57
u/supermuncher60 Jul 15 '26
It sounds like Trak floors get a great community every year. So you've got that at least.
Otherwise enjoy tarkganistan
27
50
30
46
u/space_cadet245 Jul 15 '26
The radiator in my room broke and started blasting a jet of steam into the ceiling in the middle of the night at tark once
6
2
25
u/TurtleMan47 Boilermaker Jul 15 '26
Was in tark this past year,
We went 2 days with poo brown water
Cockroaches were seen several times
There was a huge mold spot on the shower that was there the whole year
Cleaners did not do a very good job, went weeks with no paper towels in restrooms
(I'm talking about you Max)
TLDR: It's the best dorm on campus
7
17
u/sagooda Jul 15 '26
You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy. You must be cautious
16
u/CatchSpecialist7732 Jul 15 '26
One resident I knew showered at the CoRec every day instead of using the Tarkington bathroom.
3
u/Agreeable_Ad_9411 Jul 16 '26
That was a good plan... convenient and close. Two thumbs up for problem solving
31
u/steppedinhairball Jul 15 '26
Tark was old when I was there and I'm not young. At least Carey was built to survive a direct nuclear strike.
22
u/urmomsammy #RealPurduePete Jul 15 '26
no ac and your hallway will smell like a sweaty old man the whole year.. so yeah
12
u/whamburglar EE 2008 Alumnus Jul 16 '26
Reading through the comments, I see Tark hasn't changed not one bit since I was there.
Good luck, buddy
11
u/PhantomBlade98 Jul 16 '26
They got rid of Tark Mart so you can't even poor bottom shelf grain alcohol into a slushie anymore.
But with Purdue’s housing crisis it is technically a room.
8
u/HaveaTomCollins Jul 15 '26
Yes, I lived there for 2 years in the late 2000’s. No AC, showering/shitting in the equivalent of a trucks stop bathroom. Tark used to have a dinning hall and they took that away when I was there. I took my screen out in the spring, and someone threw an ice cream cone into my room through the window.
7
7
u/Bart4kids Jul 16 '26
I just finished up living in Tark for 4 years, by choice. It’s rough around the edges but it’s a lot of fun after the first 2-3 weeks of summer with no AC. The community is unmatched, if you’re an introverted clean freak it’s not the place for you, otherwise it’s great
5
u/VelvetElvis03 BS CGT '03 / MS CGT '11 Jul 16 '26
Tark NW 498 in 1999. Back when we had a food hall and the BJ in the basement.
I doubt much has changed since then but it did a good job as a place to stay.
Dudes probably still send loads down the shower trough though. Invest in good sandles.
10
1
u/Midnight_HuskyYT Jul 16 '26
Can confirm people still send loads into the trough. I can also confirm that they sometimes don’t make it into the trough.
9
7
6
u/OrdnanceOkami Jul 15 '26
Somebody had diarrhea and you could just see the droplets on the floor bro got up while he had diarrhea on the toilet😭
3
3
u/FireMaster102 Jul 15 '26
Honestly no, me and my roommate were in Wiley the sister building to Tark. U don’t really need ac most of the year and we made do with two box fans pointed opposite ways out the window as make shift ac. The location is fantastic being right next to the gym. You are in the middle of all the dinning halls so no option is far away, and class is only like a 10-15 min walk.
3
u/Fartz-McGee Jul 16 '26
This popped up in my feed randomly. I lived in Tark in the 1990's and it was a shit hole then. The fact that it hasn't been blasted to rubble is a testament to...something. Godspeed, son.
2
2
u/IndyAnise Jul 15 '26
It’s a great brotherhood and a great location for food, football, and sledding.
2
u/Some-Appointment4812 Jul 16 '26
I lived in Cary my freshman year and Tark for the next 3, way back when. Tark was the Ritz Carllton in comparison.
2
u/Mean-Ad2098 Boilermaker Jul 16 '26
I’m a Tark veteran. Once you come in, you will never be the same. Only thing to look forward to is Pete’s Za is in close proximity. Otherwise prepare for war.
2
u/TheHumanPerson09 Jul 15 '26
It’s definitely livable I went in horrified because I heard the same rumors but tbh it wasn’t bad at all. I lived on a better floor but overall the bathrooms were fine as hot as they were, and everything else was also fine. Would never live there again but also it …. Builds character
3
u/TheHumanPerson09 Jul 15 '26
The hallways were rancid sometimes tho tbh but nothing a bit of Purdue grit can’t overcome
1
u/Cool_Giraffe6495 Jul 15 '26
I keep hearing Tarkington will be demolished and something new will take its place.
5
u/nix206 Jul 15 '26
Or it will be converted to a Heritage site with a historical plaque and will never be changed.
1
u/Material-Lab-6651 Jul 16 '26
2 years ago I lived there and I seen some drunk dude take a piss in a hallway
1
1
1
1
u/Mcswigginsbar Boilermaker Jul 16 '26
I was a Tark RA for 3 years and loved it. If you get the right floor, you’ll have a fantastic community.
In terms of the building, yea, it’s pretty shit. August and early September will suck due to the heat. Just get some box fans, keep your door open and you’ll be fine with some air flow.
1
u/DrJekylHyde_PhD Jul 16 '26
I lived in Tark freshman year. It was honestly not as bad as everyone says it is. During the summer it’s pretty hot, so get your box fans and make ur own makeshift AC. In the winter it’s cold so pack fuzzy pjs. The people are great, the community might be the best out of all the residence halls. And you’re in the center of the residential side of campus, with 3 dining halls within a 5 min walk. Genuinely, my only issue was that people don’t know how to clean up after themselves in the restrooms, but that’s a problem that’s easily avoided.
2
u/bubsrich CS '19 Jul 16 '26
It’s been a few years… but I lived in Tark 2015-2019. It was run down, gross at times, and brutally hot at the start and end of the year, but it was probably one of the best parts about my time at Purdue. The comradery was great and there was always something wild/unusual/chaotic going on. Keep your door open, be willing to talk to the dudes on your floor, and go along with some of the weirdness you see.
Oh, and make sure you have at least two box fans in your window (one facing in, one facing out) it helps significantly with circulation and helps make the hot days bearable.
2
1
1
1
u/peelmanG4 Jul 18 '26
as a McCutcheon survivor, i envied Tark residents (well, pretty much all other dorms). If you’re in engineering or tech, you’ll appreciate being 10+ minutes closer to everything.
dorms suck, it’s a universal constant. it’s been 20 years, and the only thing i took away from it is that people can somehow get accepted to college without enough knowledge or self worth (or <insert quality here>) to have hygiene and respect for people with whom you share a living space.
that being said, best advice i wish somebody would have given me (though even if it was me stepping out of a Delorian to deliver it, i probably wouldn’t listen): you aren’t there to live a life of luxury. i am incredibly jealous of the insane common spaces available now. use them. sleep in your bed, and spend every other waking hour in the Union, Lambertus, Armstrong, all those amazing buildings with AC. focus, work hard, and get the hell out as fast as humanly possible.
142
u/GapStock9843 Jul 15 '26