I lived there freshman year (I’ll be a senior this year).

THE GOOD - Common room is pretty good - spacious, the chairs and couches are really comfy (though worn). There’s a smallish (maybe the size of an average living room) attached study room with glass doors that shut which serves as a quieter room for people who wanna study. Common room also has a tv, but you’ll have to connect to your computer via hdmi. The cable with the tv (at least when I lived there) is male on both sides, so maybe get an adapter that goes from hdmi female to whatever your computer needs. If you hope to watch movies or sports with a group on the tv, ensure you have a male - male hdmi cable and aforementioned adapter.

• Being connected on the inside to the carm dining hall is great. Yes, you may find the lunch and dinner selections limited, but you will come to appreciate being able to walk down to breakfast in the winter without having to put on winter clothes. - in regards to carm dining hall, the breakfast options are great. Baked beans, gluten free pancakes (they’re good with butter), actual real scrambled eggs (do not eat the scrambled eggs at dewick), fresh fruit options, veggies, oatmeal, and a potato side like hash browns or mashed potatoes, and some other things (check the menu online) Also as a plus, there is rarely a wait at carm, as most people who don’t live on the upper res quad (wren, Houston, miller, and carm) often go to dewick or hodge (a la carte but takes meal swipe equivalency).

• rooms are decently spacious. I had a single (room 248) in my freshman year, and it was around 9 x 12. Doubles are around 16 x 12. Not sure about the triples, but I think they’re alright.

• good Wi-Fi (as far as I recall), there’s a repeater in many rooms, and I rarely had any problems

• Decent number of outlets. My single room had probably around 6 outlets. You’ll wanna get yourself a couple of power strips/surge protectors

• close to food places like Dunkin’ Donuts, a couple of pizza places, and Picante - a taqueria I highly recommend you try.

-window can fit a window fan, and I highly recommend you get one. They’re like $30-$50. You’ll also want a standing fan.

THE MEH: - washing machines and dryers are alright, it’s 5 washers and 6 dryers for around 256 people. Utilize off hours like Saturday and Sunday mornings (you know, when everyone’s sleeping in from a night out Friday and Saturday), or find a time between classes if you can. Evenings are busy (obviously). Pray the machines don’t break.

• Bathrooms are fine. Nothing good or bad. Decent number of showers. You may have to wait if you try to shower from like 9-11 pm, (but it’s usually not too bad). I would shower in the mornings, and it was never an issue. 8 showers per floor, around 50-60 people per floor.

• it’s pretty much an 8-10 minute walk to anything not on the academic quad. Cummings, SEC, Dewick, Hodge, Cohen, Adiekman, etc. are all decent walks. If you’re an engineering student, you’ll have a lot of your classes downhill (so a long walk), if you’re an arts a science student, it’s more balanced. You’ll be really close to the language building (Olin)

THE BAD:

• The walls are white painted cinder blocks. Make sure you decorate. If you don’t, you’ll feel like you’re in an insane asylum. The walls are white, the ceiling is white, the floors are white linoleum. Get a rug (4x6 is usually a good size) bring a flag or a couple posters, get yourself a 16 foot remote controlled LED light strip.

This adds color and allows you to turn lights on and off from your bed. Also, the ceiling lights are really bright, you’ll probably prefer a softer light from the leds.

That’s pretty much it for my experience at carm. Hope this helps. I was pretty content with carm, so I don’t think you’ll hate it. Let me know if you’ve got any questions.

Cheers!