dorms,dorms,dorms!!! Where to live . . .

<p>Okay so my parents want me to live in a residence hall because it is the cheapest. i am okay with that because I hear that you get to know your classmates quicker than if you live in say De Neve. But I don't know which residence hall is the best. help please! i need to apply for housing stat!
p.s. are all residence hall old and only contain communal bathrooms</p>

<p>I remember hearing that when you apply for housing you can't specify the specific building that you live in but only the type, so if you chose the halls you would be randomly put in one (although I'm not entirely sure). They're all pretty nice, I've seen a few of them, but if you're not big on the communal bathroom thing you're out of luck cause they've all got that. I hear though that it's really not as bad as it sounds, and after spending some time in Sproul, it didn't seem like a problem at all; most of the time you go in, they're empty.</p>

<p>why do they ask for a picture of yourself on the housing application? I have a digital camera, buttt, I'm too lazy to take a picture and upload it if it doesn't really matter.</p>

<p>yeah you cant specify the exact building, only housing type (res. hall, suite or plaza).</p>

<p>i still cant decide what i want...
i do want to meet new people and stuff, but i would like to have my privacy and peace and quiet....</p>

<p>i highly recommend freshmen living in a residence hall. it makes the freshman experience a lot better since its more social. </p>

<p>btw, communal bathrooms arent bad...
-never full
-cleaned once/twice a day by cleaning ladies
-no need to restock your bathroom
-no roommates bothering you .. i mean, if you had your own bathroom, what if roommates using it early in the morning while youre sleeping or late at night while youre studying?
-more opportunities to be social</p>

<p>how are the coomunal showers? do they have like private stalls with doors or just curtains or what?</p>

<p>i still dont know. yes, i know everyone says the res halls are more social...but for the most part i'm sorta reserved and antisocial. i dont talk much outside of a few close friends. so i guess i would feel more comfortable in suites/plazas? but i DO need to make some new close friends to be social with... are there any other common places where people meet and socialize besides res halls?</p>

<p>maybe i'll let my parents decide depending on how much they are willing to pay...</p>

<p>Where r u guys planning to live Rez halls or the plazas?
The food is the same right? I am thinking about the res halls with the 19 meal gold plan as it looks like its the most economical (and my parents want me to get enough food every day!)</p>

<p>Okay, here's the deal:</p>

<p>All the res halls are pretty much the same. Communal showers are no big deal, and you get your own stall (at least in every experience I've had...there may be exceptions somewhere.)</p>

<p>However, each hall has its strengths and weaknesses: Hedrick is considered the best food on the hill (but is also the furthest up the hill), Sproul is the closest to everything (but doesn't have its "own" dining hall), Dykstra is the most social (but oldest), and Rieber...well...Rieber used to be a good middle ground, but now I'd say it's so-so because of construction.</p>

<p>They ask for a photo on the housing app? This is new to me.</p>

<p>there may be exceptions somewhere</p>

<p>there aren't... not at UCLA anyway</p>

<p>freebird, don't get 19 gold unless you are absolutely sure you will be eating all those meals in the dining halls each week. Try 14 premiere. I can almost guarantee you that you will be eating lunch on campus some days, and unless you are one of those crazy morning people who gets up early everyday, you will likely be skipping a lot of breakfasts :)</p>

<p>Icarus,</p>

<p>I didn't think so, but actually...I think that Dykstra used to have non-stall showers when the 1st floor was the men's floor! I at least know for a fact that it now has handicapped showers...</p>

<p>"why do they ask for a picture of yourself on the housing application?"
well they look at everyone's picture and base their dorm setup from that. if u are hot, they place u with an ugly roommate. they use the formula X + Y = 1, where X is the fraction of your looks and Y is the fraction of your roommate's looks, and try to get close to 1 as possible. this balances out the dorms so you don't end up with pockets of hot/ugly people. </p>

<p>lol sorry about that.</p>

<p>one superior advantage would be, as kfc4u pointed out, that they are "cleaned once/twice a day by cleaning ladies" scrubbing the bowls is not my type of job. but isnt the fact that the job is by cleaning ladies a little sexist? lol</p>

<p>Don't they use the picture for your ID card? Otherwise you have to stand in line to have it taken during orientation or something like that. I just used a bastardized version of my senior yearbook photo; I'm not standing out in the September heat for X hours and then getting my picture taken.</p>

<p>Since I see it here a lot, on the topic of Communal showers just keep in mind... This is college not a prison... No need for "soap on a rope".</p>

<p>"but isnt the fact that the job is by cleaning ladies a little sexist?"</p>

<p>i guess some of them are men too, but the ones who clean my floor have ALWAYS been women. </p>

<p>for deneve or sunset, i believe the cleaning people come into your room and clean it. so perhaps you dont have to do your scrubbing. you'll just have to deal with a stranger entering your room when its time to get cleaned. </p>

<p>funny story: one of my friends has the shared bathroom in sunset, which is long enough to fit a couch. he jacked one of the couches (or was it a chair?) from the lounge and put it in the bathroom, but the cleaning person took it away. LOL</p>

<p>sproul hall has stalls for their showers (very convenient). but i believe rieber showers only have curtains. no separate stalls. someone confirm rieber if possible.</p>

<p>yeah I like how the Sproul showers have separate changing stalls on each shower. I think Rieber and Hedrick have the same setup, but not Dykstra</p>

<p>maybe a dumb question? What is the "themed" option compared to the "roomate" option? I still haven't actually started the application.</p>

<p>nevermind, found it. Has anyone done the "themed" housing? what did you choose and how has it worked out?</p>

<p>"themed" option i believe refers to the theme of your floor. so for example, if you chose "nature" or something for your theme, then youll probably get others who enjoy nature on your floor, and perhaps you might get a program/activity or two relating to nature throughout the year. </p>

<p>"roommate" is your roommmate.</p>

<p>thanks
+characters</p>