Berkeley Dorms

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of California - Berkeley
21

<p>FYI I have no experience with Clark Kerr or Stern…</p>

<ol>
<li>Which dorm has a private bathrooms or at least shared among no more than 4 people?</li>
</ol>

<p>Unit 1 or 2 Mini-suites
Foothill Suites (Over 4 people, but it’s a helluva nicer than Unit 1,2,3 standard rooms)</p>

<ol>
<li>Which dorm has the most spacious bedrooms?</li>
</ol>

<p>Unit 1 or 2 Mini-Suites
Foothill Suites</p>

<ol>
<li>As a freshmen I wish to live in a double (singles will be to lonely and triples and quads way to crowded) can I chose this? How does it work?</li>
</ol>

<p>There’s an option in which you pick your preferences.
ie. unit 1 double, unit 2 mini-suite, foothill double, etc.</p>

<ol>
<li>Where is the best dinner or the top two for you?</li>
</ol>

<ul>
<li>Clark Kerr campus by far… but it’s also very… far.</li>
<li>Foothill dining is consistently a 7-8ish out of 10 but it gets old for lack of variety.</li>
<li>Crossroads (Unit 1 & 2) varies widely from 2-9 from mush to something pretty tasty. Worst case you have sandwiches and pizza, but the variety here is good.</li>
<li>Cafe 3 is similar to Crossroads but sometimes nicer, has a nice setting.</li>
</ul>

<p>You’ll find yourself eating out or eating at other school locations though. Romonas for example.</p>

<ol>
<li>By personal experience which dorm will you recommend the most based on your opinion and why?</li>
</ol>

<p>Either Unit 1 or Foothill. Foothill like others have said has a summer camp feel to it, its nice out and people are close without being crammed into little boxes. It has little outdoor areas and such, but it’s farther from campus and has a quieter lifestyle if that suits you. Unit 1 is close to frats, campus, people, and pretty much anything else. A bit louder but also livelier. If you live in the mini-suites you get the best of both, it’s both quiet for sleeping and studying both also social as you’re in the units.</p>

<p>However, honestly college dorm life is what you make of it whether it be social, quiet, or simply awkward. Don’t worry it’s always fun. ;D</p>

<ol>
<li>Which are the closest dorms with above preferences closest to the College of Engineering?</li>
</ol>

<p>Foothill, though honestly closeness to the College of Engineering doesn’t matter too much, most of your lower div. classes won’t be there and the other Units aren’t that far provided you get used to shortcuts and the campus layout. (Dunno why some people still walk to Dwinelle to get to Pimmentel). Also later on you should be getting an apartment and not dorming when you actually are taking upper div. classes.</p>

<ol>
<li>How does the housing application work on Berkeley? Any advice?</li>
</ol>

<p>Follow directions, fill out all options with one saying any dorm any place then you’ll be fine and be guaranteed housing. Enjoy life, don’t be sour based off what you get in housing. You make your dorm life, not the other way around.</p>

<ol>
<li>If I (hopefully not) don’t like my dorm or my roomates, is it wasy or difficult to change dorms or room?</li>
</ol>

<p>I know someone who managed to switch rooms, but it helps if you know someone willing to trade with you. Otherwise, there’s not much you can do. Make sure you do a legit roommate agreement in the beginning (they pass you a form) as that agreement will be the only thing standing between you and your roommate if something does go wrong. The RAs can really only help you if they are either breaking laws or violating the roommate agreement haha.</p>

<p>(Out of topic) 9. What percent of people have cars at Berkeley? Will you recommend having a car?</p>

<p>Very few people, but that begins to change as people get apartments. I’m bringing my car.</p>

<p>(Out of topic) 10. How widespread is alcohol and drug consumption in Berkeley? I don’t care about it (it’s a personal decision) as long people also honor my decision? Is it true that there is a substance free dorm?</p>

