<p>Second of all, I'd highly recommend living in JJ or Carman. I personally lived in the latter and thoroughly enjoyed it. I also spend soph year in Furnald and really wouldn't recommend it for freshmen and here's why. Living in an all frosh dorm is very communal. Everyone wants to get to know everyone else. For the first week or so it's even acceptable to introduce yourself to perfect strangers in the elevators, among other normally weird things. There's lots of floor bonding and things like that. Because Furnald is both largely singles and at least half-sophomore, its not exactly like that. The sophomores already have their network of friends who are spread out across the other dorms now, so they'll tend to stick to themselves and do their own thing. Furnald ends up being very quiet and solitary. If you like flying solo, it's the perfect dorm for you (unless you end up in a double, heh).</p>
<p>The LLC is a hybrid. It's not all frosh, but it's very communal, which is nice since you'll be living with people who can offer you a lot of advice about navigating Columbia. Plus the buildings are physically connected to JJ on the ground floor.</p>
<p>Someone said earlier that they were considering getting a double because he/she thinks it will be easier to make friends, and I thought about this too. Back when I was thinking about first-year housing, I thought about throwing myself into a double because I thought if I had a single, I'd hole myself up in my room, because I'm just not the type of person who jumps to introduce myself to a group of strangers. I'm so glad I ended up putting down a single. If you're on the shy side and you're thinking about getting a double to help you make friends, I would say reconsider. You'll do fine making friends in JJ, and if you really are shy, you may really be thankful for the refuge of a single from time to time. It's not like Carman is the social dorm, so JJ is the unsocial dorm; they're just different types of social. Put down the dorm that best fits who you are not who you want to be; the same piece of advice is given about other housing questionaires--if you're a smoker and thinking about quitting, don't put down that you're not a smoker. If you're messy and you want to be neater, don't put down that you're neat, because it may not work out.</p>
<p>oh god, yes, please be honest about the smoking/neatness thing. The guy living in the other room of my Carman doorway said he deliberately put down neat even though he was the worst slob I ever met, just so he'd get a clean roommate who'd clean his mess up. We nearly killed him on multiple occasions...</p>
<p>someone before mentioned getting kicked out of housing for the year if you are caught with alcohol in the one of the dorms. how stringent is the alcohol policy? basically do people get in trouble all the time or is it sort a "don't ask don't tell" kind of a thing?</p>
<p>its mostly BS, they might write u up and give you a warning, but if you are discreet about it and not like drink in the hallway or have VERY loud parties you should be fine. Its not a concern after freshman year mostly though since all upperclassman dorms are "wet" dorms where alcohol is allowed.</p>
<p>i said that you will get kicked out of housing if you are in the LLC (hartley or wallach) and that policy, i imagine, is fairly strict (at the very least its enough to scare people to not do it)</p>
<p>Sophomore housing is, generally speaking, pretty bad, because you're at the bottom of the housing lottery and you can get stuck in a double as a sophomore. The only other sophomore housing with guaranteed singles is Furnald, which is really difficult to get into.
The LLC runs separately from the rest of campus housing. This means that non-freshman must apply to get in. Living in the LLC is a huge advantage to getting back in the next year, especially if you don't do anything too terrible/**** off your RA. Choosing the LLC as a freshman gives you really good chances for getting a single as a sophomore right on campus, if that's what important to you.</p>
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Choosing the LLC as a freshman gives you really good chances for getting a single as a sophomore right on campus, if that's what important to you.
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<p>but on the other hand you miss out on the experience of being in JJ/carman which i feel is alot more important than having a guaranteed 80sq ft single in the LLC your soph yr</p>
<p>the rooms aren't that small, they average closer to around 110 with the smallest being around 95. but again, only if having a single is something that's important to you is that something to keep in mind. if you want the classic dorm experience, then LLC isn't the perfect fit for you, it just doesn't deserve the crappy rep it gets on campus. it's good if you want a real communal feel with a kitchen and a single for two years without any of the lottery hassle.</p>
<p>oh, and don't get put off by any of the floor event stuff they tout because none of it really ever happens.</p>
<p>im in john jay so i dont know about the actual floor events but i get at least 1-2 emails a month about LLC dinners or whatever that say you should do this if you want to be in the LLC next year.</p>
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it's good if you want a real communal feel with a kitchen and a single for two years without any of the lottery hassle
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<p>some downsides though are that you dont get to choose who you live with really, the majority of your suite will be assigned to you which i've seen causes problems with personal space, kitchen and bathroom use....even though we'd like to think everyone is nice and accomodating, it usually isnt the case and odds are you'll end up with an a-hole in your suite. Also, not experiencing and understanding the lottery your freshman year usually puts you at a disadvantage the following year when you go for junior housing.</p>
<p>i dont really have that much knowledge but it seems to me that all the residential programs at columbia are struggling for applicants...i get bombarded with emails for the LLC/gateway, substance free, and research house thing all the time</p>
<p>there's always at least one or 2 fliers in JJ asking people to switch housing with them tho that could range from anything to room mate issues to social issues.</p>
<p>I will say, without caveat, that if you want to be guaranteed to make friends and have fun, you should live in Carman your freshman year. I didn't and regret it greatly.</p>
<p>you cant just say that you wont make friends or not have fun if you live in carman. that may have been your experience and we're all sorry but its not for everyone.</p>