Here’s to topping off lottery number release day with the start of our annual housing reviews. First up, we’ve got Schapiro and all residence halls will be reviewed in the coming days to help you figure out where to put your money now that your lottery number (actually) sucks. 

Location: 605-615 W. 115th Street.

Nearby dorms: Furnald, Woodbridge

Stores and restaurants: The UPS Store, that one halal cart, Morton Williams, M2M, Vine, Lerner, Starbucks

Cost: $7,640

Amenities:

• Bathrooms: shared, and decidedly decent, nothing especially worthy of praise or criticism. There is at least one men’s, women’s, and gender neutral designated bathroom per floor, with an additional bathroom alternating between men’s and women’s.
• AC/Heating: air conditioning (which in the rare and fortunate room comes with temperature control) and heat.
• Kitchen: shared by hall, including two stoves, two microwaves, relatively generous cabinet space, and a sink that will inevitably fill up with dirty dishes every few weeks or so.
• Lounge: one per floor, equipped with a flatscreen, general lounge furniture, and a family style kitchen table.
• Laundry: Large enough laundry room located in the basement, accessible only by two of the three elevators (you will invariably summon the third and this will be surprisingly irritating throughout your year).
• Computers/Printers: Computer lab on the first floor connected with one printer inside, and one located a few steps out.
• Gym: Treadmills and elliptical machines on first floor, along with a dance room that is technically not for you but that you will have access to anyway.
• Intra-transportation: Three insanely fast elevators.
• Hardwood/Carpet: Hardwood (or the appearance of it at least)
• Wi-Fi: Yes.
• Bonus: Practice rooms with pianos in the basement, a new and swanky talking study room, a bleak quiet study room, and arguably the best sky lounge on campus, with a view of the downtown skyline at night and the river in the morning.

Room variety:

• Singles: plenty, the majority of which are between 106 and 109 sq. ft. From floor 10 all the way up to floor 16, larger rooms are available on the 04, 20, and 24 lines, at 116, 120, and 124 sq. ft. respectively. Inexplicably, room 902 is 137 sq. ft. if awkwardly shaped.
• Doubles: Available between floors 2 and 9, these range from 165 to 208 sq. ft. with the largest running along the 30 and 28 lines. There are walk-throughs available along the lines 05 and 07, roughly 200 and 215 sq. ft. respectively, but these are oddly shaped and sit directly next to the elevator shafts.

Numbers:

• Singles: available to all but the most unfortunate of the rising juniors, historically at ~20/2970
• Doubles: can go to the majority of rising sophomores with the typical double going for ~10/2890 and the walkthrough going to ~10/3000

Bwog recommendation:

• If you’re looking for a single as a rising junior, Schapiro should be among your top choices. Hall social life, while tending to vary based on floor composition and RA, will almost definitely be friendlier than Broadway, which paired special amenities like the sky lounge, the downstairs treadmill room, and the will sized windows, make it one of the better living experiences.
• For rising sophomores, Schapiro is an alternative to McBain or Wien in the search for doubles, but honestly offers less desirable room size and sophomore centric culture.

Resident opinions:

• “Schapiro has amazing facilities and doubles that seem bigger than they actually are. Great choice for sophomores who want a quieter dorm than Mcbain and want kitchens.”
• “Living in schap is great! Air conditioning….a gym downstairs…..it’s awesome! The only downside is the noise level, not that it’s loud in schap but the walls seem to be made of paper, so you can hear everything. And when I say everything, I mean EVERYTHING.”
• “I’d recommend Schapiro to a friend because I’ve had almost no problems living here this year. We had a hot water problem one day, but the rooms are generally really nice and the bathrooms are ok too. It’s close to classes and dining halls, and there haven’t really been any noise problems at night.”
• “Schapiro is nothing out of the ordinary. Here, that’s a good thing. Friendly, fairly clean, and climate-controlled. Beware the thin walls and be sure to check out the sky lounge. If you spend any time at Morton or Barnard, the location is perfect.”
• “There is almost nothing that stands out about the Schapiro living experience. But honestly, given the condition of most college housing, not having anything to talk about (read, complain about) is pretty remarkable.”