<p>Welcome to the Cal Housing Thread! This is a thread where I rate all the housing options and you can read it and learn valuable information or ridicule my opinions (yeah, probably the second one).</p>
<p>Q: What am I rating?
A: Location (how far away), Environment (its appearance and surroundings), Room (how big the rooms are), Social (how social it is), Food (how's the food), and Cost (how expensive).</p>
<p>Q: Should you take this thread's each word to heart?
A: No, this is just my opinion based on my limited experiences so keep that in mind.</p>
<p>Q: Why am I doing this?
A: I'm bored and I'm putting off working on a project.</p>
<p>Q: There's already a thread about housing preferences.
A: I know. I wanted attention.</p>
<p>Okay here we go!</p>
<p>Unit 1: most freshmen will live in the Units. They're high-rises with small rooms but good social environments.</p>
<p>Location: 10/10
This is one block away from campus. It's as close as you can get.</p>
<p>Environment: 9/10
The buildings look stylish in a modern-sense. The courtyard is clean and well-kept; people often play frisbee or lie on the grass and get a tan.</p>
<p>Room: 1/10 (triple), 4/10 (double)
The triples are doubles converted into triples. They are absolutely cramped, especially for girls. Two of you will have to share a closet. The upside is it costs a lot less. The doubles have a lot more space but they're still pretty small.</p>
<p>Social: 9/10
This is about as social as it's going to get, although it still depends on your floor. If you hate drinking and your floor happens to be a party floor, well that's bad luck. Still, you'll know 90% of your floormates after one semester. Whether you're friends with them is another matter...</p>
<p>Food: 6/10
The closest Dining Hall is Crossroads, although you're welcome to go to other Dining Halls in other dorms (but you don't want to walk 3-5 whole blocks, do you?). The selection is huge but the quality has its ups and downs.</p>
<p>Cost: 10/10 (triple), 5/10 (double)
Triples are as cheap as housing come, while doubles are about $2500 more per year. You get what you pay for...</p>
<p>Unit 1 mini-suites: usually for second-years and junior transfers, but some freshmen get them. A floor will have many mini-suites in hallway style, and each mini-suite has two doubles (or triples) with a shared bathroom.</p>
<p>Location: 10/10
Same as Unit 1</p>
<p>Environment: 9/10
Same as Unit 1</p>
<p>Room: 6/10 (double), 4/10 (triple)
A bit larger than the Unit 1 rooms.</p>
<p>Social: 3/10
You'll rarely see the 4-6 people outside your mini-suite. People usually keep their door closed.</p>
<p>Food: 6/10
Same as Unit 1</p>
<p>Cost: 4/10 (double), 5/10 (triple)
Costs a bit more than Unit 1, but you get more space.</p>
<p>Unit 2:
An exact replica of Unit 1, but one block farther away from campus</p>
<p>Location: 9/10
One block farther from campus; still pretty darn close.</p>
<p>Environment: 8/10
An exact replica of Unit 1 inside-and-out (except for the color of buildings), somehow the courtyard isn't as social</p>
<p>Room: 1/10 (triple), 4/10 (double)
Same as Unit 1</p>
<p>Social: 9/10
Same as Unit 1</p>
<p>Food: 6/10
Same as Unit 1</p>
<p>Cost: 10/10 (triple), 5/10 (double)
Same as Unit 1</p>
<p>Unit 2 Apartments:
Upperclassmen only, sorry.</p>
<p>Unit 3:
Location: 10/10
One block away from campus, same as Unit 1. Unit 3 is closer to the west side of campus while Unit 1 is closer to the north side.</p>
<p>Environment: 6/10
Nearly a replica of Unit 1. These buildings are old and it shows.</p>
<p>Room: 1/10 (triple), 4/10 (double)
Same as Unit 1.</p>
<p>Social: 9/10
Same as Unit 1.</p>
<p>Food: 8/10
Unit 3 has its own dining hall called "Cafe 3". Selection is as good as Crossroads but the quality is consistently better. This is probably the best dining hall. Not only that, but Bear Market, a mini-supermarket where you can spend your meal points, is right next door.</p>
