Picking the best and worst classrooms is a rather subjective task. What may be an absolutely incredible location for one student may be a boring, distracting hellhole for another. The true value of a classroom should probably be judged on a case-by-case basis correlating with a student's personal study habits. However, there are certain classrooms on this campus that consistently stand out as unique. Some of these classrooms have great advantages, and some have serious drawbacks.
Gilman 500
Located in the clock tower of Gilman hall, this is the highest classroom on the Homewood campus. As a result, Gilman 500 has a pretty good view of the quads and the surrounding area, looking out north to Towson and south to the Inner Harbor. The furniture is stripped down to some basic chairs and a large table, and the room looks like it has seen some much better days. Thanks to the combination of the scenic display and the modest furnishings, Gilman 500 is one of the more romantically historic classrooms on campus, perfect for inspiring the Writing Seminars classes that are often held there. At the same time, though, the class does not assist in any to lectures. The room is definitely a space for small groups. It's also kind of a bitch to get to, being at the top of several flights of stairs. Regardless, it undoubtedly stands out as a room worth checking out.
Gilman 48
All the rooms in the basement of Gilman generally suck and are kind of annoying, but Gilman 48 stands out as one of the worst. With its clanking radiators, its consistently bad on-and-off fluorescent lighting, the constantly nippy temperature and the overall drab layout of the room, most students shudder at the idea of having to take class down in the dreary basement of Gilman. A very interesting contrast to the charm of Gilman 500.
Schafler Auditorium
Over in Bloomberg Hall, this is one of the nicer auditoriums on campus. Even if professors seem to always have a hard time getting the video projectors and other assorted technology in the room to work, Schafler has a nice balance of cool temperature and comfortable seating arrangements. It's not too hard to maintain focus in this room, which is good since this auditorium usually is where classes like calculus and physics meet.
3505 North Charles Street
A homey little house converted into a classroom, 3505 North Charles is a nice escape from campus. Located across from the street from the AMRs, a couple buildings down from the Interfaith Center, this building hosts several History of Science classes as well as some other more off-kilter ones. A little bit of a trek if you happen to be running around campus beforehand, but worth a visit.
310 Maryland Hall
At the top of Maryland Hall, this room doesn't offer much to the imagination but an inclined roof and some dry, dull walls. This room is usually home to section meetings for classes most students dread, such as a 9 a.m. Orgo section. Major bummer.
178 Bloomberg Hall
Being in this room is like being in some futuristic 1984 prison cell. No windows, dull fluorescent light, stale colors all around - all of the right elements for a depressing, boring learning experience. If you have a section that meets in this room, perhaps you should consider changing your section.
210 Hodson
Hodson is one of the newer buildings on campus, and it still shows. To be honest, most of Hodson is pretty nice, but this one stands out just a little for it's pleasant usage of natural and artificial light, and it's entertaining swivel chairs attached to the bases of several sets of long tables. The tables also have outlets conveniently stationed here and there, in case you ever need to juice up your laptop or some other electronic device. Adjacent to the outlets are inputs for internet, if you ever feel so inclined to plug into to the net.
Remsen 1
This auditorium is pretty standard for a college auditorium, but what is kind of scary about this room is the steep incline of the stairs. You can't walk up or down without the incredible dread that at any moment you may slip and fall all over the place, possibly causing yourself some serious physical harm, and definitely causing some horrendous social harm.
The Gatehouse
Our office on the corner of North Charles and Art Museum Drive may not constitute a real classroom, but since 1896 the News-Letter has been the closest thing to a Journalism major that you can find here at Hopkins. How can you hate our badass dilapidated roof, our rotting floorboards and our ramshackle walls, all ready to crumble at any minute.
