<p>how are the dorms are ucsb? what are the pros/cons of each area? im going to be an incoming freshman...which section do you recommend me apply for?</p>
<p>ya i would like to know too!</p>
<p>the lj community "ucsb" has some snotty people but there is some advice there about dorms if you look</p>
<p>also the site has pics and descriptions of each <a href="http://www.housing.ucsb.edu/hchoices/reshalls-descriptions.htm%5B/url%5D">http://www.housing.ucsb.edu/hchoices/reshalls-descriptions.htm</a></p>
<p>I know I'm putting francisco torres as my first choice, because I want to bring my car and they have a parking lot. Plus, their dining hall is open latest for breakfast (I'm a late sleeper...). But the downside is it's almost a mile from campus. Oh well...I'll need all the bike riding to keep off the freshman 15.</p>
<p>i'm not bringing a car.. but i heard FT (since it houses the most freshman, 1/3 of the class) is a BIG party place. i'm not much of a party person and i want to be able to have a relatively quiet place to go to for studying or relaxing. is it true FT is really loud and a party place (versus the rest of the dorms/res halls)?</p>
<p>Hey everyone:</p>
<p>Okay, here's my input about the dorms. I been to UCSB 4 times and two of those times I have stayed in FT..</p>
<p>FT- The biggest rooms, if you bunk the beds you can basically fit a couch in there too. 2 double rooms share 1 bath room, "suite style." They have their own workout center and their own pool...tons of Freshman live here. The only downside to this dorm..which may be a big downside for some, is that it is off campus, about a ten minute bike ride to class or anywhere else on campus which sucks when it rains..however it rains like less then 10 times a school year (don't you love SB weather)</p>
<p>Manzanita- Very Pretty, these are the newest dorms, however the rooms are quite small..in fact the room I saw was the smallest of all the dorms..there are about 200 freshman spots and the rest of the spots go to upperclassmen...you are not in the center of campus but rather close to IV. Corrio, Manzanita's dining commons, is said to be the best dining commons.</p>
<p>San Raf- not for freshman, although they will place some freshman depeding on enrollment..suite style..mainly upperclassmen..close to manzanita.</p>
<p>Annacappa, Santa Cruz, Santa Rosa- "shorties", only two stories..in Annacappa the boys are on the first floor, girls on the second. These dorms present possibly the most "college like" atmosphere since there are always people in the halls and everyone shares a bathroom. Santa Rosa has its own workout facility. These dorms are by the DLG dining commons which is open the latest for dinner, i belive until 11. Good location, on campus</p>
<p>San Nick, San Miguel- these are towers with 8 floors. Many interest floors are located here such as "scholars floor", "rainbow floor", "asian interest" floor, and "multi-cultural" floor..just to name a few..San Nicholas has a beautiful view of the ocean..these are also by DLG for late night eating and by the Ortega dining commons which lets students pack their food "To-Go." Good location, on campus</p>
<p>I hope that helped some of you, right now I am deciding between UCSD and UCSB, good luck with all of your decisions!</p>
<p>thanks for the input natasha! :D</p>
<p>which would be a good co-ed place that is quiet and doesn't have a lot of partying?</p>
<p>Let's see co-ed and non-partying..I would reccomend FT on a Substance- Free Floor...</p>
<p>most dorms have single sex floors or wings but at FT the left side of the hall is boys and the right side is girls so basically members of the same sex are right across the hall instead of down the other wing...</p>
<p>thanks natasha. so everywhere except FT it's pretty segregated between guys and girls? does the partying go on inside the dorms or just in IV. cuz i want a social floor but not one that's too loud and that's partying all the time. and i really want it to be co-ed. thanks for all the help!</p>
<p>myname1sjude: how come you really want it to be co-ed?</p>
<p>I wouldn't say the dorms are segregated because boys hang out in girls rooms and girls are in boys rooms..not even "rooms" but "sections/floors/wings" whatever you want to call it. All the dorms are pretty social..I think the most social are the on campus ones they call the Laguna 5 - annacappa, San Mig, San Nic, Santa Rosa, Santa Cruz- however in terms of how close boys and girls rooms are to eachother..the winner would be FT. Truth be told the "party" dorm changes year to year..I think this year it is Santa Cruz, but that might not be the case next year..Don't worry though the majority of the partying happens in IV..remember drinking in dorms is not allowed, so if kids do drink, it happens in their rooms not in the wide open halls where they will get caught by RA's. If you are still concerned with the partying, do what I'm doing, choose to be on a substance-free, quiet, or scholars floors to ensure that you will be living with people who are concerned with the same things you are.</p>
<p>good luck :)</p>
<p>i just think it would be more interesting and fun that way, that's all.</p>
<p>thanks so much natasha, i feel like i can make a good decision now :-)</p>
<p>Hmmmm, I can't decide where I'd best fit in.</p>
<p>I want a nice beautiful place where I can meet many people(esp. girls), not have to face crazy parties when I don't want to, have it be quiet when I want as well, have ample space, be around facilities for tennis and working out, and near campus as well preferably. </p>
