<p>Hi,</p>
<p>I’m wondering if there’s any significant difference between living in the dorms or in a student apartment, aside from proximity to the campus. I had always planned to live in a dorm, because I believed that it provided the purest “college experience,” being the central hub of most non-class activities and gatherings. </p>
<p>However, I’ll be a transfer student to UC Davis, and it looks like they’re encouraging all transfers to go with apartment housing. A rep I spoke with did say that I could be put on a waitlist for dorm housing if I really wanted it. Now I’m torn between the two (“The Real College Experience” vs. “Learning what life will be like once I graduate”).</p>
<p>Any information you could give me would be of great help so I can make a final decision.</p>
<p>as a current transfer student who just finished my first year at davis, i’ll say you should be fine either way. if you’re really concerned about your social life and meeting others (you’re willing to put effort into meeting people and go beyond your comfort zone) you’ll be fine either way. i did want to live in the dorms as well and i also notice that freshmen and sophomores who do usually live and befriend their entire floor and building. fortunately, the student housing option was just as friendly. move-in day last september was basically a huge block party all night. all doors were open amongst the 3 apartment buildings with transfers and people were just walking in and out, mingling, etc. everyone was/is extremely friendly. i also think the student housing survey does a pretty decent job of housing you with people who have similar preferences.</p>
<p>Thanks calibear! Your response went a long way towards assuaging my doubts about the situation. See you at Davis this fall!</p>
<p>Quick followup question: How do I access the student housing survey you mentioned? Do I find it on the site somewhere, or will they email it to me at a later date? I’ve already filled out the housing assignment request.</p>
<p>Btw, I’d like to mention that the student housing apartments are expensive as hell. You’d be better off looking at the UCD facebook group for housing.</p>
<p>Agreed with heemanshoe. Take the Drake Apartments, for example, one of the student housing apartments. If you sign with Student Housing, you’re looking at a cost of $4000+, and that cost cannot be split between you and your housemates. In contrast, if you sign a contract with the Drake Apts without going through student housing, the cost is around $1300 for a 2 bedroom apartment, and that can be split up between you and your housemates.</p>
<p>That pricing does seem exorbitant. Thanks for bringing it to my attention fellas.</p>
<p>@heemanshoe</p>
<p>Can you direct me to that group? I can only find the housing pages directly sponsored by UCD (I’m not very good with FB).</p>
<p>@ sopranokitty & heemanshoe</p>
<p>How would I go about getting such a contract/getting in touch with the apartments directly? Upon a little research, it seems that the vacancy rate of Davis apartments is really low, so the benefit of going through student housing is guaranteed housing. My family can barely afford tuition as it is though, so I’d like to take your advice. Can I reasonably expect to find suitable lodgings with such a low vacancy rate? Is it just like looking for regular housing (i.e. finding potential roommates and checking local vacancy listings) or is there something more to the process?</p>
<p>It’s extremely easy to get in touch with the apartments directly–just call the phone number listed on their website or Daviswiki page. I know the Drake Apartments does their rental contract process online. A number of apartments does an online contract process, but there are also apartments that use the traditional paper method. Just type in “Drake Apartments Davis” into Google. And it only seems low because it’s already June–most current students started signing leases with the apartments for the next school year in February (which is when ASUCD holds Housing Day, where representatives from many apartments come to Freeborn Hall at UCD to meet with freshmen and new transfer students beginning their search for housing for the next school year), but there are still openings for the next school year. And there are a lot of people advertising an open room at their apartment on ucdavis.uloop.com, myself included.</p>
<p>And like I said, cost for housing can be split up between you and your housemates if you sign directly with the apartments (though don’t sign with the Rambles. They’re ridiculously overpriced and I heard their management sucks. You can’t split the cost with your housemates, so if your room costs $1000, you are responsible for paying that $1000).</p>
<p>Here’s the [housing</a> group](<a href=“https://www.facebook.com/groups/418689684823205/]housing”>Davis Housing | Facebook) if you want to look into that.</p>
<p>i believe you’ll be prompted when and how to fill out the survey when the time comes (assuming you opt for student housing)</p>
<p>but yes, it is quite expensive. personally, i’d try to live at the colleges at la rue. literally the closest housing.</p>