The ladies (and gentlemen) of Barnard ResLife are looking for input from BC students in the form of a new online survey. The survey comes on the brink of a recent Town Hall meeting, at which several *significant* changes [emphasis theirs] to this spring’s room selection process were proposed. 

Barnard’s put up an enormous PowerPoint presentation to highlight some of these proposed changes. For instance, instead of receiving a joint lottery number, suite mates would be able to register as individuals with individual lottery numbers. To combine as a suite at registration time, a student would have to “pull-in” the other members. Confused? See preppy, well-coiffed Lego figures act out the scenario above for clarification.

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UPDATE (12:45 PM): It’s halftime at housing—the process of coming to terms with Wien or the McBain shaft will resume after a lunch break at 1:30 PM. The white board, creature of habit that it is, hasn’t been updated since our last photo. However, according to housing, about four or five groups have come in since that time. Their selections? “Mostly Nussbaum and McBain.”

UPDATE (12:25 PM):  This room and the people in it could not be calmer–the entire process and people involved appear to have been lobotomized. Obvious sign: Jack Johnson has been playing for the last half hour and no one has complained.  Freshmen lie about and half of them are asleep in the beanbags/synthetic wombs.

McBain doubles are in high demand, as are Broadway doubles.  Bwog realizes that this goes against the grain, but the walk-through doubles in Wien that face 116th are very nice–lots of natural light and good views.

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Update 1:32 PM: As prospective first-years have long, overwrought conversations about the Core at Low Steps, a spectacle proceeds, ignorant to them, in John Jay Lounge, one that will shake the very bedrock of the school — Day Three of suite selection. Plus the board hasn’t been updated in, like, half an hour. Here’s what’s left for the underclassmen:

Old updates after the jump.

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UPDATE (1:16 PM):  Senior selection is over…except for senior re-group.  The lounge is closed until 2pm, so here’s the final count.

 UPDATE (12:25 PM):  There  are two high demand Woodbridge suites  left, but all “H” lines are gone.

Per Bwog’s request, housing is now listing Woodbridge rooms by line.  Here’s what we’ve got:

A: 4

B: 7

C: 1

D: 6

E: 6

F: 2

G: 6

H: 0

I: 5

J: 5

K: 1

L:7

Advice:  As there are a dozen groups of doubles who have yet to pick, Bwog would like to remind you that when picking into Woodbridge, consider that if you pick the “A” and “B” lines on the lower floors, your north-facing windows will look out onto the glorious vista of…the building next door.  So if you’re a connoisseur of natural light, aim high or go for another side of the building.

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Nostalgic for the suites you never even had a chance of getting anyway? Reminisce with the morning’s liveBwog. 

1:42 PM:

Housing has returned from lunch and suite selection has picked back up. The white board (as is far too often the case) remains the same, save for a penciled in noticed that there are 11 one bedrooms remaining on the D line in Watt.

Bwog slipped behind the screens and noticed that the most desirable line in Woodbridge, the coveted H line, is gone on all floors except the first. (Which makes sense, given Riverside’s less-than-stellar track-record for late-night crime.) On the 7th floor, I, J, and C were taken, as rising seniors quickly snatched up the top floor and its views.

Now Playing: Silen—nevermind. The iPod has returned with “At Last,” by Etta James.

1:50 PM:

The last 4-person EC suite has been taken.

1:57 PM:

A friendly suite-selector just tipped Bwog off to what she’s calling a “little known secret.” Apparently, living on the first floor of Woodbridge is a good thing. “My boyfriend lived there, and the ceilings are like 25 ft. and the rooms look huge.” Bwog is making no claims to the veracity of any of this.

Now Playing: Michael Jackson, “Billie Jean”

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The day of reckoning has arrived, and Bwog will be stationed on a beanbag chair in John Jay, livebwogging your fate. Check back to this post throughout the day today, with frequent updates of what suites are still in your grasp. 

11:04 AM:

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Dear Columbians,

Your housing appointment times are up in cyberspace; selection starts tomorrow. Go here, log into your housing application, and look under where your lottery number is printed to find the time.

The answer, as six unlucky CU students will probably soon find out, is perhaps a lot more than $200. One Bwog tipster (and probably dozens of other students with decent lottery numbers) received an email from a group calling themselves “Columbia Students.” The email proposed an Old-Timey Barter in which housing lottery numbers would be swapped in order for “Columbia Students” to secure a coveted East Campus suite with 6 singles. The email reads:

“Obviously, we know that there would be no reason for you to help us out, but we were hoping that with monetary compensation some of you would consider a swap. We would be able to get 6 good rooms in Broadway (or very possibly a 6-person suite in EC with 4 singles and 1 double), so if you are interested in swapping rooms/suite for a decent monetary compensation (at least $200 per person, but price is completely negotiable)”

Parties interest in swapping lottery numbers should email the (endearingly utilitarian) Gmail address provided: cu.housing.seniors@gmail.com

Full email after the jump

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In case you haven’t already been frantically GChatted by friends, you should know your housing lottery number is now available. What isn’t available, despite the Housing site’s promises to the contrary, is everybody else’s. Begin frantically scrambling to figure out how many people will pick EC suites before you… now!

Update: “Daniel”, on the housing board, claims numbers will be up Tuesday. He does not, however, work for housing, so Bwog isn’t holding our breath. It’s almost as if… they didn’t plan for this? Nah.

We now invite you to leave the relative comforts of  Nussbaum and venture northwest to Claremont in our continuing housing series. Also, don’t forget online registration ends in three hours!

A few blocks northwest of the hustle and bustle of midtown Columbia is a calm oasis for the students who call it home. Cozy and intimate where many dorms are large and impersonal, 47 Claremont is the Morningside Heights of undergraduate housing. Former residents of institutional dorms like Carman will be happy to find that the wood floors and crown molding of Claremont reminds them more of home and happiness and less of prison and self-mutilation.

      Recently refurbished, Claremont boasts all the amenities of Columbia’s top suites, it’s just a good bit more cramped. The kitchens are large and well equipped, complete with brand new stoves and enough cabinet space to hold all the provisions you will need to survive the long winter days when the wind tunnel that is Claremont Avenue prevents you from venturing outside. Other than the eat-in kitchen, however, there is almost no common space besides a large hallway. Just know that because of the size even the most restrained party can quickly become a sweaty writhing flesh pit once booze and guests are added. Group dinners force most to eat standing up, but don’t worry about the inevitable spills this will cause: at 47 Claremont a housekeeper cleans up your kitchen and bathroom for you twice a week. Unfortunately she is very friendly—only-children, expect to be guilted into cleaning up after yourself within the first month.

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