<p>Any ideas?...</p>
<p>well ANY dorm/appartment on the UCSB campus is going to give you the beautiful location you are asking for. Also, you will meet girls wherever you decide to dorm, there are All-girl floors in FT and San Nic so maybe those dorms have more females. Most of UCSB's parties take place in Isla Vista, particularly the street Del Playa. Manzanita and San Raf are the closest dorms to Isla Vista. But everyone, please stop worrying about the "partying," the party reputation has really been blown out of proportion. I knonw tons of people at UCSB who do not party, in fact some that have never even drank in their entire lives, who feel perfectly comfortable at UCSB and still have great social lives. So please do not worry about the partying, UCSB is a great school. FT and Santa Rosa have their own mini workout centers in the dorms. However, There is a HUGE rec cen..i mean like 4 buildings worth of gyms and workout equipment, raquet ball cts, pools, tennis, track fields..anything you can think of. The Huge rec cen is just a short bike ride or walk away from any of the dorms.</p>
<p>hope that helped :)</p>
<p>Thanks for that post, Natasha.</p>
<p>Here's some first-hand info about FT...</p>
<p>I spent two nights at FT over the weekend, and here's what I was able to figure out. </p>
<p>-Dorm rooms are small!! But FT has the biggest (of the university-owned), and layout of furniture is everything. I saw two different ways to put the desks, and having them back-to-back made the room seem way bigger (plus it gives you a little privacy.). Lights also make it seem bigger.
-There is a maid service, but they'll skip you if your floor isn't clean.
-The loud, party dorm reputation doesn't really fit. Even on a Satuday night when we stayed in, it wasn't too loud. And Sunday, a school night obviously, it definitely wasn't loud.<br>
-It looks like a lot of students leave on the weekends. At least they did this weekend...
-It really isn't that far from campus. If you want to bring a car and are worried about the bike ride to campus, don't be. The bike paths are extensive.<br>
-As long as your roommate is cool about it, guests are easy to have. I spent two nights and never had to check in once. I even parked in the parking lot without a permit for two days and only got a warning. The only problem was late at night (1ish) when the doors were locked and I wasn't with my friend who lives there. We had to call our friend to let us in, and the security guards who wouldn't let us in without a resident didn't even look at us once we were let in.</p>
<p>FT seems like a good dorm to me. Lots of freshman, so everyone is pretty much in the same place. I think I'm gonna live at Tropicana Gardens, but if that doesn't work out, I'll definitely hope for FT.</p>
<p>Does anybody know the best dorms for transfer students? And if it's just Manzanita and San Raf...which is the best and what are the dis/advantages of both?</p>
<p><em>bummmmmmp</em></p>
<p>Well, this is for all the people that think they know about the UCSB dorms but really don't. I am a freshman living in the Manzanita dorms. First off, let me say that for all of you future Gauchos that are afraid of all the drinking, these are the dorms for you. Don't worry that they are close to IV. They are so quiet and unsocial that it is ridiculous. If you want any kind of social life in your dorm do not put Manzanita as your first choice, although it is really hard to get into these dorms. For those of you that aren't scared that you are going to get suckered into drinking, I would definitely want to live in either Anacapa, San Nic, or Santa Cruz. Santa Cruz is definitely the party dorm this year, but in anyone of those dorms you are definitely going to have a lot of fun and meet people. Contrary to what someone else said, Manzanita has the biggest dorms out of all the on-campus dorms, with FT having the biggest dorms overall. Manzanita does have a sweet bathroom setup though. You can go in, lock the door, and have the whole bathroom to yourself. For those of you that are thinking about living in Trop or Fountainbleu, let me tell you, they suck. I have some friends that live there and the only good thing about living there is that they have a good size living room to sit in. Other than that, they smell, people there are shady, and the meals there are really bad. The Carrillo dining hall does have the best food on campus, but you will definitely find yourself growing tired of it and making a lot of 1 AM runs to Freebirds. FT is also really far away. Although riding your bike the 3/4 of a mile to school doesn't sound that bad, imagine the wind blowing at you so hard that you literally cannot move and actually fall off your bike. Think I'm lying, I've seen it happen.
On another note, for everyone that is scared about the drinking in school, seriously grow up. A lot of people at UCSB drink, and a lot of people don't. You are going to one of the most beautiful schools in the country, so if you think that you are too weak to handle peer pressure of if you think that having a town next to you full of people drinking is not for you, then don't come to this school. Isla Vista is an awesome town. If you walk down the street, it feels like a little close knit community. At night, it is definitely much more of a party atmosphere, and if you are a partier like me, you will definitely grow tired of going into IV and walking in to people's houses that you don't know, and eventually just end up partying in the dorms. So please stop all the complaining about the drinking here, its really getting old.</p>