<p>I was at Binghamton yesterday for accepted students day. I fell in love with it and paid my deposit this morning. Now, I guess it's the time to research more specifics... like housing. </p>
<p>I had it in my ignorant prospective student's head for a while that I wanted to live in Mountainview. Well, I went on a tour of Mountainview yesterday and hated it. It was a great dorm, very pretty... nice amenities. But the trek up and down the hill? Absolutely not. Especially not in sub-zero temperatures. The only other dorm I had time to tour was Dickenson... wasn't really a fan of that one either. That leaves Hinman, CIW, and Newing. Reading up on the rest of the communities, I'm REALLY liking CIW, but I didn't get the opportunity to see it. </p>
<p>So, I know that there are five buildings and a dining hall. I know that it's a mixture of corridor style and suite style (with the exception of Mohawk... which is just suites), and I know that there are some really cool traditions. But... </p>
<p>Are the buildings air conditioned? Are there elevators? How close can cars get to the buildings (for move-in, move-out)? Is it carpeted? Are there laundry rooms? What is the dining hall like?</p>
<p>Sorry in advance about the number of questions.</p>
<p>no a/c’s - except maybe the newer building - not sure about that.
elevators - yes - for some floors, two floors share an elevator stop so you still have to go half a flight up or down from there.
parking lots aren’t right by the dorms, but there are roads that can get you closer – nor sure what they allow on move in day – but on freshman move-in day, there are people there helping to unload and move your things in (that’s at all the dorms).
and fyi – if you didn’t like the climb up to mountainview – not quite as bad at CIW, but there is a bit of a hill to get to the bottom of CIW and then stairs up to the higher dorms. oneida is at the top of CIW and can be considered a bit of a hike, though a different type of one than the hike up to mountainview – more steps.
there are laundry rooms in all the dorms – and they are free!! (well i guess you can say they are included in your housing cost, but in any event, no need to carry quarters!)</p>
<p>I really don’t mind the steps; it was the really steep climb up the hill that got me at Mountainview. I couldn’t imagine doing that in three feet of snow. Eek…</p>
<p>There’s no way you can pick your building, right?</p>
<p>Well, not really. Unless you do the pre-law community which places you in Oneida, you can’t pick it. If you need break housing and get CIW, you’ll be in Mohawk automatically. Othat than that, no way to pick. </p>
<p>There are road systems. Oneida and Seneca have direct roads to them (Cayuga and Onondaga branch off from those roads- Cayuga off of the Seneca road and Daga off of Oneida) that are used by delivery guys, maintenance, taxis, private cars, etc. Anyone can use them. The only time they’ve been blocked off was for Family Weekend.</p>
<p>I live in Oneida, but I don’t mind the hill (most of the time XD). You just have to understand that in CIW there is no bus to get you up to your dorms so in some ways its worse than Mountainview which does have the shuttle. It’s not as convenient but its still something. Its forced exercise which is nice when you’re so buys studying you don’t have time for other things. </p>
<p>Mohawk has A/C and it’s pretty much what Mountainview is but the organization of the building is slightly different. It’s not really in CIW itself so its kind of separated from everything. It is on the Brain so walking places is really easy from there. I think there’s six and four person suites (compared to the regular buildings which have 5 and 6 person suites). The regular CIW suites have decent sized rooms but the common room is oddly shaped (because of the way the buildings are oriented) and there only two per floor (one 5 and one 6) so if you really want a suite, go with Mountainview or Hinman where your guaranteed to get one. The designed triples are REALLY big (they used to be lounges) and have overhead lighting… The regular rooms have insulation on the ceilings so there’s no overhead lighting. I recommend brining lamps. </p>
<p>All in all, i love CIW. Its really social and full of nice people and has great traditions (Casino in the Woods, Halloween Party, Woods Olympics, and Woodstock). Hinman is also really nice. Mountainview is ok (good buildings, not as social…) and I don’t like Newing or Dickinson.</p>