ref=sc_qi_detaillink]Dish”>http://www.target.com/Dish-Chair-Small-Wale-Corduroy/dp/B0037UT092/ref=sc_qi_detaillink)) that we stored underneath the bottom bunk when we weren’t using it.
- Yes, there is some room–mainly on the wall where the beds are.
- Yes</p>