What’s there to know about the LLC besides that you get a single? Find out here!

I lived there for two years, in both Hartley and Wallach, and it’s an experience I’d definitely repeat again. So before I get to the diatribe, here’s the good stuff.

In defense of the LLC

1) The distance from the bottom step of Hartley to the bottom step of Hamilton is 79 feet (confirmed with a tape measure).

2) Your aim Other people’s aim can be three times as bad. Compared to Wien (two bathrooms for 46 rooms), Schapiro (two bathrooms for 30 rooms), the LLC (three bathrooms for 30 rooms) is pretty good. I’m serious about this. Especially since LLC is a dry dorm, you will never have to clean up other people’s mess. You also get three times as many TVs and three times as many common areas to study in. Don’t underestimate this.

3) The surrounding amenities are amazing. LLC has the usual set of vending machines and drinking fountains, but there are also two beautiful sky lounges in Hartley and Wallach, and an empty classroom on the first floor to boot. Especially useful for finals week. There are also ten computers in the Hartley computer lab, the vending machines stock Red Bull, there are two pool and ping-pong tables, and there’s a cute little connecting thingy that takes you from Hartley to John Jay.

4) The LLC community is great. From my experiences, the LLC is the most social dorm.

5) Ten people per kitchen. That’s really nice.

With that said, there are cons…

A quick diatribe of the LLC

1) Their couches are YOU’RE-NEVER-NAPPING-HERE couches and it’s surprisingly annoying. I don’t quite understand why the manufacturers thought wooden arm rests would be a good idea. The couch is 46 inches long, and whether lying down or sitting up, it’s uncomfortable. If you want good couches, live in Schapiro.

2) You get three TVs per floor, but each one has a diagonal of 19″. That, combined with that white fuzzy static stuff, is surprisingly annoying. If you want good flatscreens, take a double in Broadway or Schapiro.

3) The air circulation in the LLC really, really sucks. It’s stuffy, and only rivals Harmony in the Smells-Like-Horse-Manure category. It also doesn’t help that a) every suite has its garbage bins right in the common area, b) there’s little ventilation, c) nature’s ventilation (WINDOWS), are lacking in the LLC.

Also consider that you’re living in a confined space with 10 people, so assuming that 95 percent of people at Columbia shower regularly, 1-0.95^10 = a 40 percent chance you’ll be in confined space with a garbage can, small windows, and a guy who doesn’t shower.

4) There’s close to no privacy. The walls are paper-thin and every time my neighboring suitemate complained about Ordinary Differential Equations to his mom, I knew about it.

5) Elevator times are annoying. It took 31.6 seconds to get from the 10th to first floor in Wallach. The elevators do get Wi-Fi reception though.

So you wanna get in eh?

The Princeton Review’s My guide to the LLC application

1) It’s due 2/9 (aka tomorrow) at noon. If you’re like me though, you’re gonna do it the morning of 2/9.

2)

2a) Like applying to Columbia, LLC admissions seems really random. Unlike applying to Columbia though, the admissions rate is 50-60 percent, not 5-6 percent. I personally pulled the “I need a single because I have to wake up 6:30 a.m. every day (actually true) and my hypothetical roommate would murder me if that happened” routine. However, I also know of a (deranged) swimmer who wrote that she needed a single since she woke up at 6 a.m. every day, and a Columbia-Juilliard violinist who wrote about her need to practice and didn’t get in either. So I don’t think the I-Need-A-Single routine works.

2b) Definitely talk about how you host amazing study breaks.

2c) My RA told me she wrote the exact same thing for everyone on her floor who applied and that she didn’t put much time into the recommendation, so I’m guessing that didn’t get me in. But I also know of other people who had so-so RA recommendations and they got rejected. But a good RA recommendation can’t hurt.

2d) Under activities, I wrote that I work for Spec, and of the twelve other Spec people I know who applied my year, every single one got in. So maybe the secret is to write for Spec. Just sayin’…

2e) I guess, as they say, the review process is “holistic.”

Some random pics: