Hi guys,
any suggestion/advice for Columbia's housing?
Do you know which is the most popular choice among Columbia LLMs?

Thank you in advance and congrats to all admitted LLMs!

oh my gosh reading that it's columbia housing 2016 makes me think that it's been six years since i graduated. i stayed in lenfest. i liked it there, and there were many LLMs too. i suppose that is the popular choice, if you want a studio for yourself with no one else to share it with, and with the convenience of a laundry in your own apartment without having to go outside of the building. what i didn't like was that they were a bit strict with the front doorman. like during graduation time, your mom, dad, siblings, wife, kids, their friends, your high school friends, might want to visit and see you graduate, and stay with you in your room in lenfest, and that's not allowed. :P i know some people stayed in student housing with no front doorman, so the school had no way of monitoring if you had guests staying with you.

Michael thank you for sharing!
Anyone who experienced Lionsgate or 400 block?
Thanks

And what about the buildings which are not exclusive to the school of law's students?

Current Columbia LLM here. I am currently staying at Lenfest Hall. I've visited a few of other students' apartments when I was looking for summer housing for the bar exams so maybe I can offer some illustration. My view is limited only to the ones I've visited and please bear in mind that one unit in one building may not be the same as other units in the same building.

Lenfest is a bit on the pricier range compared to most of other university housing (on the approx. $1,900 - $2,500 side (incl. utilities and internet), price expected to increase by 2-5% in 2016). But it really does have a lot of upside: the building is newer, comes furnished (basic essentials anyway), reliable heater/air conditioning, elevators appear to be more maintained than most of the buildings I've visited, you have doorman (so no need to worry about having to be home when your amazon packages are scheduled to be delivered), it has cleaner and way less scary basement where the washer and dryer machines are located, it has a study lounge on B1, a gym in the first floor, maintenance is readily available (not 24/7 though, but reasonably available), it's 5 blocks from school (around 10 mins walk for me) so it's fairly near, garbage chute available on every floor. If your budget fits I say Lenfest is the most convenient choice.

The one on the 400s blocks: my friend's is a 3-bedroom that he shares with 2 JDs. It's definitely cheaper, you're likely to get bigger room than Lenfest, it can be closer to the Law School, but as the building is older, I find the elevators to be scarier (I may be exaggerating a bit), the building and unit somewhat dirtier.

I've never visited Lionsgate, but from what I know it's the priciest amongst all. I've heard from a friend who lived there that it's not worth the money paid as the first unit she was shown had cockroach in it. Again, please bear in mind that her experience may vary from other people's experience.

That being said, if I were given an opportunity for a do-over, I would probably look for cheaper place than Lenfest. I've visited a friend's apartment (but he's from SIPA) at 400 W 119th Street that I think is decent. It's got doorman (but not really guarding anything as I can easily enter and exit the building, but serves the purpose for delivery acceptance), no gym and I think it's cheaper. But if money is no object, I'd recommend Lenfest (or someplace in Midtown or Columbus Circle).

Columbia housing is expensive! Unless you have cash to burn it's advisable to get your own roomshare / apartment either on the upper west side or in harlem. Rates can be a fraction of what CLS charges. Highway robbery to be honest!

Thanks for the insight! Does anyone know if all of the on-campus housing has restrictions on visitors staying over?

Lenfest seems expensive - it is true that you have your own apartment but I'd prefer something cheaper like Lionsgate or 400s. I'd probably go for the latter - does anyone know if they tend to gather LLMs in the same apartment or not? or do they assign to an apartment randomly?

Hi imnc, could you elaborate a bit on Columbia housing being expensive?

Online searches for central Harlem (which is much further away) put 1 bedroom apartments at around 2200, whereas UAH housing at Columbia averages 1700 according to their website (I've also confirmed this with past attendants). I understand some of the Law school buildings are much more expensive than this, but those are only a couple out of all available accommodation, and you can indicate the max. rent you are willing to pay.

Hi imnc, could you elaborate a bit on Columbia housing being expensive?

Online searches for central Harlem (which is much further away) put 1 bedroom apartments at around 2200, whereas UAH housing at Columbia averages 1700 according to their website (I've also confirmed this with past attendants). I understand some of the Law school buildings are much more expensive than this, but those are only a couple out of all available accommodation, and you can indicate the max. rent you are willing to pay.

Sorry if my question sounds silly but is the price range you mentioned on a monthly basis??? I mean is it $1,800 rent per month?

Sorry if my question sounds silly but is the price range you mentioned on a monthly basis??? I mean is it $1,800 rent per month?

Does anyone know anything about the Lionsgate housing? The information on Columbia's website is not very comprehensive. How would you compare Lenfast and Lionsgate?

I have a two bedroom / two bathroom apartment that I want to sublease - i am an alum of columbia law and i work in a law firm in the manhattan but will be moving to another city. this apartment is fantastic - most esp because i know what columbia housing looks like. PM me if interested.

Many thanks for sharing the information. I was recently assigned a studio at Lenfest. The room number is 1104. Do you have any idea whether the room is exposed to south? I just found that there is very limited information about the building.

Hello everyone.

I am keen on applying to Columbia this year. I am just not sure whether my work experience will suffice. Can someone please, advise me on this?

My work experience's include: a non-professional experience for over 3 years at Parliament (part-time); 8 months of part-time professional experience at law firm and 1,5 months (current employment) of full-time experience in academia as a legal expert and also a lecturer of 'EU law and Jurisprudence'.
My first two experiences were conducted during LL.B. and LL.M. studies.