Hi guys!
I’ve been looking at the dorming options at UCR and I have no idea which to pick. Do any current or past students have an recommendations on which dorms are better? A list of PROS and CONS would be nice also.
Thank you so much!
I’m an incoming freshman, so I don’t know how much help I’ll be, but I’ll put in my 2 cents! I toured last week as well.
-Pentland hills are the most expensive dorms. They are comprised of many special interest communities like African American/Asian/Honors/Ect. The room I saw was a double and looked fairly spacious. The major plus of these I thought was that there is a thermostat in each room that you can control. This will come in handy as Riverside is hotter than heck. They also have kitchenettes in the common areas if you like to cook. There is one bathroom for four people I believe. The bathroom was ok but small. No dining hall.
-Lothian: these are typical dorm red halls. They are cheaper than pentland hills and the same price as AI. We didn’t go inside these on our tour. There are doubles and triples available. From the online site, it looks like these doubles come with loft beds which is a big plus in terms of storage while the AI doubles don’t. Lothian is divided into East and West. You don’t get to decide which did you are in, but in one of the sides you can control the AC. Lothian has its own dining hall.
-AI: Biggest hall, typical dorm style. You can’t control the AC in this building at all and it was fairly hot inside when I went. We saw the model triple on the tour, and it was smaller than a coat closet. The triple was the size of a double with an extra everything. The double rooms don’t have lifted beds. It has it’s own dining hall. There were still a few students there, and all of them seemed to like the hall.
Like I said, I don’t go to UCR, so I can’t give you a true Pro/con list, but These are my impressions as a fellow incoming student 
@Katecat27 Thank you! Do you know which one you are going to go with yet?
@hopeful7770
I haven’t committed to UCR yet, but if I do I think I’ll go with Lothian. Possible AI, but Pentland hills costs way too much and I don’t want to be in a special interest community really.
Do you happen to know if there is a UCR groupme somewhere?
@Katecat27 Are you still deciding between colleges? From what I’ve read, AI is more social than the other two dorms which I like but I also like that Lothian is a bit newer. I don’t think I’ll be going with Pentland for the same reasons as you.
I’m not sure if there is a groupme (I dont use that) but I know that there isa Facebook page that people have been posting on!
@hopeful7770
Yeah I’m still deciding between schools but I’ll be visiting several this week and hopefully I’ll narrow it down. M leaning towards UCR because it’s the cheapest though. I think AI has a rep for being a bit more social but the rooms in Lothinan look a lot newer and nicer. I’m not completely sure which I would pick. I would for sure go with a double over a triple at either though. Have you committed to UCR already?
@hopeful7770
Dang it. I don’t actually have a Facebook :((
@Katecat27 I haven’t committed yet. I’m still deciding between UCR and CSU Fullerton but i’m visiting both so hopefully that’ll help me decide. I haven’t put much thought into doing a double or triple but triples seem really cramped so i’m probably leaning towards a double. Do you know if there is one dorm that most freshman live in or is it mixed?
@Katecat27 Aw shoot that’s the only place I know of that people have been posting on for roommates and stuff!
@hopeful7770
CSUF is my local CSU, my brother goes there, and I’ve visited/interviewed several times, so I might be able to answer some questions if you have any! The triple was super cramped so if definetly reccomend a double. I think all of the dorms are just fro freshman really. The upper class men all tend to live in the on campus appartments or off campus.
@Katecat27 Does your brother like it? Yeah, i’ll probably go with a double. That makes sense, I also plan on moving off campus after freshman year. The social aspect is kind of important to me so I kind of like AI but I also like that Lothian is newer and nicer.
@hopeful7770
He actually really likes it. He is still really close with his high school friends and never lived on campus though. It doesn’t have any school spirit really, but that isn’t his thing. He’s happy there. It’s definetly a commuter school in every way though.
The social aspect is super important to me, which is why I’m still considering AI, but the possibility of AC is swaying me :))
@Katecat27 Yeah thats the one thing thats really not sitting well with me, that its a total commuter school. The AC is what I keep thinking about! I get so hot and I actually prefer being cold so the heat would kill me!
@hopeful7770
CSUF is almost completely a commuter school. There is only one set of dorms and one dining hall. It gets super empty on weekends. A lot of people stay wth their high school friends, so it can be a bit cliquish. That being said, you can still meet people through clubs. My brother is an officer for adventure club and they’re always doing something fun on days off.
I’m not sure if you’re local, but Riverside can get to 105+ during summer. I think dorms in August would be miserable. I’m like, do I want a social life or do I want to burn to death?
@Katecat27 Yeah im definitely not used to that as im from around San Francisco so the highest it reaches is like maybe, rarely 90 degrees. So I guess we’re both deciding between having a life and death hahahaha
I mean, I doubt Lothian is that antisocial. Last year here it was 85 on Christmas Day. Bring plenty of shorts/flip flops! I’m in OC though, so Riverside being more inland has greater temperature extremes meaning that sometimes it will be super hot but it also gets colder than it does near the coasts.
@Katecat27 Yeah I haven’t seen anything saying that Lothian is antisocial so its definitely still a great option! I need to go shopping for summer attire ahah!
@hopeful7770
What’s the weather like in SF? I might need warmer clothes. I’m still considering Davis and Berkeley.
Lazy college student summer attire should be good :)) If you’re a girl it seems like the uniform is yoga pants or shorts with a tank top and rainbows. Guys tend to wear tanks/tees with athletic shorts or sometimes swim trunks with flip flops.