<p>Eh from what I have seen alcohol and pot are relatively easy to get if you want it. Though most colleges are like that. Everyone I met has been chill other drinking either way, no one really forces you to drink and no one harasses you either. People understand and a lot of “cool” and “popular” people don’t drink.</p>

<p>I recommend against getting messed up, peer pressure isn’t going to force you to drink/smoke, but they will make it so that it seems like so much fun that you’ll want to do it. All in all, your grown up now whatever happens is up to you. No one is a dick about it so drinking is entirely a personal and lifestyle choice.</p>

<p>Go bears!</p>

22

<p>I don’t want to take over this thread, but I just have a quick question because I keep getting different answers to it:
As a freshman, do you have to live in a dorm? Or can you rent something on your own?</p>

23

<p>You are guaranteed two years of university housing but not required to live there. You can rent on your own. </p>

<p>Most people recommend living the first semester or two in the dorms as a way to meet others, ease the transition to college and fit into the social scene. If you were to go into a shared place with other Cal students, you would get some of the same benefits, but not all as the first time away is when everyone is new, without friends and most open to interacting with strangers.</p>

24

<p>Thank you! Yeah, I really want to stay in a dorm but my parents think it will be cheaper for me to rent something off-campus. I am going to fight to stay in a dorm though.</p>

25

<p>There are a number of coops and other housing that are not university dorms, thus cheaper, that would be a compromise between the two extremes of solitary life in some remote apartment and full cost dorms. A number of students here can answer questions about the various house choices and the pros and cons of each.</p>

26

<p>coops are so dirty lol. go with dorms for 1 semester and see what’s up. if you don’t like it, then just go out second sem</p>

27

<p>You guys are really selling the food short. It’s not that bad!</p>

<p>I would absolutely recommend against living in Clark Kerr if you want to take engineering classes. Personally, I chose to live in Foothill, but then again, I’m quite lazy :x</p>

28

<p>I’m going to reveal the complete unknown in the Units… where I am living… </p>

<p>The Triple Suite. </p>

<p>As far as I know, there are not that many. I know of two different types. The one I live in has a private bathroom, a kitchen, and a loft… so you actually have some privacy. The only thing is that it is on the GROUND floor, ie: you really don’t have a floor, so it kind of kills socializing in a sense. You can go up to the other floors, which I did in the beginning, but then I got lazy lol. There is one on the first floor with a common room, private bathroom, and “bedroom” (for the three people). I know there is one with a loft in Unit 2.</p>

<p>Basically my first semester in the dorms despite having a good room was like hell because I had a horrible roommate. I was considering moving out, but (after a little of arm twisting with housing people) we kind of forced him to move somewhere else. A new roommate took his place that is not as bad. On that note, if you can choose your roommates beforehand, I would. </p>

<p>The food is really not that great to me, so I practically eat out all the time. I have a car, paid a fortune to get a parking spot three blocks away, and never use it. </p>

<p>For the person who says it is cheaper to live in apartments than in dorms - that’s definitely true. The dorms are a rip off. I’m paying $1500 a month for this triple suite to live with two other people. I could pay the same price and get a one bedroom apartment by myself (or if you want to be completely correct and include bills, and food, and etc, you could definitely get a studio for the same price). </p>

<p>So, that’s my two cents.</p>

<p>Oh, and I also live in Freeborn (the substance free) - that part of it is largely true I think, and works out pretty well.</p>

29

<p>Hey which dorms are the most convenient for L&S? :)</p>

30

<p>L&S classes are spread throughout campus. There’s no one dorm that is most convenient if you’re in L&S. Unit 3 is the closest to Sproul Plaza though.</p>

31

<p>I’m between Clark and Foothill for first choice. They seem very similar. What are the most different about them? </p>

