<p>Hey guys, so I was recently accepted to Berkeley for Fall 2010 as a junior transfer student. I'm moving into the residence halls for my first year there. Any advice on housing? What are the best residence halls? Pros/Cons? Where's the best food?
My ideal floor would be co-ed, but I want an in-suite bathroom or at least same-sex bathrooms on the floor.
My ideal room would be a double, as in 2 beds, 1 for me and 1 for a female roommate.
Where would these be?
Thanks for the help!</p>
<p>I have the same questions. Bump.</p>
<p>I’m worried about this. I was expecting to go into the upper division apartments where transfers can go. I was looking at the website and it said these apartments for financial aid purposes are considered off campus but on my fafsa I said I would be living on campus. I thought these apartments were considered on campus when I filled out the fafsa. Gotta call up, or email, their housing department I guess.</p>
<p>Bump. Bump. Bump.</p>
<p>I’m so glad I’m not single. I hate dorms, like really hate everything about them. I see not a single up side to living so close to dozens of people who will, without a doubt, get on my nerves.</p>
<p>When I applied I put in Unit 2 aka (Wada Apartments).</p>
<p>At wada you can triple or double, its about 900 dollars difference for the academic year. Because Upper division dorms are considered ‘off-campus’ you have to buy a non-resident meal plan, which costs 2200 for the academic year for platinum or premium…what ever they call it. </p>
<p>Check out Living at Cal</p>
<p>Both Wada and Channing-Bowditch Apartments are considered off campus so if you are hoping for housing that is considered on campus you would need to look at the other units. Wada saves you more money than Channing-Bowditch apartments because:</p>
<p>Wada lease contracts are on a semester basis meaning you will be paying for two semesters worth of rent. Channing-Bowditch apartments on the other hand you will a year long lease. This means that you will have to pay for the summer as well (even if you do not live there). So in you will save about 1,500 a year.</p>
<p>For anyone at Berkeley: would you recommend the meal plan for transfer students or can you get by without the meal plan?</p>
<p>bump…</p>
<p>I haven’t start my housing app yet but are we guarantee housing for the year?</p>
<p>Yes transfers are guaranteed housing for a year. ^</p>
<p>How’s foothill or clark kerr campus?</p>
<p>Is there any fast food restaurants at berkeley?</p>
<p>No there aren’t any fast food places in Berkeley besides the Mc. D on the west side of campus due to city regulations.</p>
<p>About meal plan, personally I find it useful to have in case you are busy studying and you do not have time to cook. However, the food is so so, sometimes it is decent and sometimes it is not. You can go to like non-DC places and use your meal points like the golden bears where you can get burgers and sandwiches and other stuff. DC food wise is semi-decent. So it is really up to you. Food around the campus is ok, I prefer going to the places on the West side of campus because they have better places to eat there than the South side of campus. But that is just my opinion</p>
<p>bump bump bump</p>
<p>DO NOT LIVE AT CLARK KERR. It’s old, far, and crappy. I visited my friend who got stuck living there, sucks lol.</p>
<p>Is Wada cheaper than the dorms? Berkeley offers me $21,000 if I choose to live in dorms, but only $16,000 if I choose to live in off-campus apartments. Thus…would it be cost effective for me to live in dorms? If dorms are a good choice…which ones? Unit 1?</p>
<p>I’m having trouble finding pricing information…</p>
<p>Living in a dorm may mean living with or at least around a lot of freshman…
but it would be nice to experience dorm life and it would probably be a lot more sociable</p>
<p>So from my brief research on the topic, I think Unit 3 is the “best” or most well-rounded… Unit 2 comes 2nd only because it’s renovated and Unit 1 is the oldest. Unit 1, however, is closer than Unit 2 but only by a block or two. Foothill is on the north side of campus (away from the city side/toward the mountain) and is sort of on a hill, but it is technically the closest to campus… it’s also closest to the science and engineering buildings which might be of interest. Clark Kerr is like it’s own little community quite a distance from campus… about 6 blocks which might be a hassle.</p>
<p>Wada is located in the same collection of buildings as Unit 2 and Channing-Bowditch is right next to Unit 3 (closer to campus by a block than Wada). Channing-Bowditch offers apartment style housing and Wada is more dorm-like.</p>
<p>Wada and Channing-Bowditch are both “off-campus” which means less financial aid (which sucks), but if that doesn’t matter, choosing between Wada and Channing are probably your best bet. They are both transfer (junior-standing) exclusive and honestly, you probably don’t want to get stuck with Freshmen all year at the “on-campus” sites.</p>
<p>So two rankings: one for kids that don’t care about the “offcampus” dilemma and then the next for those who do care…</p>
<ol>
<li>Channing-Bowditch (personally cus I like apt-style)</li>
<li>Wada</li>
<li>Unit 3</li>
<li>Unit 2</li>
<li>Foothills (over Unit 1 only because I’m a biomajor and I wouldnt mind being away from the city and closer to my classes)</li>
<li>Unit 1</li>
<li>Clark Kerr</li>
</ol>
<hr>
<ol>
<li>Unit 3</li>
<li>Unit 2</li>
<li>Again, Foothills</li>
<li>Unit 1</li>
<li>Channing</li>
<li>Wada</li>
<li>Clark Kerr (honestly… it’s jst too far lol)</li>
</ol>
<p>Oh and know that Channing and Wada both don’t offer meal plans and you would have to purchase a separate “non-resident” meal plan which I think is more expensive than if u got a meal plan through living at an “on-campus” site. Iono about you guys, but imma try to go for channing or wada and jst cook food. Anyway, my two cents on housing for what it’s worth… Goodluck! and Congrats to all Cal Transfers(:</p>