<p>I live in a remote location from Cornell. so all I have access to are just the panorama views of rooms in the dorms which doesn't show so much. Maybe the sampled rooms where the best in the dorms which means other rooms might not be as good. So please if you live in this dorm or know someone who lives in it, please can you comment on them.
Residence Halls[ul]
[<em>]Balch Hall (All girls so no need but can still comment for other viewers)
[</em>]Clara Dickson
[<em>]Court-Kay Bauer Hall (CKB)
[</em>]High Rise #5
[<em>]Jameson Hall
[</em>]Low Rise #6 & #7
[<em>]Mary Dinlon
[</em>]Mews Hall
[<em>]Townhouse Community
[/ul]Program House[ul]
[</em>]Holland International Living Center (HILC) (My most favorite program House)
[<em>]Just About Music (JAM) (I'm not sure I have any musical talent or anything I just love music)
[</em>]Risley Residential College
[/ul]</p>
<p>It’s not like you get to pick. </p>
<p>Balch-- All girls; very spacious rooms with sinks. Some people don’t like it because there are no guys. </p>
<p>Clara Dickson-- I live here. Biggest dorm in the Ivy League. Looks older on the inside, with noticeable aging of the paint, etc. Mostly singles varying in size from prison-cell size to large. Most of the dorms use communal bathrooms, which are utterly disgusting and prison-grade. By far the biggest problem with this dorm.</p>
<p>CKB- Built in 2005. Nicest freshman dorm and very new looking.</p>
<p>High Rise 5 and Jameson-- Not as nice looking as most of the other dorms, but decent rooms and often you can get a bathroom which you only share with like five other people.</p>
<p>Low Rises-- Nicknamed the ghettos of Cornell. Supposedly disgusting.</p>
<p>Donlon- Most social because of the way it’s shaped.</p>
<p>Mews- Second best freshman hall. New.</p>
<p>Townhouses-- Large and have their own bathrooms. You can also get Cable here. Relatively bad location, but it’s near a bus stop. Might be socially isolated.</p>
<p>Most favorite? You mean favorite…</p>
<p>If you don’t play, then don’t live in JAM.</p>
<p>Woops I wasn’t aware of that grammar error. I actually play the trumpet in an orchestra but I just don’t feel thats a talent because anyone can learn to play a music instrument. Do I get to choose a program house?</p>
<p>My son lives in Risley now as a freshman and will stay there next year (probably all four years). He loves it. Risley is very social, but he has a single so he gets privacy when he needs it. Convenient dining room in the building for M-F lunch and dinner. Theater, workshops, music practice rooms. Just a cool building. You can apply to a program house (or apply to more than one), Balch (for women), townhouse, or residence halls (and get placed wherever they put you).</p>
<p>Saugus, question for you: you said, “Townhouses-- … Relatively bad location, …” Do you mean the location is not convenient to campus, or do you mean bad in some other sense, such as being unsafe, or noisy, or something like that?</p>
<p>(Thanks, your comments above are very helpful.)</p>
<p>Townhouses are the furthest dorms away from Central Campus available to freshmen.</p>
<p>^^
Not bad as in unsafe. The only “unsafe” place would be Collegetown, and most of the stuff there is just “forcible touching” anyway. Which, if you’re a guy, is completely irrelevant. Though you do get an occasional assault. One of the RAs on my floor got hit by a car while walking back to North, and then the car’s occupants got out and beat him up.</p>
<p>The Townhouses are just far and isolated.</p>
<p>Thanks to you both.</p>
<p>Townhouses are across a QUIET street from RPCC and the high and low rises. They are not inconvenient. Also - any dorm depends on the people in it. Low rises are not “disgusting” by college standards. All the house is fine. My son lived in a low rise and absolutely loved the people he lived with.</p>
<p>If you don’t mind having a double, I would say go for the townhouses. Most people who request them get them, they are right across from RPCC and next to a bus stop, and they have their own kitchen, bathroom shared by only 4 people (and with separate rooms for toilet/shower/sink unlike the regular dorms), and a big common area with plenty of space for a TV or whatever else.</p>
