<p>Hey UCSB Class or 2016! Hopefully you are all as excited about UCSB as I am. But of course one important decision we all are probably in the middle of right now is WHICH DORM??? I really don't know which dorm to live in I just know that Santa Cantalina is completely off the list! I want to know is which dorms the students of 2016 plan on living in for there freshmen year and why!!! Post away, hopefully we all get better insights on where we want to live in the fall!</p>
<p>Heard the Shorties (Anacampa, Santa Cruz, and Santa Rosa) were the best, by far, to live in. Of course, such things like these are incredibly opinion based.
Considering I’d very much like to have a nice view out of my room, though:</p>
<p>1.) **Anacampa<a href=“Scholar%20hall%20is%20important%20to%20my%20parents,%20despite%20not%20so%20hot%20a%20chance%20of%20getting%20a%20good%20sea%20view.”>/B</a></p>
<p>2.) Santa Cruz<a href=“Sea%20view/Shorty.”>/U</a></p>
<p>3.) **San Nicholas<a href=“Heard%20this%20was%20the%20better%20of%20the%20high-rises.%20Don’t%20remember%20why.%20Do%20like%20the%20possible%20lagoon%20view,%20though.”>/B</a></p>
<p>4.) Santa Rosa<a href=“No%20possible%20water%20view%20at%20all,%20but%20it’s%20still%20a%20Shorty…”>/U</a></p>
<p>5.) San Miguel<a href=“Call%20me%20pigheaded,%20call%20me%20shallow,%20but%20the%20genders%20on%20adjacent%20floors%20thing%20doesn’t%20appeal%20to%20me.”>/U</a></p>
<p>6.) **Manzanita Village<a href=“Seems%20isolated%20from%20campus,%20but%20the%204%20person/bathroom%20is%20a%20mega%20plus%20if%20you%20care%20about%20that%20sort%20of%20thing.”>/B</a></p>
<p>7.) Santa Catalina<a href=“FT”>/U</a> (The furthest ResHall from the Engineering building possible. x.x Screw that.)</p>
<p>I mainly want a ResHall that allows me to be integrated within the campus - good views are a plus that’ll help me study better and appreciate the campus a lot more.</p>
<p>… I love how I haven’t SIRed yet, but I’ve contemplated housing for at least weeks by now…</p>
<p>first off, its Anacapa. The scholar hall here I would say is the most scholarly of the three on campus, but that’s not really saying much. If anything, it just means that our RA doesn’t hassle us as much because he knows we’re supposed to be academic.
And Anacapa has just as many beach view rooms as santa cruz. Anacapa is technically closer to the beach by maybe three or four meters, but don’t pick a dorm based on a beach view, there are far more rooms offering no beach scenic view that you will likely be placed in.</p>
<p>Also, I wouldn’t pick a dorm based on proximity to “the engineering building” (there are 3 of them btw). No freshmen takes any class in any engineering building so the proximity wouldn’t matter until sophomore year. </p>
<p>All in all, I’d still recommend choosing the low-rises. There’s something more “college-esque” about living in the shorter dorms. They technically house more people than the high rises somehow, but they just look more collegiate to me.</p>
<p>Wow, my dorm preferences are almost the same as Styxx’s, only for me Santa Cruz is 1 and Anacapa is 2. I’m hoping for the substance-free LLC in Santa Cruz, and it’s also a shorty, so that’s why it’s my first choice. The gender alternating floors is why I placed San Miguel towards the bottom, and I didn’t like how Manzanita houses nonfreshman. Santa Catalina would be my lowest simply because of the distance from the campus, but I hear there’s more space in those dorms so I guess my worst-case-scenario hall wouldn’t be that bad.</p>
<p>Early on I was so down for Santa Catalina but then I heard about the food. Anyone know if it’s still really THAT bad?</p>
<p>So right now I have
San Nic
anacapa
santa rosa
santa cruz
then i have anacapa triple and santa rosa triple
and then san miguel</p>
<p>but i’m not sure about keeping the triples on my list either</p>
<p>Haha, my first choice is actually Santa Catalina … I visited the campus over spring break and I loved that dorm. I don’t mind the distance from campus too much, and biking to class every day will help keep off the Freshman 15. The bathrooms are also a huge plus, since it’s only four to one. Next, I’m listing all the shorties – most likely Santa Cruz, Anacapa, then Santa Rosa. And then after that it’s San Miguel and San Nic. Honestly I pretty much liked all the freshman dorms, so as long as I get one of those, I’m fine :)</p>
<p>I’ll be in San Nic with all the FSSP students.</p>
<p>Shireenr, It’s Sally from HoTataPoon! (:
Just ignore that if you’re not Shireen.
As a response to this thread:
I’ll be living in San Cat on a substance-free floor. The bathroom situation/larger dorm size just appeals to me too much to turn it away. I heard Portola is bad compared to the other dining halls, but all SB dining halls in general are better than other colleges so I doubt it’s going to make a huge difference. Besides, since we’ll already be on the main campus for lectures/labs/library, it’ll be easy to just go to the dining halls located on campus. I’m still looking for a roommate. Message me if you’re interested or just want to talk!
