<p>I’m a soon to be Freshman at Cal Poly SLO under the architecture program and am curious about the housing there. I’ve heard that Architecture students have their own house but is that the only option? Is it a better idea to stick with other Architecture students or should I try to room in another house? Any advice? (:</p>
<p>There is a dorm for arch students, it’s sequoia, one of the red bricks. There is a red brick for each college (business, liberal arts, etc.) This is definitely not you only option though. There are also Yosemite and Sierra Madre dorms, as well as the Cerro Vista apartments. Both of these have people from all different majors, but still all freshmen usually (cerro might have older students as well, but they’ll likely put you with freshman roommates.) The housing website gives a pretty decent overview of each option, but if you have more questions, I’d be happy to answer them.</p>
<p>Thanks NTKS17, that’s good to know. Have you heard any pros or cons for the options (living in the major related house versus Yosemite/Sierra Madre or Cerro Vista? I know I have some time until I have to apply for housing but I figured that I would start doing my research so I could figure out what would work best.</p>
<p>Yosemite and Sierra Madre have a reputation for being the party dorms and generally, the partiers live there. All the Red Bricks are the major related ones. They are social, but not crazy like SM and Yosemite. Cerro Vista is the honors housing and I don’t know much about it. I live in the red bricks and like it a lot. Fun, but quiet when necessary (like during finals week).
I think it depends on your personality whether you wanna live around same major people. Most people in the red bricks belong to their appropriate college, but certainly not all. Everything depends on your personality, but I guarantee it will be fun wherever you live.</p>
<p>Thats great to know. I appreciate your info a bunch @jjaffecpslo!
Thank you both for your help and have a great holiday!</p>
<p>I lived in cerro vista my freshman year, and it is definitely a lot different than the dorms. It is nice to have a full kitchen, your own bedroom, and only share a bathroom with one person, but I would recommend dorms over cerro. You only get one chance to live in the dorms really, and it’s practically impossible not to meet people living there. When I lived in cerro, it was not very social. From what I’ve heard, it is somewhat different now. One of my friends was a Community Advisor there last year, and he said that it seemed like cerro was the new party dorm. So maybe things have changed a bit…</p>
<p>If you’re the type of person who is super social and likes to go out and party a lot, then you’ll probably like Sierra Madre/Yosemite. If you like to have fun, but also like some time to yourself or just hanging out more quietly with friends, then the red bricks or cerro might be a better fit.</p>
<p>My daughter lived in Yosemite her freshman year and loved it. She was on a co-ed floor, so it was kind of like having 12 brothers. Everytime I visited, I thought it was very mellow. Some kids would study at the table in the small lounge outside the rooms. Or just hang out in their dorm rooms. In fact, my daughter’s Tower 0 got “tower of the year” and a lot of that was based on academic achievement. So, even though it has a “reputation” for partiers, there are plenty of kids in other dorms who did their share of partying. I think it just depends on the mix of students you get from year to year. I know my daughter was very happy living in Yosemite as a freshman and wouldn’t trade the experience for anything. She went on to live in PCV as a sophomore with one of her dorm mates and is sharing a house with her and another Tower 0 dormie this year as a junior.</p>
<p>My daughter was in the Sequoia Architecture dorm and loved it! It was helpful to her when everyone around her had the same demands, schedule, etc. Architecture is very demanding time-wise, so she often took advantage of dorm study groups, etc. Plus they organized really fun dorm activities that “design-type / artsy” students loved. </p>
<p>One comment-er above said it depends from year-to-year and what your own personality is, which I think must be true, but my daughter felt she made the right choice of choosing the Arch. dorm.</p>
<p>What would be a good dorm for someone who does not want to party, but still wants to make friends and have a social life?(business major)</p>
<p>Hi ginnyweasley,
It depends on your school life. How important is sleep to you? What types of classes are you planning to take your first quarter? Does noise bother you?</p>
<p>I’ve heard that the towers (Sierra Madre and Yosemite) tend to be pretty loud. Tenaya is a business building, so you meet tons of people with similar major as you. However, they can be a bit noisy too, but not as much as the towers. North Mountain and Santa Lucia are kind of quiet and known to be the engineering dorms. Cerro Vista is more private since you get your own space. The rest of the dorms fit in the middle, but they usually are specific to a certain “college”.</p>
<p>Hi again Question0 and thanks for your help. So my son will be ARCE student, and we signed up for Sequoia this morning and then needed to sign up for alternate halls. If you are a student now, you could help w this, as we have until June to make changes. If he doesn’t get Sequoia, do you have suggestions for backups? He’s a serious student and will study enough to do well, but I think he is hoping for a living arrangement where people also want to play IM sports, hiking, beach, etc. Up until this time of his life, he’s not a party person at all, but likes good fun. He’s very social, but just not in the party way. I’m concerned towers might be too much party dorm, but engineering dorms too quiet and studious, if you know what I mean. Any suggestions on back ups? If he chose back up engineering dorms, would the red brick one or North Mt be more social? Thanks so much!</p>
<p>If I were an ARCE student, I would choose these dorms in order:
- Sequoia (College of Architecture and Environmental Design)
- North Mountain (College of Engineering) - The room is a little bit bigger than the red bricks, you share bathrooms with less people. When I walk by the North Mountain area on the lawns, I see people play frisbee and other different kinds of games.
- Santa Lucia (College of Engineering) - They have a study lounge there. A lot of people hang out around there. I would say that Santa Lucia is more social because the rooms are more closer together (long hallway). More people leave their doors open.
I would avoid some of the other dorms like the towers because they can be a bit loud and very social. The engineering dorms may be more quiet than the other doors but someone can still have fun there. Events are always being posted up and there are so many ways to meet new people and have fun anyways. :)</p>
<p>Any suggestions??? Kinesiology, very social but not a partier, into sports- always looking for a soccer game/basketball game etc., serious about academics ??? He is leaning toward the red brick dorms, but which would be best? Thanks!!</p>
<p>Hello takeitallin,
There are six red brick dorms: Tenaya (for business), Trinity (liberal arts), Muir (Math and science- I believe Kinesiology goes under this category), Sequoia (Architecture/environmental design), Santa Lucia/North Mountain (engineering), Fremont (Agriculture, food, environmental sciences). Typically, people choose a dorm that is related to their majors (similar classes, interests, etc), but it is their choice to do that. I would stick with either Muir, Tenaya, Trinity, or Fremont. All of the red brick dorms can be social depending on the person. In terms of soccer/basketball games, I don’t think it matters which dorm you choose. There will always be similar events put out by your dorm. For example, for cerro, there is a bulletin message about having a volleyball competition next week.</p>
<p>Thanks for the detailed answer QuestionO! We weren’t sure where Kinesiology fit it. I lived in Yosemite tower 0 in the early 70’s when it first opened but things have sure changed a lot since then!</p>
<p>Is anyone planning on living off-campus or have lived off-campus? I’m staying at Murray Station Apartments for Fall 2013.</p>
<p>Takeitallin: My daughter is a Kinesiology major and lived in Yosemite Tower O her freshman year–2010-11. She loved it! Was on the Dean’s List all year, so she was able to keep a balanced social and academic life. Their tower won Tower of the Year and much of that was based on GPAs. So, it’s definitely not all about partying! 
She also had Muir as her third choice, but I know in the end, she really enjoyed living on a co-ed floor. It was like having 12 brothers!</p>
<p>Good to hear their are some good options 2Leashes. It would be funny if he ended up in my old room! When I was there, our floor was all girls and the floor below us was boys- that was considered co-ed. Thanks for the input!</p>