The New School: College Dorms
Now that freshman year has officially come to an end, I can finally share my review on my experience at The New School's Greenwich Village dorm/residence hall!
The first day of classes was on August 27th, 2018, so the university had all freshman move-in to their assigned dorms a week before that. This was a great way to allow us to adjust to our new living scenarios before delving into our class schedules.
As a whole, The New School has about five residence halls throughout the borough of Manhattan. The center of campus is located on 5th Avenue and 13th Street, therefore, it was most ideal to choose an accommodation in the following neighborhoods: Greenwich Village, Union Square, and East Village.
The summer before move-in day, we all had to fill out our preferences for residence halls, rooms, and roommates. I was very lucky to have gotten my first choice, which was a petite residence hall called Loeb Hall.
The reason why I wanted this dorm was because I was already very familiar with it's address as I had spent summer 2017 living in another university's residence hall, which happened to be on the exact same street! Loeb Hall was very convenient because it was just a few blocks east from the main campus, right in the border of Greenwich Village and East Village, very close to the Union Square subway station, and had so many cool restaurants, cafes, and movie theaters nearby.
Until we checked in on move-in day, none of us knew exactly which floor and room number we would be assigned to. It was to my luck and utter surprise that I got a room on the 15th floor! Loeb Hall had only 15 floors so, of course, that meant that my suitemates and I got the highest view. To me, there's nothing better than a nice city view to come home to so I was very happy about this.
This residence hall was set up into "suites". Each suite had one bathroom, a dining area, and a kitchen which was to be shared by the rooms within the suite. Some rooms had only one occupant, while others has two occupants. My suite had two rooms, each with two girls inside; so there was four of us in total.
I was lucky because I knew my roommate before hand, and, thus, I am happy to say that I did not have a bad roommate experience. Some of my other friends, regardless of whether they lived in college dorms or not, had some really unfortunate roommate experiences. So, inevitably, hearing those stories made me very thankful! Lastly, my two suitemates (the girls that lived in the other room) were international students. I was really happy to have been living with foreigners, because one of the main reasons why I moved to New York City was to surround myself with people from different backgrounds.
In general, the appliances and furniture that came with the suite were perfect for the year. Nothing was broken or too worn down to be used. Considering that we were living in the middle of Manhattan, the suite came with a decent amount of kitchen and cabinet space. Our kitchen also came with an oven, a fridge, and a freezer (not all dorms have these appliances included).
Lastly, this was really pure luck, but I am happy to say that, not once, did we experience any sort of rodent problem. As many of you may know, apartments in NYC (especially old ones) commonly have a rodent problem. Before moving in, I was a little nervous that I would have to deal with this as an issue throughout the year; thankfully, that wasn't the case. However, there was one rumor that the residence hall had mice, but that they only went up to the 12th/13th floor. Those living on the 14th and 15th floor, from what I heard, did not experience a rodent problem.
The suites within Loeb Hall either had an uptown or a downtown view. My room had the uptown view; this was a nice change for me because the last time I was living in NYC for the summer I had a downtown view. Out of all the nights that we had this year, NOT ONCE did we sleep with the shades down. For me, that's such a con. There's nothing better than sleeping with the lights of the city and waking up to the rising sun; it was so pretty and serene.
I have always been a natural early riser, so my favorite time of the day was early in the morning during sunrise hour (typically between 6am-7am). The first thing I would do is have a cup of coffee and sip it while sitting on my cozy bed. I liked this time of the day because everybody was a sleep, the city barely made any noise, and I felt re-energized after a full night of sleep. My mornings were so precious to me because that was the only time I really had to relax in my dorm room (I normally would be out of the house all day and wouldn't come home until night hours).
Loeb Hall came with a gym, washer/dryer room, study areas, outdoor patio areas, piano practice rooms, and art spaces. Having a gym and a washer/dryer room were the most convenient features because it saved me the hassle of having to pay for an outside gym membership and having to figure out a dry cleaning scenario.
My dorm was in the vicinity of a few grocery stores, metro stations, and a variety of businesses. There was so much going on in this area.
The closest park was Union Square but Loeb Hall was also very close to Washington Square Park and Stuyvesant Square Park.
I guess time got the best of us because the second we got there, the pace of life in NYC hit us quickly, and my roommate and I never really took the time to decorate our room. It wasn't until Christmas and New Year's time that I finally took the initiative to decorate my half a little bit. I basically just purchased some desk organizer items from Muji and displayed a few items on my desk that I collected throughout the year (both in NYC and through my travels). I may write another article on my desk decor....
On the wall next to the window, I hung up my Urban Outfitters polaroid string (super basic but it definitely made the room all the more cozy and memorable). On the other wall, I hung up three posters I got from Desenio, and a hand drawn artwork of the Brooklyn Bridge and Manhattan's skyline. I got this piece from a local artist during summer 2017 while walking on the Brooklyn Bridge with a friend; very sweet memory!
For my bedding, I wanted to keep it simple so I kept the color scheme all white with a touch of cream. On the top, I added a cream colored faux fur blanket and a matching study pillow (both from Bed Bath and Beyond). These two little details made my bed all the more cozy during the winter months.
All in all, I would definitely recommend Loeb Hall for any incoming or current students at The New School. The staff and RA's were very friendly, and I had a great time living there this year.
One little tip that I observed: Loeb Hall was mostly a freshman dorm and, in my opinion, is best for those that want to be out of the house for the majority of the day. Also, during move-out, I would advise you to give yourself at least two days to pack up everything because the dorm's two elevators get crowded very quickly during this time of the year.
I can't wait for my next apartment adventure in the city. Not sure if I am going to live in the dorms again, but we'll see....... :)
Love always and forever,
VS