Sometimes a dorm room doesn’t quite cut it for studying. I would often sit, distracted, at my desk. Roommates, phones, and the fields outside my window would echo and I’d have nothing finished at night. When I would concentrate in my room, it wouldn’t be long before someone was knocking on the door or yelling down the hall. That being said, I went on an adventure to find some of the best places on campus to study. The following places are a few spots in academic buildings and around campus where maybe you too can focus this fall.

In Wimberly Hall, the fourth floor has numerous offices and conferences buildings. This may make it an intimidating place to go, but because it’s home to professors’ offices, but it is often one of the quietest places to study. There are chairs, similar to that of every floor sporadically placed for students to wait or makeup exams, but you can independently study there before dropping by to meet with a professor.

Another place to stop by if you’re in the neighborhood is the Wimberly Hall courtyard. This would only be a great study place in warmer weather, but hardly anyone is seen there. Beautiful flowers bloom in the spring, and it’s a quiet, nature-filled studying nook.

If you’re headed towards Centennial Hall, there are plenty of study spaces. Numerous rooms were crafted into this Hall for conferences, study groups, and student’s studying needs. There is an abundance of seating, on every floor, throughout every hallway. Towards midterms and finals, you can also reserve these rooms as well. I’ve found that having Starbucks on the first floor makes it a cozy place to go in the winter, and the seats are comfy on every floor.

In Cowley Hall, like the other academic buildings, there are chairs, tables, and couches on every floor. However, one of the best areas to study are the divided desks on each of the floors. These desks provide quiet, undisturbed study areas for students.

As a morning person, I like to stop by Cartwright Center and study at the tables on the first floor in The Galley. My favorite place to study though, is in the cozy chairs outside of Einstein’s. The smell of bagels and coffee fills the air, and gives the coffee shop aura. In the warmer weather, the patio outside of Einstein’s Bagels can be a simple and quiet place to enjoy the sunshine while having minimal distraction from friends because it’s on the very edge of campus.

While Murphy Library is an excellent spot to spend your time delving into the books, it can be pretty crowded and overwhelming sometimes. I found that there were are only a few spaces that weren’t jam-packed and distracting because of the populated area.

One of these two places would be upstairs where, though it may be busier, off the stairway there is a silent space where divided desks and tables are offered where overwhelmed students have a chance to dedicate quiet time to their studies. The second space is in Murphy’s Mug. In the very corner of this coffee stop in Murphy Library there are tables where I find myself cozied up with coffee and my books or laptop working away.

The New Student Center will provide ample study spaces, and numerous spaces to spread your books out as well this Fall. However, I imagine that it will bustle for the first few months of its opening. These few outlets are great options to venture to in case your roommates have friends over, you’re swamped studying, or you just can’t focus at home.