The okayest sophomore dorm.

Yes, it really can be that bad…

Location: 562 W. 113th. (Right on the corner of Broadway and W. 113th.)

Nearby dorms: Watt, 600 W. 113th (Nuss), Broadway, Hogan, River.

Stores and restaurants: Wu and Nussbaum, Tom’s, Junzi, Milano Market, Community Fruit & Juice, University Hardware, Blue Bottle and many more. 

Cost: Columbia Housing has not released the projected cost for upperclassmen housing in the 2025-2026 academic year, but the upperclassmen housing rate for the 2024-2025 academic year was $12,222/year.

Amenities:

• Bathrooms: Seven single-use bathrooms per floor (each bathroom is a closed room with a toilet, sink, and shower).
• AC/Heating: As of this past year, all rooms have AC! Columbia Housing installed new units on the dorms of the outside of the shaft. All shafted rooms have an older AC unit.
• Kitchen/Lounge: There is a main lounge in the lobby and every floor has a spacious lounge with a TV, seating, and a kitchen. Floor lounges tend to not have much furniture.
• Laundry: Laundry room with 13 washers and dryers for the entire building on the first floor.
• Computers/Printers: There is a computer lab and 2 printers on the first floor.
• Gym: Small gym on the fourth floor with two treadmills and a weight machine. The equipment is new as of this month.
• Intra-transportation: Two elevators that constantly smell of gas and a narrow staircase.
• Hardwood/Carpet: “Hard surface.”
• Wi-fi: Yes
• Facilities: Bathrooms and kitchens are cleaned Mondays to Fridays, which means they can get very nasty on weekends. Residents are responsible for taking out the trash to the bins outside.

Bwog’s Recommendation:

McBain is typically known as the “worst” sophomore dorm. People typically end up here if they have a lottery number near the bottom. This past year, I have been the RA for McBain 4. When I got my assignment, I was a little scared as I had heard bad things. But for the most part, McBain has been better than I expected. What you must understand about McBain is THE SHAFT. You have probably heard about the infamous shaft, but what is it? McBain is just a big square, and I guess since they were required to have windows on every room, the inner rooms face THE SHAFT, which is this gross, dark, and dingy void that gets no light. Features of the shaft are garbage, cigarette butts from people who smoke in the bathrooms, and old vapes.

It is a somewhat social dorm, so it can get louder on weekends depending on who your neighbors are. However, there are no suites, which limits how rowdy people can get IMO. Therefore, I feel like it is more of a Sophomore John Jay than a Sophomore Carmen (which I was told). The location is also amazing! Being on the corner of 113th and Broadway means that you are a little bit off campus for when you want space, but you are only a 5 minute walk to the dining halls. It is close enough that I have woken up 15 minutes before class in Hamilton and made it on time. The single-use bathrooms are also great for privacy, but I have noticed that this encourages some residents to be extra nasty, as there is nobody else in the bathroom to shame them. The kitchens have a stove, sink, and storage areas (no fridge), and I have seen many residents cooking or baking cookies. I was warned of McBain having an unwanted critter problem, but all year I have only seen one mouse (kitchen), and one of my residents saw a roach in the bathroom. I will be in McBain again next year, and while I was not immediately thrilled by this placement, in my opinion it is better than some of the other dorms. Of course, my opinion has been warped by the fact that I have a large single, and most of the rooms in McBain are smaller doubles. As a whole, most of my residents who lived in Carmen last year think McBain is a little dingy and gross, while most of those who lived in John Jay see it as a major upgrade. For a defense of McBain, check out this 2019 article from a former staffer.

Resident Opinions:

• “Better than John Jay!”
• “The bathrooms can get a little gross, but that isn’t unique to McBain.”
• “I like how big the kitchen is in the lounge, but I wish we had more than 4 chairs.”
• “I expected it to be worse.”

Images via Bwarchives