<p>Can anyone tell me a bit about Mertz? </p>
<p>Is there a "hutch shelf" above the desk, or a separate bookshelf? </p>
<p>Do the beds have wooden or metal frames, and how far off the floor are they? </p>
<p>How strick is the refrigerator size of 24" tall policy? Our D has a fridge that belonged to her older sister when she was in college. It is about 30" tall.</p>
<p>Are there cubbies in the bathroom for toiletries? </p>
<p>Any other information?</p>
<p>Ooh, and I recently found out that I'll be staying in Mertz, so if anyone knows any good/bad stuff about it, please let me know!</p>
<p>i lived in mertz last year as a freshman and loved it. im so jealous since i will be off in ml :(</p>
<p>anyway...</p>
<p>Is there a "hutch shelf" above the desk, or a separate bookshelf? There are hutch shelves in mertz</p>
<p>Do the beds have wooden or metal frames, and how far off the floor are they? Metal frames and theyre pretty low, maybe a foot off the ground?</p>
<p>How strick is the refrigerator size of 24" tall policy? Our D has a fridge that belonged to her older sister when she was in college. It is about 30" tall.
No one came into my room and measured lol :p i doubt it should be a problem</p>
<p>Are there cubbies in the bathroom for toiletries? Yup and the bathrooms are the nicest ive seen on campus except in alice paul :)</p>
<p>Any other information? If you tell me a room number of a hall/side I can give you more info, each hall is somewhat difference. The ends of some halls have little mini-lounges with a couch which is really nice if you live on one of the end rooms. Umm, some rooms are tiled, others carpeted. Mine was carpeted and im very glad it was! Its in a pretty good location, walk up the hill to class but very close to sharples. Not the most social dorm - theres a lot of blocks and those kids tend to stick together. Few people leave their doors open. That being said, I am close friends with every freshman that lived on my hall and a couple of the upperclassmen. The first floor lounge is awesome and a good social area, and is often used for drinking on the weekends (that might change based on who blocked in mertz, we had the soccer team who used it all the time). The laundry machines kinda suck, but they fixed them a little bit. Benjamin west parking lot is right outside, which is very very convenient. Hmm, thats all i can think of for now but id be happy to answer any other questions. I really enjoyed staying in mertz. I lived on first south btw, room 135</p>
<p>D is on 2nd floor, North side. </p>
<p>What can you tell me about the dorms on that side? Carpet/Tile? Closet sizes? Lounges for that side/floor? </p>
<p>Are there multiple laundry rooms or just one for the entire dorm? How many washers/dryers in the laundry room?</p>
<p>As for bed height - are the beds adjustable? With bed risers, can one slide a trunk fit underneath?</p>
<p>My daughter lived on 2 North freshman year -- in one of the end rooms. They called the lounge area their "breakfast nook" and equipped it with a old worn out sofa, a lamp, etc. They hung a sheet over the doorway to the end of the hall and put "specs" out there.</p>
<p>Mertz is a fantastic dorm for incoming freshmen. Large enough to have a lot of first year students so there is hall cameraderie, but with a lot of juniors and seniors that are a big help in learning the college ropes. My daughter is still friends with some seniors from her first year hall in Mertz. The had dorm social events like sushi/saki parties with the seniors and also got a first hand look at honors exam preparations and so forth.</p>
<p>There are usually no sophmores in Mertz. It's too popular in the lottery and sells out fast.</p>
<p>Mertz is probably mid-point on the social/party scale. Less raucus than Willets, but more social than Parrish or Dana/Hollowell. However, those attributes are constantly changing from year to year and from dorm to dorm.</p>
<p>Don't hold me to this because it was four years ago. But:</p>
<p>Mertz rooms have a ledge along along the window sill. Great for books. Even a fridge can go up there. I wouldn't worry about a 30-inch fridge. Nobody is going to care.</p>
<p>Floors were industrial carpet, if I recall. Most Swat rooms are carpeted, although there are tiled rooms in each dorm for people with allergiesa and so forth. Closets were large enough.</p>
<p>Bed risers are available at the campus bookstore. I don't know about sliding a trunk under, but the plastic storage boxes fit.</p>
<p>Floor plans for all the dorms can be found here:</p>
<p>Thank you. Our D is also in a 2nd floor North corner dorm - with what looks like a hallway between her room and another dorm. Are there doors on those rooms, or only on the room/nook that connects to the main hallway? She "met" her roommate online yesterday and is so thrilled. </p>
<p>Do you remember the size of the closets? The floorplan makes them appear large and it looks like they have 2 doors on each closet. (but I am not sure if the floor plan is to scale) </p>
<p>Is there room for an additional bookshelf? My D is having a very hard time deciding which books she can live without. </p>
<p>Thank you for all the information!</p>
<p>Rooms 258 and 260 are regular dorm rooms with doors that open/close onto the hallway. What is shown on the floorplan as "room 256" is really an extension of the hallway. The "door" separating it from the hall has been removed, leaving just a large door frame. They blocked this door frame off with sheets when "specs" slept in their "breakfast nook". Most of the time, the doorway was just open and people used a sofa and chair or in the space at the end of the hall.</p>
<p>There's also a kitchenette/lounge area across from the stairs (#238). What is show as #239 is actually open to the vaulted ceiling of the first floor common room below which has a large screen TV set and stone fireplace, if I recall.</p>
<p>The floorplans are to scale. The closets are large with two sliding doors on each. If I recall (and remember it's been 4 years and I only saw it once or twice), my daughter actually put her bureau in the closet.</p>
<p>On books. Take as few as you can. You will accumulate massive quanitities of books while at Swarthmore and they are a royal pain in the keister to haul back and forth to storage.</p>
<p>Mertz rooms have a lot a space for books because of the ledge that runs the length of the room under the windows. But, any books you put in Mertz have to go somewhere next year.</p>
<p>Sliding closet doors, huh. Bummer. The plan makes it look like the doors open outward. For that reason, we bought an "over the door" mirror and "over the door" set of hooks.</p>
<p>I could be wrong, but I think they are sliding doors. It's pretty new construction, built in the 1980s.</p>
<p>Andrassy? Closet doors?</p>
<p>I'm a transfer, and I am living in Mertz next year too! 1st floor. My single looks huge on the floorplan!</p>
<p>i am also living in mertz.</p>
<p>andrassy or id, do you know if it has ac?</p>
<p>I don't believe Mertz will have AC. The south wing did, last year, because construction on DK prevented people from opening their windows--but I think they might have taken it out (they were just temporary window units). </p>
<p>Solution: make friends in New Dorm and Kemp! :)</p>
<p>No AC in Mertz (or any other dorm except the two new dorms Paul and Kemp). A cheapo box fan or table fan is a good idea.</p>
<p>the closet doors open out in mertz they are not sliding. and unfortunately no ac i dont think (we had window units on southside to accommodate for construction last year). It gets hot but a fan should do it</p>
<p>What! I specifically requested AC! Oh boo.</p>
<p>Heh. Housing is just going to laugh at any request for AC at Swarthmore that isn't accompanied by a doctor's note.</p>
<p>no one will ever come into your room and say something about your oversized refridgerator. freshman year, both my roommate and i had huge refridgerators w/separate freezers (i think they were 3.0 cu ft and 4.0 cu ft). also, my RA had a microwave but i'd advise against it b/c if anything ever goes wrong (e.g. burnt popcorn), the whole dorm will hate you forever.</p>
<p>Do the desks have drawers, and if so, how many? Is there a pullout keyboard shelf ?</p>
<p>How big is the "breakfast nook" in between 258 and 260? </p>
<p>The closets must be large, if a dresser can fit inside.</p>
<p>yeah the closets are fairly large they are nice. the desks do have drawers there is one long one under the center of the desk (similar to a pullout keyboard shelf but its a drawer, so no, no pullout keyboard shelf) and then three vertical drawers down the side. The "breakfast nook" is pretty small, it fits a couch and a little room. its nice to watch movies in or hang out in with 3-4 people or so. you can also, of course, open the door to your room and have overflow if you have a lot of people in your room. this is easier if youre friends with you neighbors across the hall :)</p>
