Will you live here?????

Ah, beautiful, beautiful EC. Perhaps the holy grail of Columbia dorms. This housing review will give you the lowdown on one of the types of dorms you can get in EC, the high rise. 

Location: Technically 70 Morningside Drive, but accessible via Wien Courtyard or Ancel Plaza (aka the above-ground plaza outside Law and IAB).

• Nearby dorms: Wien and Plimpton (sort of). Prezbo’s house ;)
• Stores and restaurants: Arts & Crafts (thank god), HamDel, Appletree, Friedman’s, SubsConscious (and if you really want to stretch it, Dunkin Donuts at 125th & Amsterdam)

Cost: The cost for upperclassman dorms is standard: $9,538.

Amenities:

• Bathrooms: Generally pretty utilitarian and gross. Each suite (whether that be a 6-person or 5-person suite, a 2-person flat, or a double) has a bathroom. The suite bathrooms have two sinks and a toilet in a stall along with their shower.
• AC/Heating: There is AC, which is necessary and excellent during the first month of the semester.
• Lounge: There are lounges on 2, 6, 12, 14, and 20. In the 6th floor lounge, there is a microwave. Each suite has a large lounge in the upper portion of their suite, too, which are spacious and fill with sunlight.
• Kitchen: Suites and flats get kitchens, and each comes with a dishwasher (!), oven, and fridge. No microwaves, unfortunately. The kitchens are also pretty cramped with limited counter space. Edit 4/2/2018: Housing announced on Friday, April 30th that East Campus residences will not have stoves or ovens during the 2018-2019 academic year. Residents will be offered a hot plate and a microwave as compensation.
• Laundry: In the basement. There are a lot of machines, but can get pretty busy.

• Fire escapes: You wish.
• Bike storage: Available underneath EC in the Wien Courtyard.
• Computers/printers: There are computer lounges with one printer each on floors 10 and 18, and there are two printers in the lobby.
• Gym: Treadmills, bikes, and ellipticals on floors 8 and 16.
• Intra-transportation: Well, the staircase within each suite is pretty cool, so you can get into your suite on your floor and the floor below you. There are two elevators in the building that move pretty quickly, but make frequent stops. There are two stairwell entrances on each floor, too.
• Hardwood/carpet: Hallways are carpeted, but suites are hardwood (except some of the kitchens have linoleum floors).

Room variety:

• 7 all-single six person suites, one per floor.
• 7 all-single five person suites, one per floor.
• 56 (eight per floor) suites with three singles and one double. The double faces out toward Morningside Park.
• 35 (five per floor) two-person flats. The RA on each floor lives in one of these. The singles are large, and flats have a bathroom and kitchen, but no common area.
• 8 doubles on the sixth floor, each 200 sq. ft. and with their own bathroom.

Numbers:

• Two-Person Flats: 30/1493 last year, and 30/1445 the year before.
• Doubles: 20/2642 last year, and 10/2495 the year before. Seem to be getting more popular.
• Six-Person Suites: 30/487 last year, and 30/300 the year before. Always quick to go.
• Five-Person All-Single Suites: The most coveted highrise option. 30/236 last year, and 30/301 the year before.
• Five-Person Suites with a double: 30/2947 last year, and 30/2868 the year before. If you’re a senior and you want one of these suites, you’ll probably get one.

Bwog recommendation:

This is probably the most coveted place to live on campus, and rightfully so–the views are great, there is a lot of common space, and it’s a social place to live. If you like studying in your room, though, you may want to consider living somewhere else–the dorm gets extremely loud on weekends, and can sometimes even be loud on weeknights.

Resident opinions:

• “It’s basically an apartment without paying to live in the Enclave.”
• “There are no drawers or microwaves in the kitchens.”
• “You live far from all of the stuff you used to live close to.”
• “The stairs in the suites are basically impossible to clean, and they get really filthy.”
• “My best friends live right above me. With the in-suite staircases, it’s really convenient to see them.”
• “The doubles in the suites are pretty cramped and dark.”

Gallery: