<p>Hey everyone, </p>
<p>I'm hoping to get some advice on dorm life at Columbia---e.g. best dorms for living, eating, bathrooms, studying...pros/cons.</p>
<p>Thanks!! Any insight appreciated.</p>
<p>I’m sure there’s good advice about this in other threads, things mostly haven’t changed (I will highlight what HAS changed, though).</p>
<p>First off. THE DORMS HAVE WIFI. They didn’t used to, so that’s why you’ll see a lot of information saying otherwise. They do now. It is pretty good. If you are not a gamer I do not see the need to bring Ethernet cables.</p>
<p>Second, so I don’t confuse anyone, here are the dorms: Carman, John Jay, Wallach, Hartley, Furnald. Wallach and Hartley make up the Living Learning Center. Wallach is getting a full renovation next year as they just redid the top couple of floors. It is beautiful (I live there).</p>
<p>I’ll answer your questions before going into more detail about the dorms.
Living: that’s really subjective.</p>
<p>Eating: Do you like not having to change out of your pajamas to eat? Then your best bet is Wallach or John Jay, both of which are connected to John Jay Dining Hall and JJ’s Place in such a way that you never have to go outside to eat, assuming one of the two of them are open. (And yes, they do close. Frequently.) Otherwise, Carman isn’t far from Ferris, and neither is Furnald. Hartley… sorry. You’ll have to brave the 10 foot opening between you and Wallach. </p>
<p>Bathrooms: Wallach. Newly renovated this year, very clean, really big, house-style (ie toilet/sink/shower in one room that you lock). Pics upon request. Furnald is also pretty nice if you prefer the traditional stalls. John Jay… sucks. Hartley… okay. Of course, if you want to only share with four people, Carman is a good option, but the cleanliness of that depends on who you have to share it with.</p>
<p>Studying: all the dorms will be loud to some extent. Furnald is stereotypically the quietest (which I think is somewhat true), and if you can get a single even better. John Jay has the benefit of mostly singles, but otherwise is normal noise level. Hartley it depends on the nature of your suite. Wallach floor-style it depends on the night and your neighbors. Carman… on the weekends, I want to say don’t even try.</p>
<p>BONUS - Amenities: Furnald and Carman have AC, none of the other dorms do. This will matter for a very short period of time, but if you are like me, it is still very annoying.</p>
<p>Let me know if you have any other questions or just want to hear generally about the dorms.</p>
<p>Source: I live here.</p>
<p>Hi neiro6, my son is just accepted, now we have to consider his campus life. Since he is an international student, we didn’t apply FA. I know he won’t be able to apply FA in the rest of his school years. Could you please let me know if there are other ways to get money support in future or get any opportunities to make money when he’s in Columbia? Please advise.</p>
<p>@pigmom: since your question isn’t about dorms, I’ll answer it in a PM.</p>
<p>Thanks everyone! I’ve heard Carman is loud which I’m on the fence about. I want to be able to study, but have fun at the same time!
Also, doubles vs. singles… I feel like living alone would be great, except it would be hard to meet people. But I could end up with an annoying roommate…I lucked out this summer at Harvard Summer School with having 2 WONDERFUL roommates and idk if my luck’s run out haha. Opinions?</p>
<p>I was of the opinion that I would always study in my room, as I had in high school. This changed about a month or two in. If you think you can or plan to study in libraries frequently, Carman shouldn’t be a problem. On the other hand, there are times when I really want to study in my room and even the dull roar of people on my Wallach floor are annoying.</p>
<p>It’s really not that hard to meet people in a single especially if you have a good floor with other people who are in singles (e.g. John Jay). </p>
<p>Your roommate is really a tossup. Someone said something about Columbia liking to put people of different races and from different places together… well, I got another Asian girl from the mid-Atlantic with the same name. (Different spelling though, thankfully). The housing “quiz” thing is hit or miss (mostly because it doesn’t ask the right questions). I know of at least one person who had such a problem with her roommate that they had to switch - that’s a rare occurrence though, so I wouldn’t worry too much.</p>
<p>Thanks for your information neiro!
