A decent place for two best friends. A terrible place for two decent friends.

Location: 549 West 113th Street

  • Nearby dorms: McBain Hall, 548 West 113th Street (Brownstone), Broadway Hall, Hogan Hall
  • Stores and restaurants: Wu and Nussbaum, Milano Market, Tom’s, University Hardware, Junzi, Symposium

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: One private bathroom in each apartment.
  • AC/Heating: No AC, but you’ll survive. Trust. 
  • Kitchen: Each apartment has a small kitchen with a fridge and a stove… but no microwave. Time to bust out the Microfridge from freshman year!
  • Lounge: Certain apartments have their own private living space, but no floors have main lounges.
  • Laundry: Each floor has one washer and one dryer. Get used to sending a “Washer done!” text to the floor GroupMe.
  • Computers/Printing: There’s a printer in the lobby.
  • Fire Escapes: Yes!
  • Gym: None, sorry.
  • Bike Storage: None.
  • Intra-transportation: One tiny elevator that’ll have you holding on for dear life with every move it makes. 
  • Hardwood/Carpet: Hardwood.

Room Variety:

  • 6 floors with a total of 33 singles and 66 doubles
  • Studio Singles: Two spacious singles on each floor. Beware, they’re shafted.
  • Studio Doubles: Nine on each floor.
  • 1-Bedroom Doubles: Only two on each floor. These have a bedroom and a common area, which is typically converted into a second bedroom so each resident has their own room.
  • 2-Bedroom Doubles: Only 2 per floor. These have 2 bedrooms and a living space along with the usual bathroom and kitchen.

Stats:

  • Housing Data from the 2024 Room Selection shows the make-up to be 77% rising juniors, 18% rising seniors, and 5% mixed-point groups with an average point value of 32.
  • 100% of students who selected into Watt Hall participated as part of a group. Find a friend or don’t live here!
  • 2-bedroom singles were the first rooms to be selected, all by rising seniors. 

Bwog Recommendation:

If you’re in the mood to ignore your floormates and solely interact with one other person (ideally a friend), then Watt may be the place for you. With any type of room aside from the few coveted singles, you’re guaranteed almost complete privacy with the exception of having to live with your roommate. Consider Watt if you’ve found that perfect person on campus whose living habits don’t bother you (think: do they leave hair in the shower? Wash their dishes twice a semester? Refuse to clean the bathroom?). If you haven’t found that person as an upperclassman, you may want to choose a nice single room.

Resident Opinions:

  • “The private bathroom and kitchen is a pro.”
  • “Having one laundry room on each floor sucks. To whoever keeps leaving their clothes in the dryer, screw you.”
  • “Love the view of frat row. Great ambiance when they play their beats at 2 am.”
  • “Not the most modern place to live.”
small but functional kitchen
your worst nightmare: one washer. one dryer. at least five people who don’t know how to time their laundry.
Oh, there’s nothing like New York in the winter… when you’re staring at frat row!
tiny shower :(
bathroom (does not come this furnished)
a well-decorated bedroom (beware: this was taken in .5 mode)

Header via Bwarchives

Gallery via Bwogger and Bwarchives