Most students at Deerfield think that Mods is the worst dorm, either because of the distance from classes or the supposedly cheap construction. Yet after interviewing a few of its current residents,  I have come to the conclusion that many people actually enjoy it, with multiple students mentioning the large rooms and air conditioning.

“It’s one of the top three dorms on campus, room-wise,” Justin Seo ’23 said. Students also enjoy having a large common room and how the smaller size of Mods allows a tighter community to form. “It’s a small dorm, which in my opinion is a good thing,” Ethan Zhang ’22 said.

Another popular feature of Mods is the grill. Mods is the only dorm on campus with a grill, and it often holds cookouts where students can gather and socialize. The school provides a small budget for food for the grill, which encourages students to use the amenity. Zhang said that  “[the grill]  entices a lot of people; you can meet your friends, and it’s student-led.” Students are currently planning events, such as Korean barbecue and lamb skewers, for future nights.

On the other hand, there were a few complaints, all focused on the location of  Mods. Mods is the farthest dorm from academic buildings, which makes commuting difficult.  “I have to walk another 3 minutes walking to class,” Michael Corrado ’23 said. However, most students have solved the problem by buying a mode of transportation, most commonly an electric scooter. Even with its negative reputation, the location of Mods was the only complaint that was expressed in the interviews.

So, why does Mods have such a negative reputation? There seem to be two main culprits: the COVID-19 pandemic and the design of the dorm. COVID-19 had a huge impact on life at Deerfield, one that has left an impression on students of what it is like to live in Mods. According to Zhang, who lived in the dorm during COVID-19, Mods felt “confined.” Additionally, Mods is arguably the most unappealing building on campus architecturally. As Seo put it, “It looks like a shoebox.”

So, is Mods that bad? My investigation concludes: no, it’s not.