A recent feature in The New York Times highlights what it describes as the "Dorms You'll Never See on the Campus Tour."
These residence halls stand in stark contrast to many of the opulent living situations colleges now use to lure students on campus.
"Built in the middle of the last century or even earlier, they have survived to shock and dismay new freshmen with their cinder block aesthetic and dingy common rooms," Times reporter Vivian Yee writes. "Air-conditioning is a distant luxury. Bathrooms are nasty, crowded and few."
The Times article shines a light on some of the most "loathed" dorms around the country. Here's what it's like to live in a few of the worst:
Quadrangle Hall, at the University of Iowa, is slated for demolition in 2017.
Designed to be a World War I barracks, Quadrangle Hall is almost 100 years old. Here it is in 1923:
The age shows. "It kind of always smells like it's 100 years old ... It's kind of like a mixture of mildew and old people, I would say," one resident told The Times.
Just finished move-in at Quad!
It's not all bad though. One resident notes that in the winter, Quadrangle is "actually starting to look pretty ... and less like a prison."
Hill College House is one of the largest dorms at the University of Pennsylvania, housing first-year students in what The Times calls "a brick fortress surrounded by a moat."
Students affectionately refer to the dorm as a "prison."
Our old prison looks a little less dreary in spring time @maxasilverman @stephd0
Hill College House was designed by famed architect Eero Saarinen. One resident quipped, "Not your best work sweetheart."
#EeroSaarinen... Not your best work sweetheart
Inside, the dormitory has an entrance atrium.
One resident told The Times that when she moved in, her father said that Hill looked the same when he lived there in the 1980s. "Not really what you want to hear," she said.
Here's some of the fluorescent lighting in the dorm:
Another Ivy League school — Cornell University — was also included in The Times' feature, with one resident recounting some of her peers' tears when they were informed of their housing assignment.
This suite in another Cornell dorm — High Rise 5 — has the same layout as the Low Rises.
"A mazelike layout of isolated 'suites,' each dorm houses seven students sharing a bathroom," The Times writes.
The rooms in Low Rise 6 look a little tight ...
Better late than never. Welcome to the bunk of Alana B Gross.
As they do in Low Rise 7, where this student has to make due with a small armoire for her clothes.
Met my first college challenge already 😰 #thestruggle #thisclosetcanthandleme
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