<p>The distance of Clark really kills it. I won;t do the 15 min walk. How often is there a bus/shuttle getting out of Clark to at least Sproul Plaza? Every 15 min? 30 min? 1 hour?!? I am a heavy and a late sleeper so I don’t want to wake up too early to my class and if I miss the bus I’m dead. Bike is not an option. Should I chose foothill instead? Or is the bus transit good on which I would depend 100%?</p>

32

<p>@Dr. P: If the distance is the biggest issue for you, I would pick Foothill over Clark Kerr. Even though there is a bus that passes by there, the AC Transit has recently been revamped and I don’t believe the bus passes by very consistently for people having classes at all different times. It’s not as bad as every hour, but I think it may be every 20 minutes, and depending on when/where your class is, it may require you to wake up earlier to make sure you catch the bus. Since you say you are a heavy and late sleeper, you might find it hard every morning making the commute over.</p>

33

<p>Hi guys, I’m also going to Berkeley and am now looking into housing. I was just wondering what suites are? I keep hearing about them and I guess they’re different from what I imagine a traditional corridor/hotel style dorm is.</p>

34

<p>Are the CoE common freshman courses of the first semester in general taken in the north or the south part of campus?</p>

35

<p>@Alluric: Suites resemble an apartment as they include several room housing doubles, triples or single and also have a bathroom. Foothill and Clark have also a living room. Check out Living at Cal for more info: [Living</a> at Cal - Fall Freshman](<a href=“http://www.housing.berkeley.edu/livingatcal/fallfreshmen.html]Living”>http://www.housing.berkeley.edu/livingatcal/fallfreshmen.html)</p>

36

<p>@Dr. P: They’re all over, just like what many other people have said, because as a freshman, you tend to take bigger, more general courses. Thus, they’re not concentrated in one spot. So you won’t be spending the majority of your class time in the “engineering” area, or the “L&S” area that a previous CCer posted haha.</p>

<p>But for some of the major courses you’d take, they can be in buildings such as Evans, Cory, Pimentel, Lewis, Wheeler, Dwinelle, & Valley Life Sciences (VLSB), or the majority of the buildings with bigger classrooms. If you had to pick a part of campus where the majority of classes will be, it’d probably be north or center, but it’s really a guess for the most part. Plus, all parts of campus are relatively closeby by foot, as you can get from one corner of the campus to the other farthest corner by foot in ~15 minutes.</p>

<p>[Interactive</a> map - UC Berkeley](<a href=“http://www.berkeley.edu/map/3dmap/3dmap.shtml]Interactive”>http://www.berkeley.edu/map/3dmap/3dmap.shtml)</p>

37

<p>Your lectures freshman year can be in any of the big halls, but usually discussion and/or lab will be in the building for your department. (Math lectures can be anywhere but the discussions are usually in Evans or Etcheverry), so if your in Engineering your classes will probably mostly be on northside but you’ll have a couple that more on southside.</p>

38

<p>this may sound extremely… immature…? but i’ve never stayed in a dorm or seen one. So are the dorm bathrooms. . .co-ed? like I don’t mind floor bathrooms, but…the berkeley housing website made it sound like the bathrooms were co-ed, and I’m not that comfortable with that fact lol so how exactly is the bathroom situation…?</p>

39

<p>@shoppingdiva92: Yes the dorm bathrooms are co-ed. The only times where they would not be co-ed are for the following: living in Bowles (all-boys dorm), living in Stern (all-girls dorm), living in a suite (shared bathroom with only people of same gender, single-gender floor (self-explanatory). If you’re uncomfortable with that, you can request to be on a single-gender floor and you’ll most likely be put on one. Going by your username, I’m assuming you’re a female and a lot of the times every building (at least the high-rises of Units 1, 2, & 3) have one female-only floor. However, if you do decide on living on a co-ed floor, for the most part people take a week or so to get used to it and then nobody minds after that usually. If you’re real curious about it, you should check out some pictures online of what dorm bathrooms at Berkeley look like.</p>

40

<p>oh wow. . .thanks…</p>