@yage nailed it...
The OP said: "This is in a college dorm rather than private home."
Which @yage diagnosed: "Are you trying to connect the Node to the campus wi-fi / local network? If so, the university IT staff may be blocking certain networking ports for security reasons. This may be what’s keeping your iPhone / MacBook from communicating with the Node.
@mcanaday CAN connect via BT which is a direct connection to the Node. Via wi-fi however, his control devices (iPhone, etc.) have to locate the node on the network. There's every likelihood that will be impossible on the university's wi-fi without their assistance. As it's rather doubtful he has physical access to the network, so suggesting that he "run a cable from the router" is no help in this case.
There is one other thing you might try. I take it you can connect your iPhone to the university's wifi? If so, make note of the SSD (aka "name") of the network it's connected to. My guess is there are several available to try and spread out network traffic. Then via a BT connection to the Node, go to the BlueOS setup to see if it's connecting to the same SSD. If not, it's likely that's your problem. I have two SSDs at home and sometimes if my phone is connected to the one my Node2i is not connected to I have to swap networks. Good luck!
Happy listening.