<p>Cost: 10/10 (triple), 5/10 (double)
Same as Unit 1</p>
<p>Foothill:
It's on the north side of campus, so many engineers live there because engineering classes tend to be on north side. It's on a huge hill so going back home every day can be quite a chore!</p>
<p>Location: 7/10
If your classes are mostly on north side, Foothill is a lot better than the Units. That huge hill hurts though...</p>
<p>Environment: 5/10
The buildings are pretty old, but Foothill tends to be relatively quiet which some people prefer.</p>
<p>Room: 5/10 (double)
You'll be in a suite, with several rooms connected by a mini-hallway, bathroom, and a common room. The double rooms seem to be the same or a little smaller than the doubles in the Units, but you do have a nice common room/lounge.</p>
<p>Social: 4/10
Similar to mini-suites, you won't see people from other suites very often. Still, more people in your suite than in the mini-suites.</p>
<p>Food: 3/10
Most people agree calling Foothill food mediocre would be a compliment, although I know a few people who swear by it.</p>
<p>Cost: 2/10
Ouch! These rooms are pretty expensive and the rooms aren't that big.</p>
<p>Clark Kerr:
I believe this used to be a school for the hearing-impaired. Since then it's been converted into a dormitory.</p>
<p>Location: 2/10
Farthest away from campus, it's about 5-6 blocks away. Enjoy building those buns of steel.</p>
<p>Environment: 6/10
Also quiet like Foothill. It has a quaint charm. The buildings are pretty old as well.</p>
<p>Room: 8/10
You might be sharing rooms with 2-3 people, but they are big, no doubt. This is probably Clark Kerr's biggest draw.</p>
<p>Social: 7/10
The rooms are in hallway style so there's a decent social environment </p>
<p>Food: 5/10
The food here tends to be hit-and-miss. When it's good though, it's pretty darn decent for dorm food.</p>
<p>Cost: 3/10
Yikes. This is about as expensive as Foothill. At least you get bigger rooms...</p>
<p>Bowles:
The all-male dormitory. That pretty much says it all.</p>
<p>Location: 4/10
Next to Foothill, it's close to north side, but you'll have to climb a longer hill to get there.</p>
<p>Environment: 4/10
There's really no courtyard to roam around freely, although a huge soccer field is right next door.</p>
<p>Room: 4/10
The only thing available is quads. You have one "living" room and then your own rooms, which tends to be two doubles if I remember right. It's a bit bigger than the Units, but that's not saying much.</p>
<p>Social: 4/10
You'll probably run into some pretty cool guys during your stay. Most guys like it well enough. No girls still hurts though...</p>
<p>Food: 3/10
Your closest food place is......Foothill.</p>
<p>Cost: 7/10
Not that expensive, but you're in an all-male quad.</p>
<p>Stern:
The all-female dorm. What more is there to say?</p>
<p>Location: 5/10
Next to Bowles and close to Haas, but farther away from north side now. The climb is a little better than Bowles and not as steep as Foothill.</p>
<p>Environment: 6/10
Is it just me or does Stern look like it was built out of huge legos? Probably just me. Well, it's quiet like Foothill, and a lot of girls actually like it that way. Go figure.</p>
<p>Room: ???
The only one whose inside I've never actually visited...what a shame.</p>
<p>Social: 6/10
Girls don't seem to mind no-guys as much as guys seem to mind no-girls. Besides, Bowles is right next door...</p>
<p>Food: 2/10
Yup, you guessed it. It's Foothill food. Except you have to walk farther just to get there. Sigh.</p>
<p>Cost: 10/10 (triple), 5/10 (double)
Same as the Units. Pretty decent rates.</p>
<p>Whew. That took me a while. Why did I do this? Why didn't I work on my project? I really don't know...</p>