Freshpeople Housing Reviews 2016: Brooks

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.”