I’d like to ask a bit more information about the bathrooms ahah
For which dorm are the bathrooms located in the halls, where you have to share it with everone in your floor? I wouldn’t mind that but I’d much prefer one where a bathroom is shared with maybe 2-3 roommates.</p>
<p>Ahhh indecision between JJ and Carman…<em>inner turmoil</em> haha.</p>
<p>@feedback411 If you’re looking to share a bathroom only with 2-3 roommates, you’re looking almost exclusively at Carman. [There is one weird room setup in Furnald that allows this but as far as I know there are literally only two rooms in the entire building that have that. Take this as a piece of trivia, not as a “hey, I should look into Furnald” idea.] If you’re looking to functionally share a bathroom with about 3-5 people, you’re looking at places like Wallach, where there are three house-style bathrooms on each end of the hall and one in the middle and people get in the habit of using “their” bathroom. Furnald and John Jay have typical college floor bathrooms (though Furnald’s are nicer). Hartley is all suites - the bathroom is meh but at least you know the majority of the people you’ll be sharing it with.</p>
<p>I’m saying this under the assumption that all of Wallach will be renovated and de-suiteified next year, which I’m pretty sure it will. But sorry if I’m wrong.</p>
<p>Like neiro said, the renovated dorms in Wallach are the best. As for the rest of Wallach…</p>
<p>Another great choice is Furnald.</p>
<p>John Jay and Carman are extremely “social” but have terrible facilities/hygiene, especially John Jay.</p>
<p>There’s pretty much no reason to go to Hartley. It’s just Wallach without renovations.</p>
<p>aaaah enthusiasm . . . I can’t speak to what actually goes on behind the room “preferences/assignment,” scene but I can tell you from my D’s experience that all this speculation and planning will only disappoint you in the end. She ended up with her 7th pick(Hartley dbl) and would have saved herself a ton of stress if she hadn’t got too worked up on where she preferred to live.</p>
<p>My advice to you is to make a quick list of the 8 choices and then put it out of sight, out of mind until you can fill out the online form. After that do the same forgetting, you’ll be less disappointed when Columbia’s infamous bureaucracy screws you over. My D has made the best of it and while sadly let down by the whole process never protested like many, many, many other 2016’s did when the assignments were posted online last summer.</p>
<p>Good luck to to you though . . .</p>
<p>"I can’t speak to what actually goes on behind the room “preferences/assignment”</p>
<p>It’s done through a lottery system. Every freshman is assigned a number. Whoever gets #1 gets their first choice, then #2 gets their first choice, then #3 and so on, until you get to a point where someone’s first choice is full. Then they get their second choice, and so on. That’s why most people get their first or second choice, while the people unlucky enough to have gotten the highest lottery numbers end up with their seventh choice. All of their other choices have already been filled.</p>
<p>Just to be clear, you’ll never know what lottery number you got, but that’s how they’re assigned. Also, this only applies to freshman year housing. Upperclassmen get assigned lottery numbers (either alone or in groups of other upperclassmen) and then pick into dorms in lottery number order.</p>
<p>For general info on freshman dorms: [freshpeople</a> housing review | Bwog](<a href=“http://bwog.com/tag/freshpeople-housing-review/]freshpeople”>freshpeople housing review Archives – Bwog)</p>
<p>Looking to choose between John Jay and Furnald as my top choice right now. If there’s anybody out there willing to share more in depth experiences (not just on the two I listed), that would be great. </p>
<p>Are the chances of a freshman getting a single high or not at all? For doubles/suites, do freshman choose roommates?</p>
<p>Is there any one dorm that SEAS students inhabit the most? </p>
<p>Thanks, I’ll add more questions later as they come to mind.</p>
<p>I can share all the indepth stuff you want on Wallach, but I’m not sure if that would be appreciated. PM me or ask more specific questions? Hehe.</p>
<p>Freshman chances of getting a single are decent and significantly better than at other schools. However, even though there are some people who specifically request doubles, it is absolutely NOT 100% guaranteed that you’ll get one even if you rank all singles at the top of your housing application. Case in point, me.</p>
<p>You can choose your roommate in a double if you happen to know if anyone who wants to room with you before May-June (I forget when housing is due). You cannot choose suitemates.</p>
<p>SEAS and CC students are mixed everywhere but 8th floor of Wallach. That’s Res. Inc. and is all SEAS kids. [Res</a>. Inc. | Student Affairs](<a href=“http://www.studentaffairs.columbia.edu/resprograms/llc/resinc.php]Res”>Res. Inc. | Columbia College and Columbia Engineering)</p>
<p>Awesome, thanks for the fast response. Can’t PM right now since I haven’t hit the 15 post mark yet… Though I’m sure lurkers will appreciate whatever info is put out on here. :)</p>
<p>Wallach is probably my third choice ATM; how is it connected to Hartley? Is living with upperclassmen intimidating/do they just not care about freshmen existence?</p>
<p>Wallach is actually more connected to John Jay than to Hartley - there’s this awkward passageway between Hartley and Wallach that is covered but not enclosed and yet you can’t exit to campus or to Amsterdam. It’s kind of annoying, but c’est la vie. Wallach-John Jay is just a matter of walking through a hallway.</p>
<p>I’m on a renovated Wallach floor (as I said, I think all of them are being converted to floor-style next year) and we have some really great upperclassmen here. It was initially a bit intimidating but they are honestly all really great people, and we hang out with some of them regularly. They are quite useful, and things always smell good from their cooking. Some you may not see very often cause they’re hanging out with their friends who live in EC or McBain or wherever, but nobody is hostile, haha.</p>
<p>I would highly recommend Wallach as a second or third option for anyone who is highly considering Furnald or John Jay, honestly. And I would definitely recommend Wallach over Hartley unless you are a fan of the two-level suites.</p>
<p>Don’t live in Carman. If you like to party, then go to Carman, party, then go back to your quiet room that doesn’t look like a prison cell and doesn’t smell like a bathroom. The basement lounge is really nice though. Usually it’s quiet, sometimes it’s not. </p>
<p>I live in the LLC and I’m highly considering living here next year as well. Both Hartley and Wallach have sky lounges for studying. No need to go to Butler (I’ve been there once and it was just to look around). Sophomores are cool and often helpful if you ask. Hit-or-miss when it comes to how social/awkward your floor is. </p>
<p>John Jay is fine, but the person/bathroom ratio makes me cringe. If your floor is full of nasty mofos then you’re out of luck. Lounges on each floor are really nice. The floors seem to bond well from what I’ve seen. </p>
<p>Yes, Furnald is quiet, and maybe the kids are socially awkward ( I have less friends in Furnald than the other 4)… But it’s the nicest residence you can choose from. Doubles are really small so don’t choose one there. CLEAN BATHROOMS! I’m also considering living there next year.</p>
<p>Thanks for more info. Are Hartley and Wallach considered separate when you rank them or combined as LLC when you do housing stuff?</p>
<ol>
<li>Furnald</li>
<li>Wallach</li>
<li>John Jay</li>
<li>Hartley</li>
<li>Carman</li>
</ol>
<p>Seems to be my list so far. Definitely not the party type. I’ll appreciate a quieter hall.</p>
<p>I hope nobody gets John Jay?? There’re rats everywhere…</p>