Bathrooms and Dorms at USD?

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of San Diego
1

How clean are the communal bathrooms at USD? Also, any comments/opinions/general suggestions regarding 1st year housing options would be much appreciated.

2

Missions A and B (“the valley”):

  • informally known as the party dorms
  • in Missions A, students have to clean their own bathrooms - so the cleanliness depends on your suitemates’ willingness to stick to the schedule
  • In Missions B, the bathrooms are cleaned for you and are generally pretty clean
  • if it matters to you, Missions A/B is the place where you have a good chance of getting a single dorm room.
  • if you’re bringing a car, you have the closest proximity to the parking areas
  • longer walk to classes and dining
  • closest to the gym

Maher:

  • quieter than Missions A/B
  • You’re in a double or triple with an attached bath that you clean, so again, it’s dependent on how well you and your roommates stick to the schedule
  • everything is close by, since you’re on main campus
  • longer walk to parking
  • primarily doubles and triples, don’t expect a single here unless you have a disability or other medical issue

Camino/Founders:

  • I would highly recommend NOT living here if you can avoid it. The buildings are really old (they’re original from when the university was a seminary) and really need to be updated.
  • bathrooms are cleaned for you and are generally pretty clean
  • no singles, expect a lot of triples and sometimes quads
  • the windows open onto beautiful courtyards. downside: if people are talking in the courtyards, you can hear everything and it sometimes can get loud at night.
3

Thanks for the info on the age and condition of the dorms @catbird1. My daughter needs to avoid water damaged buildings and this information is hard to find. Are there lots of discolored ceiling tiles? Buckets catching drips? Any buildings that were known to have flooded or been damaged by leaks or other pipe problems? Daughter is interested in Biology so science classrooms are important, but info on any buildings on campus would be great.

4

Are there kitchens in Missions A/B even if communal? When do dorm assignments generally come out? My daughter will not have a car. Would you say a bicycle is nice to have or everything is pretty much walkable. She is out of state.

5

I have always told my kids to go with the communal bathroom dorm situation. Despite having them clean their shared bathroom in the summer, it is disgusting. And most of the dorms I have visited with shared bathrooms are also disgusting. EIther do the communal bathroom thing or go in on a shared cleaning lady.

6

After much drama, my son chose to attend USD. Some observations (anecdotal).

-DS is OOS, no car. He UBERs quite a bit and catches rides with friends. It has worked well but best to ship dorm supplies direct to campus because it’s a challenge to UBER a ton of stuff.
-He chose Missions B. The bathrooms (communal) are clean. I didn’t see any mold or mildew on the woman’s floor we toured.
-Maher felt cramped to me and not as well lit.
-A tower fan is a must if you are from the north. There is no AC.
-Party dorms - this is on the USD scale. I felt it was a little dead relative to big state rah rah school. DS says pretty quiet relative to cousins nightmare endless party dorm experiences at a different school.
-DS and roommate very serious students with high GPAs. Social but not into getting stupid drunk. Found it quiet enough to study in the dorm

Hope this helps