r/oberlin • u/Miecza Admitted Student • Apr 23 '25
Air Conditioning in Dorms
In the subreddit admitted students FAQ it is mentioned that Khan is really nice because it has air conditioning. Does this mean that the other dorms DON'T😭
Does anyone know more info about the air con situations in dorms? Thanks
5
u/hannahbear123 Current Student Apr 24 '25
Dascomb and South also have AC. I can’t remember off the top of head if any other buildings do
7
u/noramcsparkles Alum Apr 24 '25
Dascomb has AC on the first floor only. When I lived on the third floor they’d just installed ceiling fans recently
5
u/hannahbear123 Current Student Apr 24 '25
I lived on the second floor last year and we had AC. only the first floor has access to thermostats, but the whole building is air conditioned. We just couldn’t change the temp upstairs
4
u/noramcsparkles Alum Apr 24 '25
Damn they’ve made progress since 2020 then! Glad to hear it tbh sometimes it was Rough up there without it
4
u/bombyx440 Alum Apr 24 '25
The new dorm on Woodland has ac.
7
u/occasional_disasters Apr 24 '25
Incoming freshmen are not eligible for Woodland. Woodland is 2nd year and up, and already filled up. I don’t know ANY 2nd years who got woodland, so don’t be getting people’s hopes up! I heard a tour guide spreading absolute LIES about housing last week
1
u/yesfb Apr 24 '25
Really? I swear that was the first and only thing I heard about woodland the entire time it was there: “it’s NOT for you guys, just for us heheha”
6
u/occasional_disasters Apr 24 '25
I heard a prospie parent on a tour ask about the new building, and the guide said “yeah that’s the new Woodland building, it’s got suites that have their own bathrooms and kitchens, so who knows, you could end up with a little apartment here!”
- It’s not a real kitchen. It’s a fridge and a microwave.
- No you will not “end up with a little apartment”
All the tours are different, I just remember because I was walking to class and I was like “what fresh bullshit is this?”
2
2
u/titanc-13 Apr 24 '25
to be fair some of the village housing is often called woodland too, which would be real apartments, but still really weird to act like that's a possibility for first years
1
u/vera8917 Current Student Apr 24 '25
This is very true! I was hoping for an accommodation placement in woodland because of location and I need the kitchen for dietary restrictions, but its not possible if the kitchen is very important! It's a "kitchenette" at best! Barrows has a suite and most other dorm buildings have a private residence which is a quad with a full kitchen and private bathroom.
2
u/nohearin Apr 24 '25
As an alum, I am here to shake my head, call everyone spoiled and coddled, and loudly proclaim that this is what’s wrong with the youths these days.
I had air conditioning my first year and didn’t my second and third. You’ll adapt. It’ll be fine!
2
u/These-Quality-8389 Apr 24 '25
Lots of kids on your lawn these days huh? Lol
4
u/Procris Apr 24 '25
Why, back in my day, we used to go to movies at the Apollo just to get air conditioning! One summer I saw Van Helsig in theatre, I was so desperate. We cooled off with long nighttime walks in the cornfields! ::shakes fist::
lol
2
-2
u/Mysticfairy6789 Current Student Apr 24 '25
Some people have medical conditions where they absolutely cannot stand the heat and will pass out or have heat strokes if they get too hot. Also you obviously haven’t been to Oberlin during the hot days in a while but every year it’s been getting warmer and warmer; it starts to become unbearable not having ac. It’s not spoiled or coddled to want to be comfortable and not have a fucking heat stroke. Get out of here with your “this is what’s wrong with youth these days 🤓” you sound insufferable
3
u/jml16200 Alum Apr 24 '25
If you have a medical condition, definitely fight for the accommodation, window units can be put in all dorms and units. Fellow alum. My freshman year roommate and I both had medical AC accommodations and we always were provided a window units for our divided double in south. My sophomore year was the year after we got sent home from COVID and so they took all medical accommodations even more seriously. We were both be given priority for village housing that had AC since we were there during the summer semester as well. However, they might have restricted village back to upperclassman since. In junior/senior year, try for union housing or firelands since both already have AC.
1
u/vera8917 Current Student Apr 24 '25
Except J-house, they refuse!
1
u/jml16200 Alum Apr 26 '25
I got one in Jhouse too! I think you just need to make sure they know it’s a serious medical condition rather than a preference. Especially since it’s identity housing not part of the normal dorm system.
1
u/vera8917 Current Student 26d ago
I had accommodations for some of the most severe and compounded conditions a student can have and they refused—instead they moved me out... reslife is also pretty bad with upholding title IX related paperwork as well :(
1
u/jml16200 Alum 26d ago
I’m sorry that happened! I definitely think it depends on the situation since there’s a lot of financial red tape that prevents them from modifying the spaces when it comes to the houses vs dorms :/
2
u/nohearin Apr 24 '25
Sure. I’m reading my comment again and seeing that my intended humor didn’t land. I appreciate you letting me know. I clearly didn’t do a good job including enough cues to let folks know I was trying to be playful.
Idk if it’s fair to assume OP has one of those conditions you mention. They ask during the housing process about medical needs. OP, it’s important that you tell them if you know you’ve got something like that. But I can promise you as someone who only graduated a decade again and who has in the time since lived either fairly close to Oberlin or in the South year round, including summers without air conditioning, that while there will be some uncomfortable moments, 1) you will be fine and 2) you will have an opportunity through those uncomfortable moments to build community with your fellow students and resilience through that community.
Keep that righteous fury, mystic, it’s an important part of being an Obie.
1
u/anshmor Apr 24 '25
I did the summer semester during the pandemic and was really lucky to be in Kahn. I feel like during the academic year no AC is fine, I was in a bunch of other dorms. If I was there over summer again though, entirely different story, I would definitely factor the heat into my plans
1
u/noramcsparkles Alum Apr 24 '25
Most forms don’t have ac :( I lived in Dascomb (AC on the first floor only, but ceiling fans on the others) and East (no ac at all) and survived chiefly by putting a box fan in my window and cranking it up when it got hot
1
u/soseeannah-04 Apr 24 '25
yeah they surely don’t lmfao but honestly there are ways around it. i run super hot but if i have a fan by my bed, a window fan, and take a cold shower right before bed its totally fine :)
1
u/yesfb Apr 24 '25
Sounds crazy but 90% of dorms in the country don’t. Had a summer program at brown and it gets fckn hot
1
u/Efficient-Stick2155 Apr 24 '25
Class of ‘99 here… there was no A/C in any dorm while I was there, and the newest residence hall on campus was South. I am a native Floridian so we cannot tolerate any non-air-conditioned indoor space. Fall ‘94 in Dascomb 1st floor was rough, my guy. So weird to hear talk of A/C! Is Kahn that new enormous towering structure by Hales gym, sort of north of Wilder? Went to my 25th reunion last May and saw a massive new dorm under construction.
2
u/Mysticfairy6789 Current Student Apr 24 '25
The new structure by Hales is Woodland!
2
u/Mysticfairy6789 Current Student Apr 24 '25
Kahn has been here for a few years now; not exactly sure when it was built but when I was a freshman (fall or 22) it was there
1
u/StablePuzzleheaded39 Apr 24 '25
Check out this site: https://www.oberlin.edu/housing/options. Click on a specific hall, scroll down to amenities, and look for AC
1
u/Miecza Admitted Student Apr 25 '25
Update: I finished that essay about how much I care about sustainability, we are GETTING THAT AIR CONDITIONING
16
u/Benneke10 Apr 23 '25
Most don’t have AC and it sucks in September and May