<p>Hi. This question is directed at existing students (and/or parents). Thanks.</p>
<p>Could you comment on your knowledge and preferences of the Freshman Residence Halls?</p>
<p>I see on UC Davis Housing webpage, that there are 3 main Housing areas (for Freshman Residence Halls). </p>
<p>**Segundo
Tercero
Cuarto **</p>
<p>Where did you live?
What are the pros and cons?
Now that you have been at Davis (for a year, or longer), what would you recommend, in terms of housing.
Did you have single sex, or co-ed floor? Pros and Cons?</p>
<p>I live in Tercero. It’s pretty nice. There are newly built dorms that are really nice, but I don’t personally live in them. I personally love Tercero for its close proximity to the lecture halls, especially sci lec 123, which is where you’ll have many lectures.</p>
<p>Segundo is also nice, but a little further from the lecture halls. The dc food is supposedly better that others. The dorms are also nice, but the high rises are closed right now, but they should be up soon.</p>
<p>I’m in a triple in tercero with a co-ed floor. It doesn’t really matter much because most people from my building go all over to visit friends or to hang out. If you don’t like your floor, then just hang out with people from other dorms etc.</p>
<p>Cuarto is furthest (off-campus) It’s not as bad as people make it out to be. The bus lines run through that area so you don’t need to bike that much. Also, they have a pool which adds a nice touch.</p>
<p>But in my opinion, I would pick tercero or segundo. Both have their pros and cons, you just have to live with it after you choose. There are nice people all around Davis, so wherever you live, it’ll be a pleasant experience.</p>
<p>I was in one of the older Tercero letter buildings like iProcrastinate. It’s true that it is extremely nice having Tercero so close to classes. Although the letter buildings are going to be torn down next year so space in Tercero is going to be limited even with the new buildings they put up last year.</p>
<p>Segundo is closest to the ARC, which is something I can appreciate, and about midway between Tercero and Cuarto, making it convenient to visit people from each area. </p>
<p>Even though Cuarto is off-campus, its still pretty neat and the difference in travel time is 5-10 mins tops on a bike. The suite-style living works really well if your suitemates aren’t party animals.</p>
<p>I’d recommend Tercero since next year you’ll only be able to get one of the newer buildings (which are very nice). This will also mean that the Tercero DC won’t be at max capacity. You might also have to deal with the same sort of construction annoyance that Segundo dealt with this year. It also makes it less likely that you’ll get your first choice if its in Tercero. I would say Segundo as second choice, but the DC is projected to be pretty crowded next year.</p>
<p>Personally I wouldn’t be able to stand anything other than a coed floor. Yes you can obviously visit people when you don’t have classes and such, but these are the people you’re going to be living around day in and day out. If you’re a guy its nice not to be around guys all the time and I can only imagine it would be the same thing for a girl. I think the coed environment lends itself to a more friendly residence hall.</p>
<p>Its not very likely you’ll get your first choice, but you can EXTREMELY increase your chances of getting what you want by choosing a program and making it high on your priority setting. Certain programs are only in certain housing areas, so if you really want Tercero you might put Substance Free (although its in Tercero this year, but there’s no certainty it will be Tercero next year since its a letter building thats getting torn down). Whereas if you want Segundo, you might put that you want Integrated Studies (which will most likely be located in the same place next year). I don’t know the complete list of program locations, and they may change with the construction plans.</p>
<p>I suppose preference (based on where it’s close to) also depends on what your major is. I was an econ major living in Regan Hall Circle, in Segundo. if you’re a soft science major, I think Segundo is better. If you’re more of a hard science major, Tercero may be better</p>
<p>The pros on Segundo area is that (as stated earlier) it’s less than a 5 minute walk to the arc. in terms of buildings, it’s close to wellmen and sosci 1100, which is where a lot of my econ classes were. All my English classes were also in Wellmen. One of the best things about Segundo is that you’re on campus, but at the same time off campus areas (u-mall) and downtown areas are the closest. (Segundo dc also has the infamous late night cookies, which you can’t get at tercero. these make late night really popular in Segundo)</p>
<p>Tercero is close to sci lec and fairly close to chem 194. I think as of next year the living situation will be nicer as well. there are a lot of complaints about “oh it’s next to the cowsss” but it’s really not bad at all.</p>
<p>Cuarto is obviously more secluded, but if you’re not a biking person it’s perfectly fine. I actually never been to cuarto, but from logic, their dc also isn’t as filled, which believe me, is a really big pro. If you’re not the type of person who really wants to be at places fast, Cuarto is fine.</p>
<p>I personally still like Segundo the best and I’m glad I lived there. I lived in Regan, which is different then all the other dorms. All the other buildings in Segundo are the standard one building with 4-5 stories and 30 or so people per floor. Regan is actually a collection of 6 buildings, 2-3 stories with 30 or so people, so they’re more close knit with their own “themes” so if that’s something you’re interested in you should check it out. I lived in Sereno, the music and performing arts building, and knew everyone’s name (excluding 4 or 5 people who were unsocial with the rest of the dorm) which is quite a feat. It’s also notorious for being a crazy party dorm, (because music people are all weird right).</p>
<p>As a last note, co-ed>single sex. It’s just more fun. And no, not because of dorm-cest.</p>
<p>The pros about Tercero and Segundo is that they are closer to actual classes, but Tercero is much closer. Also, they have bigger DCs and have the normal dorm-style housing, which promotes more social behavior. Of course, that also means shared bathrooms</p>
<p>The pros about Cuarto is that it has a pool (that no one ever seems to use) and that you have suites so there’s a lot more room and a private bathroom. The cons are that it has a smaller DC so there’s fewer “restaurants” if you can’t find anything good, but the major con is that because they are suites, they don’t promote social behavior. People tend to bond with their 3-5 suitemates rather than the other people on their floor just because there’s so much room to watch TV and play video games with your own living room. Also, it’s a 5-10 minute bike ride from campus, but they have bus lines, and it’s on a main street with businesses.</p>
<p>I would recommend either Tercero or Segundo. Much better for the freshman experience. Cuarto is probably the best dorm if you meet a lot of people since you have the bathrooms and big rooms and such. I still remember coming to orientation here and my orientation leader didn’t even bother taking us to Cuarto and just said “You should hope you get Tercero or Segundo”</p>
<p>By the way, if you get any replies on this, most people will probably say to live in Tercero or Segundo anyway. People who don’t live in Cuarto tend to make generalizations about it.</p>
<p>Disregard my post above. People who actually live in Tercero/Segundo can give better knowledge about life there. </p>
<p>I live in Cuarto</p>
<p>Pros:
Private bathrooms
Bigger rooms (own living room for TV, video games, with couches, etc)
On a main street with a lot of restaurants
3-5 roommates so if you have a problem with one or even two you can have 2-4 others
so life isn’t miserable</p>
<p>Cons:
Smaller DC with less stations so there’s less variety. Also, its the “healthy” DC so theres a lot of vegan stuff and majority healthy bran/wheat cereals
5-10 minutes from real classes. Sure it’s not a long ride, but it can be inconvenient. Seclusion can also be a plus for some people
Main problem is the asociality. Because you have your own rooms and so many roommates, there is less, I guess “incentive”, to get to know people on your floor as opposed to in traditional dorms. As a result, you see fewer open doors and tend to eat with/party with/hang out with your roommates more. Sure you can meet people, its just tougher</p>