<p>Okay, I'm going to start off by saying I know there's a million posts and threads on dorms but I just can't figure it out. </p>
<p>For an incoming freshman, which ones are the best dorms? Like I prefer a private bathroom for sure. And like which are the most popular? Please helppp, I'm having a panic attack!</p>
<p>All help is sincerely appreciated =)</p>
<p>I’m here to help.</p>
<p>I’ve probably forgotten more about housing than most people on this board know, and that’s saying something because they know a lot.</p>
<p>[Read</a> this thread](<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/columbia-university/276867-housing.html]Read”>Housing - Columbia University - College Confidential Forums), and then come back with specific questions and I’ll do my best.</p>
<p>Denzera, I heard that they’re increasing the freshman population this year at Furnald? Do you know much about this, or how it might affect Furnald’s ‘sociability’? thanks.</p>
<p>it might improve it marginally, but the real reason Carman is more social than other dorms is because the 4-person suite style layout encourages an open-door policy and more ad-hoc socializing. if you were going to meet a lot of people in Furnald, by and large you would meet them whether they were sophomores or freshmen.</p>
<p>Dearest Denzera,</p>
<p>My gf keeps insisting to sleepover in my room, which is barely big enough for me, because i have my own bathroom. How do make her go away without having to change my facebook status to ‘single’?</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Find a girl who doesn’t always want to sleep in your room. You only have to have this new girl stay over once as long as you make sure your old girl walks in at an appropriate time. That way you get your room back and a new girl!</p>
<p>//i keed</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>No need for words.</p>
<p>You print a picture of Rihanna’s devastated face from three weeks ago and hand it to her. You just show it to her, raising a stern finger ever so slower…She’ll get. She’ll get it fine.</p>
<p>
Dear TwoHeadedBed,</p>
<p>Columbia extra-long twin beds are simply not big enough for most people to comfortably sleep two in. My freshman year, every time my gf and I did that, I’d wake up with horrible neck cramps and more often than not would wake up about 5 times during the night and never really get good sleep. It really is a problem.</p>
<p>I personally solved it by (A) during sophomore and junior years, having a room big enough for two beds. Facilities had a spare bed just lying around on moving day and I took it with the blessing of the super. Put 'em next to each other, and bam, instant King bed. can even get a king mattress if you want. and… (B) summer after junior year, and senior year, I got a futon off of craigslist, and put my bed somewhere else (gave it to a suitemate who wanted the double-twin-bed thing). The futon was big enough for me to get a good night’s sleep.</p>
<p>Most rooms on campus are big enough for (B), but few are big enough for (A). As a final alternative, if you have a roommate, you can also (C) find out when they will be out of town or staying somewhere else, and with their permission you can change the sheets on their bed, and push the beds together. I did that a little freshman year… usually with my roommate’s permission, too.</p>
<p>Hope that helps…</p>
<p>Regards,
Bizarro Penthouse Forum</p>
<p>So, if I want a dorm with a private bathroom and air conditioning, would Carman be the closest thing?</p>
<p>What if I want a single?</p>
<p>Do these residence halls fill up really fast? Should I be worried?</p>
<p>Thank you =)</p>
<p>If you want a single, go for John Jay.</p>
<p>About specifically requesting a roommate. When should we fill this out this week or does it matter if we wait till DOC to look at the rooms. I know both persons have to request each other but is there a good chance we get together?</p>
<p>How bad is it not having air conditioning in the early fall/late spring?</p>
<p>it’s annoying but livable. You can count on one hand the number of days where you’ll be sitting in your room with the window open, the fan blowing, and your shirt off. that’s for the school year anyway - the summer’s a different animal, but they at least give you A/C units if you’re there over the summer.</p>
<p>And yes, the Carman/JJ decision comes down to whether you want more space, a semiprivate bathroom, air conditioning, more closet room, and what’s generally considered a slightly more open social atmosphere… or whether you want a single.</p>
<p>
it’s not first-come-first-served, they wait like 6 weeks for everyone to put in their application and then they’re processed in a random order. so no, take your time.</p>
<p>Wait, I have a question. So is there no option for you randomly select a roommate?</p>
<p>Roommates are assigned manually, by a summer intern who carefully goes over the profile responses of each person and picks matches based on priorities set by the housing assignments office.</p>
<p>This lets them exercise a little editorial discretion, in the interests of promoting maturity and open-mindedness. For example (and this actually happened), one kid put “just please don’t room me with some ■■■”. He got a queer roommate. Another kid asked for “someone like me, a white guy from the burbs”. He got a black-power kind of roommate, from Brooklyn. My entire Carman floor, it seemed, was inter-racial in some fashion. One thing they do respect, though, is trying to match up people with equal preferences for bedtime and for cleanliness.</p>
<p>^ Some of those requests are very immature.</p>
<p>But I have a question, how would the summer intern know who’s gay or not? (referring to your anecdote) and I feel sorry for the queer guy.</p>
<p>Presumably it would be noted on the profile that they do as part of their housing request. Or made very obvious via their admissions application. I don’t think they pry.</p>
<p>On the other hand, the intern who was doing it the year of the first case I cited, Joey, is himself gay… so perhaps his gaydar was pinging.</p>
<p>Steve,</p>
<p>Do you know how one can apply to be a housing intern for the summer? Hopefully the deadline isn’t past…</p>
<p>Is it a paid position? I ask because I really want to stay on campus for the summer. I got 3 internship offers I really want- unfortunately they’re all freaking unpaid…</p>
<p>Is free housing ever a compensation?</p>
<p>Is the lack of air con in John Jay a problem? (I’m assuming definitely no… but then again, I’ve never lived in NYC heh)</p>
<p>I saw in the pictures that there seems to be heaters or something? (as they can’t be air con so… heaters? lol)</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>No. It’s only a problem in September and maybe a few days in October and then again in late april/May. Opening a window and having a fan make it fine, though be warned the fan is a necessity…</p>
<p>Even the dorms with AC aren’t that better off since the AC only works for ~5 weeks at the start and end of the school year anyways. The school shuts it off for the rest of the time.</p>