Have found very little information online reviewing the good and the bad of different on-campus student accomodations at Cal Poly. Anyone have anything they’d like to share on this matter?
When students apply for housing, they request Residential Learning Communities — not a specific building. The location of each Learning Community is subject to change from year-to-year, based on the number of requests. The location of specific Learning Communities is determined during the summer.
Hopefully a current SLO student can chime in on where certain LLC’s are being housed this year and give some feedback on the new Freshman dorms. My niece whom graduated last June recommended to avoid the “bricks” South Mountain due to very limited space and older condition of the buildings.
We were able to tour all of the different housing types on our housing tour last summer. I would say they were all pretty limited on space except for the new ones. The new ones are gorgeous, but the coed bathroom is a little bit of a concern.
@HHuntforCollege Co-ed Bathroom? That sounds like a great idea [sarcasm].
Can you explain further? Showers, toilets, the whole shabang?
@cmg2024 When I went to school many years ago, we were in a coed dorm with “coed” bathrooms. What that meant back then, is one side for men, the other side for ladies. Not that people didn’t cross over if they were during busy times but each shower had an “anteroom” curtained off where you change before and after showering.
So each toilet stall and shower stall is separate with a door that is pretty much full length, so you can’t look under, and the showers have a small dressing area, no restrictions on if guys or girls can use any shower they want. Outside of the stalls where sinks are is coed.
After watching a bunch of reviews from current cal poly students about the bathrooms (both male and female), they say that the bathrooms don’t cause any concern or discomfort for them because of the measures taken to ensure their own privacy.
The Yakitutu/new dorm community is gorgeous (my daughter realized just how lucky she is to live there when she recently toured the on-campus apartments for next year). The rooms are a really decent size and the common areas are great. The co-ed bathrooms really aren’t a big deal. The toilet stalls and showers have floor to ceiling locking doors - lockers to store toiletries and one long row of sinks. My daughter got used to it very quickly - I don’t think it fazes the kids in the slightest. As nice as the new dorms are, however, she has echoed what I think I’ve heard others on this forum say - the older dorms are really a lot more social, especially Yosemite with their huge community room. She spends a lot of time with her friends that live there 
How much is the Yakitutu dorm per month?
@NonTraditional, there are lot of options at Cal Poly, although students don’t have total control over how the assignments are determined. Here is a link to the housing fees page.
http://www.housing.calpoly.edu/student-housing
BTW, when my son lived on campus, the housing and dining plan fees were broken into eight payments starting with the new school year and ending a month before school got out.
I really hate that the student doesn’t get to choose or even rank their top choices for where they want to live. My dd has no ties or interest in the current LLCs in the new dorms, but that is where she would want to live if given the choice. The triples in the other dorms are so cramped it’s really weighing on her decision to attend if she gets accepted. Of course the LLCs assigned to the new dorm could change, but we won’t know that until summer. Some other schools where she has been accepted assign dorms by LLCs also, but all the dorms are pretty much equal whereas at Cal poly there is a huge difference in living conditions.
My son is happy in the Sierra Madre towers - the Engineering group. He has a double room and they even “made room” for a futon. He and his roommate built “BUNK BEDS” which are industrial strength. He has friends in the new dorms that say they are fine. Maybe dorms are built for students to appreciate home when they return for breaks?
Housing choice went great for my son last spring. He got in with a friend and is happy.
However, the lack of a real dining hall is wearing on him. He is not even sure if Vista Grande dining will be completed in time for fall 2020. He is thinking positive for Freshmen.
Great school and campus - he loves it!
Those who write “dd” & “ds”… What do you do with all of your spare time you save from not writing “darling daughter” & “darling son?”
PS… Dorm mattresses are made by inmates in San Quentin Prison.
Re: NightHawk IV’s comment–son said new Vista Grande dining complex may not open in time for Fall 2020 quarter, you can visit a live webcam of the new structure at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SF_FpQFLWf8&feature=emb_rel_err.
Also, Cal Poly’s student newspaper (Mustang Daily) published an article @ end of Jan. about the new dining complex. Biggest takeaway: “Communication Specialist Aaron Lambert said Campus Dining is expected to gain access and move into the building this spring. There is a planned soft opening for summer.” Fingers crossed! Full article is here: https://mustangnews.net/new-vista-grande-dining-complex-opening-pushed-back-a-fourth-time/
Our Son lived in the North Mountain dorms (Nomo) last year. They are the biggest, and are close to campus. Their Llc was leadership I think, and they had fun with all the social people and the big green lawns for frisbee, spike ball, etc. He loved it. The rooms/buildings are old, but the bathrooms are Art Deco and they get cleaned and stocked a couple times every week! All good.
Seasoned mom of two mustangs here - of all the things you worry about as parents of incoming students - trust me, the housing situation works out! I know you won’t believe me and you will spend hours and hours worried about this. But this would be my biggest advice to save you stress and anxiousness - do not worry about coed bathrooms, dining plans, bad food reviews, triples, distance to campus, lack of cars, etc. The students figure it all out. They really do adjust. I wasted too much time worrying about son #1‘s living situation and then less with son #2’s living situation and now I know. If I could go back and tell myself what I know now - do not worry about the dorms. They will figure how to adapt and if they are really unhappy, they can always put in for a change! Good luck and enjoy the journey!
@HHuntforCollege where did you find the information on which residence each LLC is located at currently?
Does anyone know which residence hall math&science majors are in or the health professions llc?
Go here http://www.housing.calpoly.edu/student-housing/residence-halls-and-apartments
Then choose the drop down menu for each dorm area and you can see what the current year’s LLC assignment is. However, I have heard that they change it year to year, probably based on the numbers.