<p>None of the dorms are bad. Townhouses are an inconvenient location relatively speaking, but keep in mind, that usually just means an extra 1-2mins of walking compared to other dorms. </p>
<p>HILC has a unique community of mostly international students as well as some students who “lost” the housing lottery (including me my sophomore year, although a good friend was in HILC so it wasn’t bad and that’s why I chose it). HILC puts on a fair amount of programs for its residents which are well-attended. I found it to be a quiet dorm that attracted fewer party-going personalities.</p>
<p>My D was in high rise 5 her freshman year with 2 other girls in a room meant to be a double. Small wings of rooms (I think there were 3 other rooms), common areas on each floor. It was OK but not much character.</p>
<p>My son was also in a forced triple (room meant to be a double), so there was no way character was going to be a factor. He didn’t spend as much time in the room for obvious reasons, but still loved his freshman year. Character surrounds you once you leave any dorm, so it’s really not an issue. All the dorms for freshmen are fine. It is a long hike to engineering, but anyone who chose Cornell already knew that.</p>
<p>Does CKB have communal (hallway) bathrooms? Or are they “suite” bathrooms, each shared between several singles & doubles?</p>
<p>^
Suite bathrooms.</p>
<p>Donlon is the best dorm for freshmen if you don’t mind living in a double. It is the most social BY FAR. The long hallways and co-ed floors with co-ed and unisex bathrooms just lends to a more social environment. Also has a massive study room on the first floor that is always a good quiet place to study.</p>
<p>Next would be Mews and CKB, they’re brand new with relatively larger rooms than other dorms. Suite style and a bathroom shared with only 5 people. The problem with these dorms is that they are highly unsocial. The doors need a door stop to stay open on their own and each room is set back from the hallway.</p>
<p>Then Dickson, its location is prime. Mostly all singles with long hallways and doors that stay open. Kinda old and deteriorating but it is better to have a single here than in the low rises.</p>
<p>High Rise 5 and Jameson are the same building essentially, located on different sides of RPCC. Jameson is closer to campus. The two minute difference in walking time doesn’t seem like much until you have to walk to campus in 10 degree weather while its snowing. The suites in these buildings are pretty nice. Major flaw is that they are riot proof so the only way to get up is by elevator.</p>
<p>Low Rises = the projects. decrepid and old, bad location. Honestly the people that live here make the most of it and bad buildings does not mean bad people</p>
<p>Townhouses are tricky, many absolutely love their townhouses. Others absolutely hate them. It’s great cause you can have your friends over and have a sitting room to yourself and a bathroom that is shared with only 4 people. The rooms themselves within the town house are kinda small and you can count on an extra 5 minute walk to campus each day.</p>
<p>^
I would say Mews/CKB and then Dickson/Donlon, with Donlon maybe a tier lower if you like quiet.</p>
<p>A lot of people I know hate Donlon because they find it hard to study due to all the noise, though that’s often the case in Dickson as well.</p>
<p>Agree with the rest, especially the part about the Low Rises.</p>
<p>My son has lived in both Mews and JAM, both single rooms. Mews is newer and nicer, with air conditioning. The single room in JAM is slightly larger, and the other residents are all very friendly. He has liked both. He does play piano, but doesn’t really play in any organized way, in a band or orchestra or anything. He does love music, though. Some of the kids are audiophiles.</p>
<p>I see you guys are feel its the best thing having to share your bathroom with only 4-5 people, so if that is good what’s the typical number? Are the typical bathrooms shared with anyone in the dorm? I’m also having second doubts about HILC, Is it possible people from particular countries hang out in cliques? I don’t like cliques and I’ll probably prefer a normal dorm to having to put up with that. Since we don’t get to choose the normal dorms, is it likely I get put in the Low Rises? I don’t like the comments you guys are making on 'em.</p>
<p>Bump. </p>
<p>10 char</p>