Brooks from the courtyard up

Next up in our freshpeople housing reviews series: the infamous Brooks, one of the three options in the Barnard Quad for first-years. It also happens to be the oldest, which comes with some pros… and some cons. Here’s the info.

Location: 3009 Broadway (The Quad).

Nearby dorms: Reid, Brooks, Hewitt, the 600’s.

Stores and restaurants: MoWillies, halal cart/food trucks, Vine sushi, M2M, Starbucks, sweetgreen.

Cost: $9,230

Amenities:

• Bathrooms: A women’s only or gender-neutral restroom for each floor (decided by residents). Cleaned daily. Just a short walk to Reid bathrooms!
• AC/Heating: Here’s the bad news: no AC. Here’s the OK news: a little heater that may or may not actually work. Unless you make a friend in Sulz during NSOP, don’t wear anything to bed that you wouldn’t want drenched in sweat.
• Kitchen/Lounge: Each floor has a lounge with a TV, table, chairs, and couches, as well as a kitchen area with sink, stove, oven, and cabinets. The lounge-kitchen is shared between residents of Brooks, Reid, and Sulz on each floor, since all three halls are connected. The lounges usually smell like a mix of ramen, rotten takeout, and Pre-Med students with chem tests the next day.
• Laundry: Each floor has two laundry machines and two dryers. There are additional machines and dryers on the Brooks side. Unfortunately, laundry is not free, and you pay using a plastic card you can refill in the Sulz or Hewitt lobbies (cash only, which is extremely inconvenient…).
• Computers/printers: Two lovely tech labs in the basement, complete with computers, printers, and a scanner. Bring your own stapler/hole punch, though.
• Intra-transportation: Two elevators in lobby, kind of slow and stinky.
• Hardwood/carpet: No hardwood. Carpet in hallway. Grey linoleum in rooms. Tile in bathroom.
• WiFi: Duh, would you even consider coming here if there wasn’t?? But beware–Barnard Secure WiFi is really shitty.

Room variety:

A typical Brooks floor layout

• Doubles: Several on each floor, some bigger than others!
• Triples: Only one, on the eighth floor (one Bwogger has very strong Brooks 847 pride, though it is a dark and stuffy room)
• Quad: Several “quads” made of 2 small doubles with a room connecting them (where your desks are placed) are on each floor of Brooks (except for the 8th floor, which has a quad that’s one big room we’ve heard is quite squishy).

Bwog recommendations:

• Brooks residents, though they have to deal with weird smells in the old corners of the dorm and sweltering heat until October, have a certain defiant pride–Brooks was the OG dorm in the quad!
• Cross your fingers that you get placed in Brooks 8. The view of both college walk and the river are lovely, especially at sunset.
• Your window will be open 24/7 from August to November and April to May, and sealed shut the rest of the time. Either that, or you’ll sweat/freeze your butt off.
• You can sneak into the Hewitt bathrooms if you want–lots of showers!
• The faucets in Brooks are the best for washing up–consistent, steady streams of whatever temp water you’d like!

Resident opinions:

• “I don’t have school pride, but I have Brooks pride!”
• “Don’t even try to wear clothes in your room during the warmer months. Hope your roommate is ok with nudity!”
• “The roof is nice…”
• “It always smells like fish in here. Always.”

Tour of Brooks via Bwog Staff