Manzanita and the other near campus dorms vs. FT

<p>i hear francisco torres is nice because you are isolated. But it's so far away from the school and IV. Any input on what it's like living their?</p>

<p>I don't have personal experience, but a friend of mine who is a freshman at SB says it has the reputation of being the wild crazy party dorm...
But on the up side, it's the closest dorm being outside the campus, and is pretty close to Camino Real which has a movie theater, Costco and a few other things.</p>

<p>I go to UCSB and live in FT... i know this will sound bias but FT is by far the best. You have your own bathroom, shared by 4 people, the rooms are the biggest and kinda the nicest, and you have co-ed floors which makes a much better social situation. I have visited all of the other dorms, some are small and cramped other are ok but BORING. I have met tuns of people on campus who walk all the way to FT during the weekends to experience its social life. The dining commos is attached and you never need to walk outside to get there, the pool is amazing everyone is out and about by the pool or pool area on nice days, you meet soooo many people, its also a nice alternative to the beach when it is windy or bugs are on the beach. Teh bad side is the distance biking is annoying but you get used to it thought the year and theyr is a busif its raining or you just toon lazy. FT is within biking to moves and dining outside of IV, others have to drive or take the bus, it is very easy for us to get arouhnd and walking into iv is much easier/ closer. BEST overall but the other dorms do have there perks, ocenside and ocen vies and in the middle of campus can walk to you classes not bike</p>

<p>I heard FT is a primary freshman dorm, is this true?</p>

<p>So my understanding is that FT is the best off-campus dorm, but how about the on-campus ones? How do they stack up vs. each other? From my research it seems that Manzanitais is the best, but I've also heard that its the transfer dorm. Can anyone who goes to UCSB give any insight to the on-campus housing?
-TK</p>

<p>my cousin was a freshman last year. He was in manzanita and ended up getting a house with six other guys from manzanita that were also freshman. idk if that says anything but when i went and visited he said manzanita was the place to be.</p>

<p>you'll want to ride a bike or take the bus to get to campus, but it isn't like FT is miles away. Here's an aerial view from google; FT is at the top left. <a href="http://www.google.com/maps?q=Isla+Vista,+CA+93117&ie=UTF8&om=1&z=16&ll=34.413495,-119.858694&spn=0.011028,0.023453&t=h&iwloc=addr%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.google.com/maps?q=Isla+Vista,+CA+93117&ie=UTF8&om=1&z=16&ll=34.413495,-119.858694&spn=0.011028,0.023453&t=h&iwloc=addr&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>But if I was making the choice, I'd choose to live on-campus.</p>