<p>Should I stay in the dorms for the first semester at Berkeley or commute for the whole year? My parents are willing to pay the dorms only if they are really beneficial, considering that we don't have financial aid(I can't apply for FAFSA since I'm have an A-1 visa). So do you think that the freshman "dorming" college experience would be worth it?<br>
p.s I live in San Francisco</p>
<p>Yes it is worth it. It will be much much harder to make friends and become involved in the school if you don’t. Commute after your first year but definitely not in the beginning.</p>
<p>Alright, thanks :)</p>
<p>The cost of dorms seem prohibitedly high.</p>
<p>Sure, you’ll make lots of friends in the dorms, but I find that you usually fare just as well if you’re social and put yourself out there.</p>
<p>When a dorm room costs more than 3x the amount of similar accomodations off-campus (but within a mile), that’s something to think about.</p>
<p>^ do you mean by co-ops and apartments?</p>
<p>hey there I commuted my first year from San Leandro…
commuting feels like a great deal of trouble sometimes but it’s absolutely do-able
I wouldn’t say dorming is worth it but living on campus would be
dorming’s a kind of gamble where you’re gambling to meet great people
(if you just happen to be on the floor with a load of jerks then you’re out of luck)
living on campus enable you to go to office hours, mock exams and lots of events
most of the above are usually at night…soo yea</p>
<p>there is the added interactions in most dorms because people leave doors open, wander in and out to meet others on the floor, bump into others and join them heading to meals or activities. Even apartments in the area, if the students are upperclassmen, tend to have much less mixing and milling around because friendships are already formed by then.</p>