<p>Discussion? Idk kind of seemed appropriate to have a thread about this.</p>
<p>just returned from DOC, i was very disappointed with the dorms (especially carman)- the room they took us to was disgusting (dirty clothes everywhere, dirty dishes in the sink, etc), all of the students and parents on the tour felt the same way and i’m sure this will impact matriculation decisions</p>
<p>“i’m sure this will impact matriculation decisions”</p>
<p>really? A dirty room will do that? It might not reflect well on the occupant’s habits… but I highly doubt that it would be such a major factor. </p>
<p>And also, get real. Columbia’s housing isn’t the best, BUT it’s by no means bad. This is college–not a five star hotel.</p>
<p>columbiaorbust describes what could have been my dorm room 35 years ago… Who cares how messy a couple of kids in a dorm room are? Credit Columbia for avoiding undue “bait and switch” tactics. As a parent with a son going to Columbia in the fall, I consider the “dorm tour,” as well as the late night parties, appropriate only for the prospective students (and perhaps parents who remember what college days were like). That’s why colleges have the genteel tours and information sessions–to placate the parents!</p>
<p>i stayed the night in the LLC. It was my least favorite from what i’ve heard around here. Now I think the decision is between LLC and JJ.</p>
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<p>OMG OMG OMG OMG CALL PREZBO!!! Let him know that one of his students lives in a room with stained boxers thrown all over the floor and unwashed dishes overflowing from the sink!! Alert USNWR too!!</p>
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<p>Thank you. And what he describes is probably 25% of dorm rooms at ANY university now, 10 years ago when I was a pre-frosh, or 35 years ago when you were in college.</p>
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<p>Unacceptable.</p>
<p>^i hope that’s sarcastic. </p>
<p>Dirty dorm rooms really? that’s how you judge a College? It’s going to be exactly the same anywhere, except at Columbia you can potentially go all 4 years without having a roommate. </p>
<p>Honestly what was days on campus like, how did people find the students, the presentations, the campus, the neighborhood, the feel?</p>
<p>Amazingly, the letters in DORMITORY can be rearranged to spell DIRTY ROOM.</p>
<p>Personally, I had an awesome DOC experience and loved every minute of it. I stayed in a Carman double and don’t have any complaints… I had so much fun and cant wait to attend Columbia!!!</p>
<p>um, i do not believe columbiaorbust. it is possible he is describing something accurately, but i am skeptical.</p>
<p>consider - there is no kitchen in a carman room. it is not to say that someone couldn’t use the basin of the bathroom kitchen for dishes, but that is just vile. more than likely, the accuser lied or was mistaken in what dormitory he spoke of.</p>
<p>yeah, get your facts right, columbiaorbust. on a second thought, maybe he was referring to hartley/wallach for the dirty dishes in the sink part.</p>
<p>my parents made note of the dirty dorm rooms, but I liked them. I appreciate not being “lied” to with unrealistically clean rooms. The dirty dishes were an especially welcome sight because it showed that kids actually used the available kitchens. </p>
<p>JJ and Furnald were clean as far as I saw.</p>
<p>i was definitely in carman! the disgusting part was that the dirty dishes were in the bathroom sinks, i’m a messy kid but the room i saw was truly disgusting, the dorm itself is ugly (painted cinder block), stained carpets, gross kitchen in basement- just expected more from columbia especially compared to competitor schools.</p>
<p>^two things to keep in mind:</p>
<p>1) carman is the most unhygienic dorm, it’s the party dorm
2) you’re seeing it at the worst time of the year, end of the year when messes have accumulated and not close enough to finals that people are still partying it up.</p>
<p>the description is disgusting, dam carman kids. I wouldn’t blame the administration for anything other than the cinder block. here again carman is one of the only dorms with cinder block.</p>
<p>Furnald is the “nice” dorm. LLC and JJ can be either clean or dirty depending on the floor you’re on.</p>
<p>yeah, the dorms suck. not gonna lie. i saw JJ and Carman. in JJ there were holes in the walls with plaster coming out and stuff. the bathrooms were tiny. Carman was unkempt as well. the other dorms were pretty decent, though.</p>
<p>This is why Columbia will never be like HYP (lol, jk). </p>
<p>but seriously, you would think a school of that caliber would offer its students better living conditions. if i was one of the lucky students that got into an HYPSM as well as Columbia (i wasn’t)… after visiting all those schools residence halls (i have), Columbia’s dorms would be an instant turnoff.</p>
<p>Well, you have to consider that these are indeed dorms in New York City, where the population density cannot compare to that of Princeton or Cambridge… They’re small, and that’s what you’d expect. For the same rent, you’d get an apartment half as big in NYC than in Jersey, but that’s what you’re paying for: the city. </p>
<p>I personally didn’t really feel any said revulsion when I visited the dorms. Sure they were dirty, but I’ve stayed a couple of weeks in a college dorm before–things get messy. Whether you want them to or not.</p>
<p>confidentialcoll, I was definitely being sarcastic.</p>
<p>i wasn’t repulsed by the dorms or anything. i have slept in much, much worse conditions before. i’m just saying, they were NOT nice. and i’m not talking about the size of the dorms. </p>
<p>i don’t see why just because Columbia is in NYC, they don’t have to bother repairing the plaster on their walls or fixing their elevators. some of the stuff i saw in the dorms was just unacceptable… or at least, should be unacceptable for an institution of that caliber.
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<p>anyways, as for an actual discussion on DOC… as a disclaimer, i thought it was pretty obvious that Columbia coordinated their DOC weekend with certain events and happenings in order to make Columbia look better lol. i talked to a couple students, and they all said the scene on Friday and Saturday with all the students outside on the steps, kids playing ball on the lawn, etc almost never actually happens. also, the street fair was pretty sick, but from what i understand they are only at Columbia on 2 weekends a year, and Columbia’s DOC was conveniently on one of those weekends. </p>
<p>so somebody mentioned the ol’ “bait and switch”… i’d say there was definitely some of that going on haha</p>
<p>regardless, i was still very impressed by Columbia’s DOC. i loved the campus (i’m not gonna need a bicycle to get around). Lerner Hall is an awesome building. that big dome building (sorry, the name escapes me) was pretty cool also. the talent shows were very entertaining. most of the students i met were pretty cool and down to earth, and did a great job of making the ‘prospies’ feel at home. we definitely had a lot of fun (some of which shall not be described on CC). and NYC was an awesome environment, as usual. the trip completely confirmed by decision to attend Columbia. btw, one of the most frequent questions we heard or we asked was “so, have you guys decided on going to Columbia?” and i only heard like 2 people say they weren’t coming.</p>
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<p>It probably hasn’t happened since September BECAUSE IT’S BEEN BELOW FORTY DEGREES OUTSIDE UP UNTIL THIS WEEKEND.</p>
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<p>Why are you blaming this on Columbia? The street fair vendors probably make way the hell more money setting up shop when parents and prefrosh are around as opposed to some average weekend.</p>
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<p>Columbia pulls a bait and switch on people because it markets itself not on the Core et al. but on street fairs at 116th and Bway?</p>
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<p>So Columbia pulls a bait and switch and stages things so they look better, yet you got an honest perspective on the mediocre dorm situation at Columbia? You’re not making any sense.</p>