<p>Phedre, I don’t want to to beat up on cantochickk - she explained that she was really expressing personal fears. Once she explained that her parents had never even allowed her to spend a night at a friend’s house, I felt almost as if she was coming from a “deprived” background – I mean, her parents raised her in a way that never gave her chance to experience anything else than the environment they provided. </p>
<p>However, I did find the initial comment very offensive, which is why I said so. Like many parents, I am making a significant personal, financial sacrifice, taking on a large amount of debt, to send my daughter to occupy whatever room Barnard will give her. Similarly, my daughter works multiple jobs and has taken the maximum available in student loans. </p>
<p>So to my parental ears, the “bathroom” comment came off as spoiled and ungrateful. For one thing, you would be amazed at how much more spacious and well-appointed Barnard rooms are than what many students get at public colleges – and certainly my daughter’s dorm room was significantly larger than the room my son was assigned to his first year at a LAC. </p>
<p>But I also know from the many reports I had from my daughter about Barnard students who flaunted their wealth that such thoughtless remarks add to the rift that does exist between “rich” and “poor” at Barnard (and at probably many other private colleges).</p>
<p>Frankly, I don’t know what any of you are talking about when you call the Barnard rooms “small.” Compared to the horror stories my mother tells of her closet-sized double at Williams, back in the day, my 13x16 room seems gigantic. There is MORE than enough space for two people, I promise you. I don’t even know what I would do with more space, honestly – I mean, I guess we’d just get some furniture, but that’s really unnecessary.</p>
<p>I live in a pretty large house in the suburbs and this room is at least two times the size of my bathroom. Even if you are used to more space, you will adjust to your dorm room very fast. It’s not in any way cramped or restrictive.</p>
<p>Calmom, with all due respect, whether or not you are making a sacrifice to send your daughter to Barnard has nothing to do with the OP’s perspective on the rooms. It does not make her spoiled. She’s supposed to be weighing the pros and cons of the school. She doesn’t have to feel grateful to live in a small space. Plenty of kids are wary of living in small rooms with roommates. It’s normal that in a place like NYC, people would live in small spaces, but if you’re from out in the country or suburbs, you may not be acclimated to that. There are plenty of places in this country where a huge house costs less than a studio apartment costs in New York. It’s not necessarily a value judgment. Also, plenty of public colleges have great dorms with plenty of space in each room.</p>
<p>cantochickk, I’m sorry this is exploded into something much bigger than you intended. I appreciate you expanding on your first comments and giving us a more complete picture. I’ve spent almost nine months away from home on a gap year and I have come across several living situations that were less-than-luxurious and certainly not like home. I found that though it initially rough, the beautiful thing about humans is that we adapt quickly if we are open. I don’t know if you are a member of the Barnard Class of 2013 Facebook group, but I’m in it and if you wanna PM me (or not, it’s cool too ), we can exchange our real names and maybe talk. I don’t want to seem like I’m being all patronizing and superior, because that’s definitely not what I intend. I’m pretty nervous and I feel like I shouldn’t be just because I’ve done this before, but I’d love to help you out in any way I can. So PM me if you want. :)</p>
<p>"Frankly, I don’t know what any of you are talking about when you call the Barnard rooms “small.” "</p>
<p>Yah actually, D2’s rooms were very reasonable size, esp considering NYC, so I was kind of scratching my head there too. but I only saw those two rooms.</p>
<p>The Sulzberger dorms are small where my daughter lives. My public college dorms in Ma. 30 years ago were cleaner,newer and double the size. Although I certainlu undrstand space is limited in city but it is time to re. novate the dorms. Also the room was not in good condition upon moving in and had a punchlist left of what they were going to fix and paint. This happened months later. We certainly do not want to be charged with damage that was done before(mostly wear and tear).</p>
<p>My daughter lived in Sulzberger, in what I think was a standard size double. I repeat: in my eyes it was B-I-G. I especially liked the high ceilings. Also, the air conditioning for the first few weeks was probably a nice perk. </p>
<p>I pulled the floor plan – her first year room was 12’8" x 15’8". Most of the doubles on that floor seem to be about the same size – a few are larger. </p>
<p>Next year she’s got a single that is 10’6" x 13’6 & she is absolutely ecstatic to have it. </p>
<p>My d’s bedroom at home – where she lived for 18 years, is 9’ x 10’. We’re lucky and we have 2 bathrooms – the larger one is 5’6" x 8’. So I guess she would be able to squeeze about 2 of our “large” bathrooms into a typical Barnard dorm room. </p>
<p>To those who don’t like the size of the rooms: maybe you will get lucky and be assigned a triple. They are generally about 15% larger than the doubles, so you will have the added floorspace you crave. An added advantage is that after you live in them for awhile, the doubles will probably start to look really big.</p>
<p>An interesting perspective on the Barnard/Columbia experience from a Barnard senior who worked on the Spectator (Columbia University’s newspaper):</p>
<p>I will try again. Otherwise just google “Columbia Spectator” to get to the current issue of the paper. The article is a “Senior Column” and is called “Why yes, I go… here, there, or everywhere?”</p>
), we can exchange our real names and maybe talk. I don’t want to seem like I’m being all patronizing and superior, because that’s definitely not what I intend. I’m pretty nervous and I feel like I shouldn’t be just because I’ve done this before, but I’d love to help you out in any way I can. So PM me if you want. :)</p>