Dorm Guide for Guilford College in Greensboro, NC
1) Binford:
The basics: Binford is a coed dormitory that is typically first years only, although some years they may add a few sophomores and juniors. This year it will be first years only.There are generally two to a room (although some people can get singles, and if there are too many students, sometimes three will get assigned to areas formerly designated as study rooms), and the average room size is17ft.4in. x 11ft. 9in, but corner rooms are a bit bigger and nicer. The floors are carpeted and there is a heater/air conditioner located underneath the window. In the rooms, the furniture is built in and cannot be moved. There are three floors, and each floor has one bathroom. There is one lounge containg a kitchen, a table, a few couches and/or chairs, and a tv with cable connection per floor, and one study room per floor (provided it’s not being used as a bedroom). There is a laundry facility in the basement. Binford rooms are same sex, but males and females are mixed on the floors.
Other stuff: Binford gets pretty crazy when it’s freshmen only. The bathrooms, especially, tend to get really funky and gross, and the halls tend to take on weird smells. There is sometimes a substance-free wing that’s generally a little calmer, but for the most part, Binford can be pretty loud and messy. It can also be a lot of fun, if you like that sort of thing. The rooms are comfortable, for the most part, and the windows are large. The temperature can be annoying, because the heat and air conditioning work out of the same unit, so only one will be working at a time: heat, or air conditioning. Once the college turns one off, it’s off for a while (a season, generally), and there have been occasions where the heat has been turned off and then it unexpectedly got cold out, or the air conditioning was turned off, and there was a heat wave. Binford also has three stoops that people often hang out on (so they’re a good place to meet new people). As far as I know, you can smoke on one of them.
2) Bryan:
The basics: Bryan is comprised of suites, which are four dorm rooms all leading to a common area living room and bathroom. Usually, there are two people per room, and the rooms are 13ft.7in. x 11ft. 1in. The bedrooms consist of movable furniture and uncarpeted floors. The bathrooms have two toilets and sinks and the common area is unfurnished and uncarpeted. Bryan is three stories high, and all suites open up into the outdoor courtyard in the center of the building. It’s coed, but the suites are same sex only. There are lounges on each floor with kitchens, televisions, and furniture, and a laundry room is located on the second floor.
Other stuff: Bryan is the craziest dorm. From the outisde, it looks a little like a cheap senior week hotel (well, from the inside too), and it’s the closest thing Guilford has to anything resembling fraternities and sororities. People who live in Bryan generally like to party a lot, at all times of day and night. It’s especially nice for partying because of the courtyard, and the second and third floor sidewalks that connect all the suites and have railings are great for hanging out. You don’t have to be a big partyer to live in Bryan, but it definitely helps. If you need a lot of quiet, or care about the aesthetics of your living space, it’s probably not the right place for you.
3) English:
The basics: English is an all boys dorm. It has nice large rooms at 16 ft. 4 in. x 11 ft. 8 in., which are carpeted and equipped with sinks. There are two floors, housing about 50 students in all. Both floors have a common bathroom and lounge. The first floor will be first years only, and the second floor will be only upperclassmen.
Other stuff: English is a nice dorm. The rooms are nice and roomy and generally pretty comfortable, and the showers are the largest on campus. It’s a little further from Founders, the main hall, than the other dorms, but Guilford is such a small campus that the distance is negligible. It can get pretty funky and I’ve heard some scary stories about the bathrooms, but it doesn’t get as crazy or loud as some of the other dorms (Binford and Bryan, I’m looking at you) get. Then again, a floor of just freshmen will tend to get a little wild…
4) Mary Hobbs:
The basics: Mary Hobbs is an all girls dorm that houses 54 girls. It’s the oldest residential facility on campus. There are two to room, and the rooms are 13 ft. 6 in. x 12 ft. and have hardwood floors. There are three carpeted lounges (with all the basic accoutremont), shared bathrooms for each floor, and a laundry facility. There is also a coffee cooperative located in the basement.
Other stuff: Mary Hobbs is a very comfortable dorm. It’s quite homey and resembles a bed and breakfast more than a dormitory. It’s generally a quieter, calmer dorm, with less of a party reputation. Not that the people who live there don’t party, they just usually go somewhere else to do it. The front porch is a nice place to hang out: it’s big with a nice porch swing on it. And from certain rooms you can get onto the roof. The Greenleaf is the coffee coop in the basement, which has all kinds of drinks, including fair trade coffee, and snacks. They also tables to sit at and couches to relax on. Sometimes they have live music or other shows there. If you love coffee, tea, and other drinks of that nature, Mary Hobbs might be a good place for you.
