<p>So it turns out I’m going to live for a year in an apartment at Cal Poly (Hollister)! It had never occurred to me this being a viable or realistic alternative to the dorm life and yet here I was re-reading the housing assignment page over and over again. Although I have become more okay with this over the last couple days, I still lack helpful information about the “apartment life”. I mean I understand all the fundamental logistics and everything Cal Poly posts online, but I’ve found it near impossible to find any real reviews by past or current students who lived in the Cerro Vista apartments. I am a little nervous; rightly so, I believe, considering this curve-balled news. Any advice or stories about living the apartment life would be outrightly awesome! Our “room” is three bedrooms/6 dorm mates. Thank you so much in advance!</p>
<p>Things tend to work out, not always right away, but even if Cerro wasn’t your first choice, you’ll probably still have a memorable experience. This is the first year they are doing double rooms in Cerro. Before, all apartments were 4 people, as you may have already heard. I think converting rooms to doubles will give Cerro more of a dorm feel than it had before. I also think people will probably get out of their apartments more than they would have if they had their own private bedrooms because there is more space than in the tiny room. So fewer shut-ins hopefully lol. </p>
<p>I lived in Cerro Vista my freshmen year, but that was a few years ago and I think a very different experience from what your will be like. The best advice I can give is to try and meet as many people as you can. It may still be a bit more challenging than in the dorms just because of how cerro is set up, but not impossible. Talk to your neighbors for sure. Everyone likes it if you bake them cookies. Don’t be shy to introduce yourself to people in the laundry room or elevator. Join community council if you’re into that. Learn how to cook. Dining plan food gets old pretty fast, and you’ll have a full kitchen to take advantage of. </p>
<p>Also, the cerro vista apartments that they converted to 6 person suites happen to be the ones with the least kitchen cabinet space. So definitely coordinate who will bring what so that you don’t run out of room. A shelf in the closet can be a good way to store food. One of my roommates bought one with 5 shelves and we each got one shelf and then there was one for shared items. You’re not gonna have much space in your bedroom either, so don’t bring too much stuff. The bedrooms are small - like 9ftx12ft or something like that. An over the door hanging thing with 5 or 6 hooks might be a good idea to put over the bathroom door to store towels since there is not much hanging space provided on the walls. Finally, make sure none of your roommates is an idiot who sets off the sprinklers and floods your apartment, ruining everything and causing thousands of dollars worth of damage. It has happened before.</p>
<p>Talk to your roommates about whether you’ll share food and other kitchen items. Last year my roomates and did not discuss it until we moved, and I soon regretted it. No one would wash the dishes and we would run out of food before the week was over. Eventually I started to just use and wash my own dishes, and we all decided to buy ower own food. Although we had these issues we still got along well. Just make sure to talk about stuff like this before you move in.</p>