<p>About freshman housing, you will have the following housing choices, for which you will be asked to rank your preferences:
All-frosh on a single-sex floor
All-frosh on a coed floor
Four-class on a single-sex floor
Four-class on a coed floor
Each of the ethnic theme houses (Hispanic/Latino, Native American, African-American, and Asian), all of which are four-class
SLE (a combination residential and academic program for humanities-oriented students)
FroSoCo (a regular dorm with a particular focus on interesting academic things in general)</p>
<p>If you ask for all-frosh, SLE, FroSoCo, or an ethnic theme dorm, you’ll probably end up in a one-room double in a small dorm (50-100 people, 80 is typical). The dorm will have its own lounge, which is usually a great gathering spot; it actually has the feel of a living room, unlike dorm lounges I’ve seen other places. Your room will have two beds, two desks, two dressers, and two wardrobes or closets. In FroSoCo, if you’re lucky, you can get a two-room double; these are the same thing but you have a bit more space, and each of you has a separate room (but still only one entrance).</p>
<p>If you ask for four-class, given the new housing system, you’ll probably live in Roble. You’ll have a three-room quad: a central room with your desks (it’s too small to really be called a “living room”), and two bedrooms with two beds each (and dressers, closets, etc.). Some people like this, some hate it.</p>
<p>Alright, now onto some less complicated questions…</p>
<p>
Absolutely not.</p>
<p>
I’ll reiterate what Pistachio said: The emphasis is strongly on safety. If you and your friends are having a party, the RA’s will come and check on you–not to bust you, just to make sure no one’s going to get sick, pass out, or do something stupid. They’ll probably even hang out for a while.</p>
<p>
Cars are pretty much useless for getting around campus. If you want to go off-campus, a car is necessary for most places, but you’re usually going with friends, some of whom will have cars. In short, you can survive just fine with a bike. I certainly do.</p>
<p>
Somewhere in between. How much variety depends on what dining hall you go to. If you ever get tired of yours, try Ricker. Bit of a bike ride away, but it’s generally agreed to be the best dining hall on campus. Also Lagunita. Produce is fresh everywhere, and all the dining halls are pretty clean.</p>
<p>
Explore around Lake Lag; there are quite a few quiet spots there. There used to be a treehouse that would be perfect for what you’re seeking, but the university took it down, probably out of safety concerns. I recommend its former location–take the trail around the lake counterclockwise, pass Elliot Program Center, and you’ll eventually come to a big open area on your right; walk through it and you’re there.</p>
<p>
There’s the Dish, which is very popular. If you’ve got a car, Mission Peak in Fremont is a ways away but pretty cool. I’m sure there are others, I just don’t know about them.</p>
<p>Thank you for all the responses, guys. We really appreciate it =).</p>
<p>I just have a few more questions!</p>
<p>Is it true that every dorm (with typically 80 people?) have only one bathroom to share? How do you guys survive with that O.O. Do you guys work out a system/schedule, or just try to wake up the earliest and rush there first?</p>
<p>And how clean are those bathrooms in the dorms? How about the restrooms in the university?</p>
<p>Are insects/pests usually a problem? Tell me about them! Also, are mosquitoes prevalent, especially during the summer?</p>
<p>Lastly, how safe is the university in terms of petty crime/theft. Are laptops/bikes commonly stolen? Should you always lock the door/car when you go outside, even if its just a 2 minute walk? Should I be paranoid about every item I bring outside?</p>
<p>Bathrooms: Not true. Each floor/hall has its own bathroom. They’re typically shared between 15-30 people, at a rough estimate. They’re pretty clean most of the time.</p>
<p>Insects are not really much of a problem; skeeters have never bothered me. There are caterpillars that seem to be everywhere in the spring; they’re generally regarded as at most a mild annoyance.</p>
<p>The campus is extremely safe. Bike theft is by far the most common crime on campus, and it can be easily prevented by always locking your bike when leaving it unattended. Aside from that, you don’t really need to worry about getting stuff stolen. Do lock your room door, though–every now and then you hear about laptops stolen from unlocked rooms.</p>
<p>Can I ask some more questions haha? Apologies if these have been asked before.</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Are there any cheap storage options nearby for leaving stuff over the summer?</p></li>
<li><p>How is life for the LGBT folk?</p></li>
<li><p>If you plan on joining a serious club sport, is a lot of time “lost”? Basically, how much of a time commitment is there?</p></li>
<li><p>Does taking summer quarter classes cost extra?</p></li>
<li><p>Does the ASSU actually have a presence/impact on campus?</p></li>
<li><p>How hard are math classes for the highly mathematically-impaired?</p></li>
</ul>
<p>Bluebubbles: I was wondering the same thing and then I looked up the requirements. Basically, for those of us who have an aversion to math: there are 3 disciplinary breath requirements that are bothersome and probably a bit tedious but after that, you don’t have to do any other math-related things.</p>
<p>llpitch, you can bank through the Stanford Credit Union, and they have lots of ATM’s on campus, as well as a branch office. They’ll give you a student credit card, too. Bank of America has one ATM on campus. That’s handy for parents, since BOA has locations all over the country, and you can make deposits into your kid’s account very easily. My S banks both with BOA and the SCU (where he got his credit card).</p>
<p>I agree that [Campus</a> Bike Shop](<a href=“http://campusbikeshop.com/]Campus”>http://campusbikeshop.com/) is the place to find out about bikes on campus. You can buy one online from there, and they’ll have it all ready for you to pick up on move-in day. If you get the service package, you get 4 years of free maintenance and money off on summer storage. It’s great to just put your bike in storage for the summer, and then pick it up in the fall in perfect shape. My S has been very happy with the bike he bought and has had no problems.</p>
<p>Yeah I researched the banking more after I made that post and SFCU looks like a good choice for me. It’s probably going to be either SFCU or Navy Federal Credit Union, but they’re both “Co-op” banks so I get free atm at either.</p>
<p>Hmm… I just found out a few days ago that I actually really suck at riding bikes LOL. I think it’d be both a danger to myself and to those around me… I realize that I don’t know how to ride a bike slowly or how to maneuver around objects/walls/people D: I get all crooked when I’m trying to go slowly lol. Is it really inconvenient/tiring to walk everywhere? Are skateboards/longboards easy and convenient as well? It seems like it’d be difficult riding a board with a heavy backpack… but I’ve never tried. I need to figure out soon if my boarding skills are as bad as my biking skills haha.</p>
<p>When I was walking around campus during admit weekend, it was pretty big. Walking everywhere was somewhat annoying. I’d imagine it would be worse if I had to get to a class on time or had something else important to do. So you probably could walk, but learning to ride a bike or longboard would be much better imo.</p>
<p>The reason you’re tipping over when going slow is you probably aren’t going fast enough (somewhat counterintuitive, but it’s because of angular momentum, iirc).</p>