<p>Cerro Vista is pretty much what you make of it. If you stay locked up in your room all day, of course you aren’t going to meet people. But if you make an effort to go to weekly events in the community center and get to know people from your classes, you can easily make tons of friends. And you get a much nicer living situation. Dishes are not a problem. Just wash them right after your done using them. It’ll only take a couple minutes and that way they will never pile up and there will be no confusion over whose dirty dishes are in the sink. Cerro is probably a very different experience from the dorms, but everyone I know that lives here loves it.</p>
<p>NTKS17 Another great comment about Cerro Vista! I love the advice about keeping up with the dirty dishes. Weekly events at the community center sounds like fun and I agree that you can make friends in classes and in your dorm. We also like how clean and new they are. When we have walked around the area of Cerro Vista, it seems so nice and there were people relaxing in their rooms and going to classes. Everyone was walking with a friend or saying hi to someone.</p>
<p>I’m going to CP and I chose Sierra Madre and Yosemite for my first choices as a freshman because there are a lot of people in those dorms and it’s more social, which I think all freshman need in order to make new friends. Yes, it will be louder because of the people, but IMO it’s just a sacrifice I can deal with.</p>
<p>My third choice was Tenaya because it is the red brick for Business and would have people around to help me if I was having trouble with a class.</p>
<p>But that’s just me.</p>
<p>Santa Lucia was a good experience as a freshman. It was easy to meet other engineering majors in the building. Freshman engineering students tend to have some of the same courses, so my son was able to take courses with dorm friends or meet new dorm friends. He had a night class the first quarter and found someone to walk back to the dorm. There’s usually someone down the hall who wanted a dinner partner, so he didn’t have to eat out by himself. When his computer crashed, just go down the hall and someone could help. There were roommate issues but that’s a part of growing up. If the roommate was too noisy, just go to someone else’s room to study. Want someone to play video games with, not a problem. Want to be by yourself for a while, that’s OK too. The students up & down the hallway developed trusting friendships. That’s where my son met his future roommates. By the second year, he was ready for a private room. In his particular case, if he had stayed in Cerro as a freshman, he would have been more isolated. Yes, there were pros and cons for living in the red bricks, but overall, a rewarding and growing experience.</p>
<p>Both my sons were in Santa Lucia (Engineering dorm) their freshman year. Their experiences were just like eduparent described in the above post. I could have written the exact same thing about my son.</p>
<p>So if I’m an engineering and I choose some of the more social dorms like Sierra Madre or Tenaya am I going to have any trouble finding other engineering majors or do they just congregate in Santa Lucia? Also I noticed on the map that Sierra Madre is on the far side of campus and seems kind of isolated by the rest of the school, is there any merit to that? How fars the nearest dining hall?</p>
<p>Sierra Madre isn’t isolated at all. It’s not even that far from South Mountain (red bricks). We were just there a week ago and found it very easy to walk across Grand Ave. to the center of campus. Yosemite is right next to Sierra Madre and a bit further away, but not much. Now Poly Canyon is definitely up there! You would need a bicycle to get down the hill. But those aren’t until sophomore year. By then you’ll have your walking legs. Cerro Vista is a wee bit further away than the dorms, but not that bad. Compared to some campuses I’ve seen, I would say the residence halls are in close proximity to classes, etc.</p>
<p>I think I saw a dining hall right next to Sierra Madre. </p>
<p>**
NiklasK wrote:</p>
<p>So if I’m an engineering and I choose some of the more social dorms like Sierra Madre or Tenaya am I going to have any trouble finding other engineering majors or do they just congregate in Santa Lucia? Also I noticed on the map that Sierra Madre is on the far side of campus and seems kind of isolated by the rest of the school, is there any merit to that? How fars the nearest dining hall? **</p>
<p>Does anyone know if my son can change his housing choice picks once he has submitted his application?</p>
<p>CalMom, the way I read the form, it looks like they can log in and change it. I’m hoping they’re in line based on when they first submitted the form, and later changes don’t reset that :). D wants to take a good look at all the choices during Open House. We didn’t go into any of the dorms during our visit in the fall.</p>
<p>Yes he can! I saw something about that in the housing application. You can change dorm choices and add roommate preferences up until June 1st I believe and still keep your priority spot. Where did your son choose and what does he want to change to?</p>
<p>He wants a social, typical, college dorm experience. We filled it out in a hurry and picked Sierra Madre as #1, Yosemite as # 2, and Cerro as #3. We probably want to change his third choice, but we want to check out the housing options in person first when we go visit in a couple of weeks.</p>
<p>the North Mountain dorms are the engineering dorms. They are all outside corridors. You can see pics of them. That is probably why they say they are more antisocial because you don’t have a common hallway.</p>
<p>Red bricks are South Mountain. Common hallways inside dorm room areas. </p>
<p>No matter where you choose you will do fine. It’s all good. If you are in a double room there is tons of closet space, more than you would think.</p>
<p>I promise you that everyone freshman will get into a dorm. It is first come first serve for specific room types ONLY when the cash payment is received, not when the application is filled out. But anyone wanting to get into a specialty dorm, like Tenaya (business) etc. will get in. They just might be in a triple room. </p>
<p>Also there is enough housing now for every student fresh - senior to stay on campus. So no worries. You will get into a dorm</p>
<p>“the North Mountain dorms are the engineering dorms. They are all outside corridors. You can see pics of them. That is probably why they say they are more antisocial because you don’t have a common hallway.”</p>
<p>calpoly13: I can assure you that Santa Lucia (a red brick with interior halls) is in fact one of the engineering dorms. I have one son living there now, and one who lived there in 2007-8. Both years, they were full of engineers and listed as an Engineering LLP dorm.</p>
<p>We have a friend’s daughter in Industrial Engineering who lives in Santa Lucia, as well, although her mom told me she now kind of wishes she had applied for Cerro Vista. Part of it has to do with the food and the ability to cook her own. Supposedly the food’s not that great, according to her daughter. 
Of course, that’s just *her *opinion. Also, she liked that there would be a bit more “stretching space”. But, she’s enjoying her time in Santa Lucia, nonetheless. You’re right, it’s the Living and Learning for Engineering.</p>
<p>So housing absolutely guaranteed for freshmen? Im still waiting because I got placed on the waitlist, but if I can get in, then Id definitely go, even if I get my last choice dorms. :/</p>
<p>Good luck einnob! I like your attitude about going and staying in any dorm available if you get in. I think they have enough housing at CP for all students now, but I am not %100 sure. I would call housing to ask. I agree that any dorm would be fine when you really want to attend CP!</p>
<p>Housing for freshman is not guaranteed. The school gives the priority to the freshman, but not everyone gets housing. If you are in the last group applying, you probably won’t get campus housing or will get the worse dorms.</p>
<p>hmm… I was admitted back in Feb but I still haven’t decided where I want to go but cal poly is up in my top choices… I’m worried by the time I make a decision there won’t be any dorms left or there will only be crappy ones =. Does anyone know if sending in housing stuff mid to late April is soon enough to be able to get a dorm?</p>
<p>SEND IT NOW!!lol. you can change your choices up until June.</p>