5) Milner:
The basics: Milner is a coed dorm that is coed by wing. It’s the largest on camups, and this year will have only first years. Some halls are all girls, some are all boys. The rooms are fairly large, 11 ft. 1 in. x 18 ft. 5 in., and the furniture is movable so the floor plan can be redesigned. The rooms are carpeted and every room has a sink. The rooms all have in-window a/c units. There are three floors, and each floor shares a bathroom and lounge. The first floor of Milner will be a substance free floor, and everyone who chooses to live on that floor will have to sign a substance free agreement. Milner’s first floor lounge is big and has pool tables and fooseball games.
Other stuff: Milner has a weird, sterile air to it. The hallways are kind of creepy (maybe it’s the lighting) and the doors will not stay open and close on their own unless they’re propped open. There’s something about it that vaguely resembles a mental hospital. Still, it’s nice and convenient to have a sink in the room, the rooms are large, and the furniture is movable. The beds can be stacked up as bunk bed to make more room, or taken apart and set on opposite sides of the rooms, and the desks can be shifted around too, to create your optimal desired floor plan. And the window a/c unit is great for people who like it nice and cold. The substance free floor will most likely be pretty calm and a little cleaner than the other floors (and quieter too), but there won’t be much partying. Then again, Milner has not been a huge party dorm in the past. As I’ve said, it’s less aesthetically pleasing than the other dorms but if that doesn’t bother you, it has plenty of advantages.
6) Shore:
The basics: Shore is an all girls dorm that has been renovated in 2003. It has two floors and a basement consistign of five rooms, one of them a triple, and houses about 60 students. The rooms are 13 ft. 7 in. x 11 ft. 9 in. and the floors are tile. Each floor shares a bathroom, and there is one large lounge located on the first floor, with a separate kitchen located beside it. There is also a laundry facility in the basement.
Other stuff: Shore is probably the quietest dorm on campus. Girls who live there are generally serious about studying or practicing (or whatever their pursuing) and to go to bed early. It’s not a party dorm. It is clean, quiet, and fairly comfortable.
7) The Student Apartments South:
The basics: The Student Apartments South, otherwise known as the “new apartments ” were built in 2005. They consist of four carpeted rooms (to house one person each), two bathrooms, a complete kitchen (with dishwasher) and a furnished living room area. They’re coed by apartment, so boys and girls can live in the same apartment. There are three apartment buildings, which surround a parking lot, and each building has three floors. The new apartments are also right next to the community center, which has an oversized lounge featuring a few games like air hockey, and a few computers, and new furniture, in addition to the usual television. They generally house upper class students, but not exclusively.
Other stuff: The new apartments are really nice, especially if you like having new stuff that’s not falling apart. They’re one of the more luxurious places to live on campus. You can have a single room, and live with a group of friends. How loud, wild, dirty, and partying the apartment is depends on who you live with, so they’re great for people who know, love, and get along with the folks they’re planning to live with.
8) The Student Apartments North:
The basics: The Student Apartments North, otherwise known as the the old apartments, consist of 6 buildings with four apartments per building, and each apartment opens up to the outside (whereas the new apartments are all located in main buildings and open up to indoor hallways). There are four carpeted single rooms per apartment, a full kitchen, and a living area with furniture. There is one bathroom, which has a separate door with a lock for the toilet part, so the sinks and shower can be used while someone is in the toilet area. There is a shared laundry facility for all the apartments located in a separate building nearby. They house only upper class students.
Other stuff: The old apartments are located farthest from the central part of campus (except for specialty houses), but that’s still not all that far. Also, they’re located in a nice, peaceful area–they surround a little middle area of trees and have woods bordering some of the buildings. Also, they have decks, which are nice for sitting outside, smoking, or just hanging out. If it’s important to you to be able to open your front door and be standing outside, the old apartments are a good choice for you. There tend to be parties at the old apartments but the unless they’re in the same building, the noise doesn’t really travel. And they’re still pretty new (1991) so they’re comfortably worn in without being run down.
9) Specialty Housing:
The basics: There are four specialty houses on campus, and anyone who wants to live in them must apply with a group of people (commensurate with the number of rooms), and a specific theme for the house (for example, an enviromental house). Students must apply for the houses the spring before they would move in and there are often multiple applicants. Once a group of people get assigned to a specific house, they have to uphold their theme by doing various community services related to it. Freshmen generally do not get in the houses.
Other stuff: The houses are nice, although not new and generally run down some. They’re also more disconnected from the campus, being at far corners of the campus, far from the central points. Again, Guilford is a small campus, so it’s not that big of a deal, but some more social people may feel a little isolated. They’re also hard to get due to demand, but with the right theme and the right group of people, they can be a lot of fun.
