To further honor the newly accepted class of 2018, Bwog is rolling out reviews of the freshman dorms on campus considering you kiddos need to pick where you want to live soon. Whether you prefer living in the same building as John Jay, or stay true to your love for Carman because it doesn’t get better, we’re sure you’ll make the right decision (or Columbia will for you). Up next is Wallach.

Location: 1116 Amsterdam Avenue

• Nearby dorms: Hartley, John Jay
• Stores and Restaurants: Basically on top of Strokos and Artopolis. Also close to HamDel, Hungarian, Insomnia, and 1020 so basically all of your food and drink related crises = resolved.

Cost: $7,110/per year – standard freshman housing rate.

Amenities: 

• Bathrooms: Floors 3-8: seven unisex bathrooms per floor (shower, sink, toilet, and lots of space), including one handicap accessible. Floors 2 and 9: three per suite. They’re basically always clean and some of the nicest facilities available.
• AC/heating: Heating, but no AC. You can’t set your own thermostat though, so it gets hot.
• Kitchen/lounge: The middle floors (3-8) have one kitchen per floor, while the second and ninth have one kitchen per suite. Each kitchen has a stove, oven, “cooktop,” and ample cabinet space. They also function as lounges, with a big table, huge flatscreen, four armchairs and one loveseat. There’s also a building lounge on the first floor, as well as the skylounge on the tenth.
• Laundry: Facilities right between Wallach and Hartley (six washers, eight dryers).
• Computers/printers: No, but there’s a computer/printing room right next door in Hartley.
• Gym: No gym.
• Intra-transportation: Two staircases, one elevator.
• Hardwoord/carpet: Fake hardwood.

Room variety:

• Recent renovations have made Wallach one of the best options for freshpeople. Floors 2-5 were renovated summer 2013, and floors 6-10 summer 2012. Floors 2 and 9 are suite-style; every other floor is corridor. The majority are singles (140), which range from 94 sq ft to 125 sq ft, but there are still 49 doubles if that’s yo thang (200-206 sq ft). The smaller singles feel a bit cramped, but, hey, you’re a freshman.

Bwog recommendation:

• Great for people who like to cook and want a quieter space without the anti-social vibe that Furnald sometimes gets. Very close to Hamilton and basically any academic building, plus you don’t have to go outside to eat when you’re on the way to John Jay or JJ’s Place.
• Hit or miss depending on your suitemates. Some suites are really friendly and everyone hangs out in the lounge playing video games or talking. Other suites are absolutely silent and you won’t see anyone walking around except to leave for class. Another issue is LLC events: if you want to live in Hartley or Wallach as a sophomore, you’ll have to show up at a few of these. Some people absolutely love them (trips to the Nuyorican Poets Cafe, Chinese New Year, to the Intrepid, etc.), some find them annoying as hell.
• The best way to get a single as a sophomore is to live in the LLC, and the best way to get into the LLC (you have to apply as an upperclassman to live there) is to live there your first year. So there’s that.

A standard Wallach floor

Resident opinions:

• “If there’s alcohol or weed everyone on the floor can smell it.”
• “If you get the right kind of freshmen and upperclassmen, you can make really good friends. The reason I’m here now is because my friend group is sophomores who lived in my suite last year and we specifically lived here so we could all be here together.”
• “Since this place was renovated the past year it’s probably the cleanest rooms I’ve been in. the bathrooms are great, and they’re cleaned regularly. I do miss how they used to be suite style, but if you get a good side of a floor, it’s good. The walls are paper thin, and the vinyl ‘hardwood’ floors scratch really easily. There’s not a lot of room for closet space, and it’s frequently overheated.”
• “Bathrooms are good and way more private than other dorms, but there are no hangers, hooks, or paper towels. The dryers go off in the middle of the night. The TVs in the lounges are great. Also, we’re a tunnel away from Hartley printers and John Jay. On the other hand, renovations substantially decreased shelf space. There’s also one kitchen per floor instead of one per suite, like last year. There used to be a gas stove, but the electric ones don’t cook as well, and that’s a real problem for us sophomores who are on limited dining.”