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Tim McDermott, a 1986 Syracuse University graduate, has lived in Asia for 22 years. Before streaming, he’d find American media at a corner vendor. That’s where he and his wife first found the TV show “New Girl.”

He’d heard about it before — from his friends or articles.

“My friends that I went to school with said, ‘Hey, these dudes in this show went to Syracuse,’” McDermott said. “I was already looking out for them wearing ‘Cuse sweatshirts.”

The two characters his friends mentioned were Nick Miller and Winston Schmidt. While the duo lives in Los Angeles with Jess Day and either Coach or Winston Bishop in the show’s main timeline, their friendship journey began at Syracuse University.

Season 1 episode 14 first shows Schmidt sporting a ‘Cuse sweatshirt that McDermott once searched his TV for. What was then a simple wardrobe choice is now an entire backstory for goofy, ridiculous roommates Nick and Schmidt.

But which dorm did these two roommates meet in? The Daily Orange asked its readers where they thought Nick and Schmidt lived their freshman year.

While many respondents chose the dorm they lived in because they wanted to feel connected to the show’s characters, one residence hall came out on top. Of 112 responses from students, alumni and family, Brewster, Boland and Brockway halls won with 36.6% of the vote. Flint Hall followed behind BBB with 25.9%, then Sadler Hall with 12.5% and Day Hall with 11.6% of the vote.

Sophia Burke | Digital Design Director

Nick and Schmidt first met in a Season 2 episode 18 flashback to their college dorm. Known then as “Fat Schmidt,” he randomly appears in Nick’s room, watches him sleep and eats dry ramen noodles. Nick calls him “weird.” This is one of the reasons junior Lexi Mathai imagined the TV duo in BBB.

“A lot of people went random and didn’t even think to contact (their roommate), especially the guys, before moving in,” Mathai said. “So that narrative of him just appearing there is 1,000% something that would just happen in this building.”

Mathai’s credentials? She lived in BBB herself. Because of the number of freshmen in BBB and on the Mount, they would have to end up in one of those, Mathai said. But what’s missing from the show’s plot are the notorious Mount steps, which she thinks lazy Nick would never go up.

Junior Bridgette Sanders agrees with Mathai. Nick and Schmidt’s vibes are just so BBB, she said.
In Sanders’ time living in BBB, she found that the fire alarm went off at least once a week because someone was smoking in their dorm. She thinks that Nick was the culprit when he was at SU, and the duo would have the “perfect amount of shenanigans” and banter for BBB.

“I can definitely see a conversation between Nick and Schmidt going along the lines of Schmidt saying ‘I told you, when you do that, please open the window, buddy,’” Sanders said.

To Sanders, the dorm in the show’s flashbacks looks like BBB.

In Season 4 episode 8, Schmidt admits he went to college without knowing how to do laundry. Then, there’s a flashback of Schmidt in a dingy basement apartment while girls judge him. He darts out of the laundry room and never learns how to do laundry. Mathai swears it’s the BBB laundry room.

For some of the same reasons, however, sophomore Mia Jordanich chose Day Hall. When she lived in Day last year, she said people would smoke in the staircases at night, which she envisioned Nick and Schmidt having done, too. They also likely would’ve taken the tunnels to easily get to the Graham Dining Center or enjoy late-night eats at the Junction Snack Bar, Jordanich envisioned.

For her, Schmidt would’ve been too much of a clean freak to live in BBB, especially because it has communal showers and not pod bathrooms like Day.

“He would definitely love to lock himself in the pod and have his own morning and night routine in there,” Jordanich said.

Some people postulate an invisible string theory since Nick eventually ends up with Jess Day, connecting back to Day Hall.

Flint Hall received the second most votes with 25.9%. Some said that the pair would’ve endured the pain of going up the Mount steps every day, while others think they would’ve avoided it by living in BBB.

Another respondent said that Schmidt’s preppiness would fit on the Mount. Because of the steps and BBB’s overall negative perception, many think they would suffer in one of these main freshmen dorms.

Senior Wyatt Humpf thought Nick and Schmidt would live in Haven Hall, like him. Only four respondents voted for the “toilet bowl.” He didn’t know before filling out the form that Nick and Schmidt went to Syracuse, but it’s something he was excited about since they’re so relatable.

“It seems really clever and inclusive to anyone to be part of Orange and Syracuse,” Humpf said.

First and foremost, Nick and Schmidt are Syracuse guys, McDermott said.

“Schmidt — especially when he was portrayed as a student — was this needy, pathetic dude,” McDermott said. “(Nick and Schmidt) thought they were cool, but they really weren’t at that point. So it kind of reminded me of new students who would start at Syracuse.”

Sanders pictures them eating in the Brockway Dining Center, moving their fights to the dance studio in the basement or taking the long way to make it to the dining hall without going outside.

But beyond just being in BBB, Sanders sees them stealing dining hall trays and sledding down the Crouse College hill, or rolling down it in nicer weather. She could also picture them going to University Union’s annual Block Party.

Schmidt was a communications major, so he would’ve been in the Newhouse School of Public Communications, which Mathai said was a fun Easter egg for her to hear in the show. She’s from Chicago, and she said she rarely finds people who are familiar with Syracuse. So, sometimes Mathai used “New Girl” to create her own connection.

“They’ll be like, ‘Oh my God. They went to Syracuse, too,” Mathai said. “It just feels like I have a little more representation there.”

Photo credits:
Sadler: Emily Steinberger | Daily Orange File Photo
Flint: Joe Zhao | Senior Staff Photographer
BBB: Lars Jendruschewitz | Senior Staff Photographer

Published on August 21, 2025 at 12:04 am
Contact Rosina: rosinaboehm@dailyorange.com