<p>I’m an incoming freshman to Cal Poly’s Engineering program and wanted to know what housing options people would recommend. I’ve looked around and made a tentative list of Cerro Vista, Sierra Madre, Yosemite, and Santa Lucia. Thanks! All help is appreciated.</p>
<p>I am only an incoming freshman also, but I chose sierra madre, yosemite, and then one of the red bricks (santa lucia, muir, whatever)… I have heard that Cerro Vista is the worst place to live for some reason, although the rooms looked spacious and great, its a one person room… so you would not meet many people </p>
<p>See you in a few months i guess</p>
<p>If your attending open house, admitted students day this week you should take a dorm tour of some of your options to get a first hand look at what they look like. Just a suggestion…</p>
<p>Sent from my LG-P505 using CC</p>
<p>I guess it depends on your personality, but my older daughter lived in Cerro Vista her freshman year and did just fine. She was in the Honors Program, which resides in Cerro Vista, and enjoyed the spaciousness of apartment-style housing, with a kitchen, living room, and 4 private bedrooms sharing 2 full baths. She did live in Sequoia for a 4-week summer architecture workshop, and did not really like it there. She didn’t hit it off with her roommate, didn’t like the community showers/bathrooms, noise level and general atmosphere. My younger daughter, who will be a freshman at Cal Poly this fall, was also impressed with Cerro Vista and it is her first choice in housing. My girls aren’t anti-social, but they prefer having a quiet place to study/sleep/etc with more privacy (more like at home). Cerro Vista is more expensive and more isolated from the rest of campus, but it is part of a little community and there is social interaction within and between the buildings. My older daughter had friends living in the dorms and visited them often, but she liked having a quiet place to retreat to later. I would definitely recommend touring all the housing options at Open House and choose what feels right for you.</p>
<p>I agree you should tour the housing. My son lived in Yosemite as a freshman and now lives in an off campus apartment with guys from his dorm floor. He loved it. During Open House, we toured the on campus apartments and found them to be too far away from the action for my son’s liking. Also, while the bedrooms are private, they felt a bit clostrophobic to me because they were so very small. However, if you end up in a triple in the dorms, that could be a challenge. I guess there are pros and cons to every living situation and everyone is different. You really should check them out for yourself, if possible.</p>
<p>Cerro is more expensive, but your meal plan is less so it actually comes out to about the same as living in the dorms. I lived in Cerro my freshman year. Yes, it can be isolated, but it’s not quite as isolated as some people make it seem. You’re still not far from campus (Yosemite is probably farther from most things), and you’re still relatively close to the other dorms. IMO what makes cerro feel isolated is the apartment style living. Cerro was not originally created for freshmen. It was meant for older students who already had established friendships. So you definitely have to make more of an effort to meet people if you live in cerro than if you do in the dorms. You get your own room though, a full kitchen, and only share a bathroom with one other person. Some of the bedrooms seem smaller than others depending on the floor plan. I think my bedroom in cerro was actually bigger than my room in poly canyon. I personally would chose the redbrick dorms (those are the ones that are separated by major). Yeah, the rooms are kinda small, but I’ve met quite a few people who have had great experiences in these dorms. Yosemite and Sierra Madre are known for being the most social party type dorms. So if you’re into that, I guess that you chose them over the redbricks. A good compromise if you don’t like too much noise, but still want more of a dorm atmosphere than cerro, is North Mountain. You share bathrooms with three other rooms (so about 6-8 other people) and these rooms are some of the biggest. The bedroom entrances are outdoor, and the second story has a balcony which gives North Mountain sort of a hotel like look. You also get to use Santa Lucia’s common area and kitchen.</p>