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-california-santa-barbara/1324804-find-your-roommate-here.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-california-santa-barbara/1324804-find-your-roommate-here.html</a></p>
<p>UCSBro. I’m doing the same thing.</p>
<p>Personally, I will be staying in Santa Catalina preferably. Although it is off campus im fine with that because that is about the only negative to the dorm. Unlike the other dorms it has its own pool, fitness center, & dining commons. I haven’t heard anything bad about the food there, but even if the food is as bad as they say it is most likely you will only be eating there for breakfast if that. Because your classes are on the main campus and you’ll probably eat after class. The biggest factor for me for choosing Santa Catalina was the bathrooms. You only share with 4 other people at the most. You have your own personal sink and don’t have to worry about lines/waiting etc… Also the fact that the rooms are the largest on campus was also a plus. Besides the bathrooms another good thing i’ve heard about santa catalina is the social life. You are rooming with 1/3 of the freshman class so your bound to meet alot of people. Which is helpful especially when it comes to academics and needing help with a class or a topic. ALSO SANTA CATALINA IS CO-ED. Unlike the other dorms where it is gender split by floors santa catalina has a mixture. </p>
<p>Besides living in Santa Catalina i could only see myself living in Manzanita Village. I went into all of the dorms and Santa Catalina was the best by far. </p>
<p>P.S. Who is doing FSSP?</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>The only dorm that’s gender split by floors is San Miguel - all of the other dorms, I believe, have the separation in adjacent wings; so… down the hall, essentially.</p>
<p>And it’s not that I don’t like Santa Catalina - I’ve never seen it yet, so I really can’t judge - but for my first year of college, I want to feel more integrated within the school. The mile away from campus doesn’t give me that feel. I’m sure that you bond a hell of a lot more at Santa Catalina, due to the fact that you’re all traveling a mile to get to your school, which is a plus, but after a long, tiring day of finals or studying, physically exerting more energy to go back to my bed isn’t something I’m keen on doing.</p>
<p>Just my take on it. =]</p>
<p>Trust me. FT food in Portola is THAT bad. We’ve had several cases of food poisoning in both towers on multiple occassions. UGH.</p>
<p>In-n-out it is then.</p>
<p>Oh, and I am staying in Santa Catalina. First off, it is HUUUUGE. I mean 1/3 of the freshman class guarantees meeting cool people every day.
Secondly being allocated in adjacent wings by gender is simply awkward. C’mon, we all know having girls around every day is a plus 
And who cares if it is a mile off campus? ‘Oh no, the 8 minute bike ride really ruins my freshman experience and I do not feel integrated at all!’ I call BS on that!
Portola is not the only place in the world where food is at, go elsewhere to eat.
Wanna study? Go to the library. </p>
<p>Freshman year should be spent somewhere where you can have the most fun. Choosing Anacapa only because of the ocean view (you all live in California so it’s not like you’ve never seen the ocean) or proximity to the Engineering building is just dumb.</p>
<p>I feel like I’ll have the most fun with an ocean view outside of my room and not have to travel home every day. To reiterate, a bike ride home after a long tiring day does not appeal to me - if it does to you, wonderful, I’m glad you’ll have fun and I sincerely hope your bike doesn’t get a flat on the way back.</p>
<p>And, I agree, being in Santa Catalina does mean you’ll meet a lot of other freshmen as well, and you’ll bond a lot more (being a mile away from the school generally does lead to a lot of bonding, I’ve heard), but I can bond just as much with people in the Shorties or even the High Rises simply by being an outgoing person and taking the initiative to meet people.</p>
<p>Regarding integration, UCEN is a lot closer to Anacapa than it is to Santa Catalina. UCEN is the hub of the campus. Being closer to the hub (as well as being outgoing and active) does generally mean more integration within the campus. If I want to be active in UCSB - whether in politics, activities or even in general - I need to be closer to the hub where everything is going on.</p>
<p>The thing is, I don’t want UCSB to feel like a commuter school my first year, which is why I’m deciding on a ResHall directly on campus. Proximity to the Engineering building as well as the possible ocean view is simply an additional convenience. As a human, I enjoy convenience. Did I base my choice specifically on that? Not at all: I’ve heard from a countless number people that the Shorties were the best ResHalls on campus. Of course, it’s anecdotal evidence, but so is everyone else’s opinion here. If I don’t like it, I’ll change the next year.</p>
<p>Just felt like I should justify myself a little more. Especially after having my opinion called dumb.</p>
<p>First of all, I would like to apologize for what how I have labelled your opinion. Judging by your values and logic, you have picked the best dorm for you, no doubt. I agree with your choice, however since I see things rather differently as I have lived on campus of a British boarding school. I think different residence halls suit different personalities, with that being said, anyone can live their first year in any residence hall and make the best of it. </p>
<p>After all, choosing preferences on a form is like picking a number out of a hat. You have a defined idea of what will suit you best but you do not know if your pick will do so, you can only guess and hope for the best.</p>
<p>After all, you might just get that ocean-view room you really wanted and have the ‘freshman experience’ you’ve dreamed of. I know I will :-)</p>
<p>It’s all good, man. I really appreciate it. =]</p>
<p>And you’re totally correct, Andrey - the placement of different residence halls on or off campus does definitely differ upon the experience you want and the personality you have. I can already tell that those from Santa Catalina have an amazing bond with each other.</p>
<p>My ideal freshman experience is definitely a bit different from yours - I think that the first year or two should be on campus, so as to get better acquainted with it. Once you start getting tired of it (much like high school was for my junior year), you can always choose to move somewhere else your second, third, or fourth year. That, in fact is what I plan to do. I’m very sure others have incredibly different thoughts of their freshman experience, and I really hope that most of us here (seeing that all is, sadly, improbable) are able to have a wonderful first year at UCSB. =]</p>
<p>You, Sir, are correct in what you say :-]
What major are you?</p>
<p>Computer Engineering. You?</p>
<p>Is anyone majoring in Biology? If so what are the closest dorms to the science departments?</p>
<p>Anacapa is the closest dorm to the science buildings.</p>