Mesa v. Middle (for Humanities major)

Colleges & Universities A-Z University of California - Irvine
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<p>I've tried looking through each of the threads but didn't really get any exact answers that would help me in my case. I'll be visiting next week to check the dorms out for myself, but I just wanted to get a better idea from your opinions.</p>

<p>So from what I understand,</p>

<p>MIDDLE EARTH:
-less of a party scene/engineering;computer science type of people
-closer to engineering/science classes
-smaller dorms
-better food
-closer to gym
-safer</p>

<p>MESA COURT:
-bigger party scene/smoking/drinking
-closer to humanities
-bigger dorms
-more social</p>

<p>I'll be majoring in the humanities/English, and I consider myself relatively social (like I get along with talkative people more than, sorry if this sounds really stereotypical, engineering/science people, because I really just can't stand talking about the subject and would rather talk about literature/politics. So I guess I'm saying that I won't be able to connect as much with the Middle Earth residents as much as Mesa Court. </p>

<p>And if Mesa is closer to the humanities building, then is that so much of an advantage than if I were to dorm at Middle Earth? Or does it not make much of a difference?</p>

<p>HOWEVER, I'm uncomfortable around smokers/drinkers (I REALLY cannot stand smokers and I have an urge to yell at people who smoke - I don't want to have to deal with that stress, especially in my first year). I also don't drink and don't want to be around people while they're drinking (I still get along with them, I just don't want to be in that scene).</p>

<p>So in a nutshell, I'm social, want to be around lively people, but not so lively as in party-smoke-drink, and want to have somewhere quiet to return to (doesn't help that apparently it's close to concerts/performances...which would mean the area is loud?)</p>

<p>**Also what's the difference between Discover and Celebrate UCI? I want to find out more about the honors program and get more of a glimpse into their humanities classes, so I want to attend whichever event is going to help me out in learning about those programs.</p>

<p>**Anddddd are there any UCI English majors here? How are the programs, especially for people aiming for graduate/law school? UCI keeps talking about their science department but rarely touch upon their English program, so yeah :o</p>

<p>If anybody could help me out in getting a better perspective in which house would be better for me, that would be great : )</p>

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<p>I live in Mesa. Smoking/Drinking is not an issue at all. Anyone who smokes has to smoke outside and and people mostly only drink at parties. Honestly, it is not a big deal. People make Mesa out to be this huge party central, but it’s not. R.A.'s are required to write you up if they see you doing anything illegal so it’s not like people are just openly smoking and drinking all the time. My R.A. is really awesome, but she WILL no matter what write you up if needed. I really see no difference in social life between Mesa and Middle. It just depends on your hall and the people you live with. That comes down to luck. </p>

<p>Mesa is next to the Bren, but I have never had an issue with noise either. The Bren is not right next to the actual dorms where people sleep, it’s next to the mesa parking structure, dining commons and the claire trevor school of the arts. </p>

<p>Being a humanities Major I would definitely say live in Mesa. I am a drama major and living in Mesa is SOOOOOO convenient. I cannot imagine how some of my fellow drama freshies live in Middle. Granted, you will have GE classes all over campus and those may be closer to Middle, but in the end I really think it will be more convenient to live in Mesa.</p>

<p>Honestly, I do not see a big difference in Mesa and Middle food. Mesa Commons and Pippin tend to have very similar quality food. Pipin sometimes has more variety, but I find it very congested and over crowded in there all the time. Mesa Commons is bigger with different rooms to eat in and big spaced out tables. Only advantage in my opinion about Middle is Brandywine which is right next to Middle. Brandywine is small but has really creative & good quality food. But i just eat there when I happen to be in Middle Earth area if I am visiting a friend or have class over there. </p>

<p>And keep in mind that any student can eat in any dining hall regardless of where they live, so if you don’t mind walking to the 10 or so minutes sometimes then it’s no big deal.</p>

<p>And Mesa Rooms are just better. They are bigger, have better windows, more floor space and more closet space. And the way the furniture is arranged is better because it kind of gives you your own space from your roommate. It’s kinda hard to explain. Middle bathrooms are bigger but that’s because whole hallways share a bathroom whereas in Mesa just one suite shares a bathroom.</p>

<p>Middle has it’s pros, but yeah, from your situation, it sounds like Mesa would be better.</p>

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<p>Cool, sounds like a reasonable response.
I was about to put down Middle Earth, but I guess I’m just going to have to wait until that Discover/Celebrate Day to decide for sure.</p>

<p>Do most people spend their time in the dorms anyways? I mean, wouldn’t most people be spending their time in the library or somewhere a bit more peaceful to study?</p>

<p>Anybody else want to give me some advice? : )</p>

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<p>I personally study in my room. I don’t have an issue with noise in my suite, and I room with my best friend. Some people say themes don’t matter, but I live in an interest in music hall and the interest in performing arts hall is right next to us so i am always here or there. And we sometimes have events together and stuff. In my case theme did matter because I have met a lot of cool people with similar interests to mine. </p>

<p>But many people do find the need to go to the library or gateway which is about equal distance from mesa or middle. One advantage to Middle Earth is that some of the halls have study rooms attached which are really nice. However in Mesa there is the community center and the Rec center, etc in which there are study rooms and stuff.</p>

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<p>^ Theater luver ae u a drama major?</p>

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<p>hiakumarukuchan, yes, i am a drama major.</p>

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<p>I live in Middle. I could be biased, but I’m gonna say Middle definitely has better food. However, whether it’s in Middle or Mesa, they’re all cafeterias so the food isn’t always great and it’s easy to get sick of it anywhere you go. Being next to both Brandywine and Pippin at Middle is a plus though. </p>

<p>And yes, being closer to the gym has probably motivated me to go more (my suite used to go to the gym every day the first quarter). However, I thought I’d let you know if you live in Mesa, you can walk to the flagpoles where the shuttles come and take it to the ARC if you wish. I think they come every 15 minutes or so? But walking to the gym from Mesa…probably not gonna happen unless you’re dedicated.</p>

<p>Mesa rooms are definitely better than Middle rooms, although it depends on the phase you get put in. The older the phase, the smaller and more cramped it seems to be. Ex: you’d probably rather be in a new phase at Middle than an old phase at Mesa, and vice versa.</p>

<p>As for smokers and drinkers, I should warn you that it happens anywhere. Middle Earth, Mesa Court. There are definitely smokers and drinkers in Middle. You really shouldn’t be stereotypical (and this is directed towards anyone trying to categorize Middle and Mesa) because once you get here, you will see that the stereotypes are totally off. There are all kinds of people living everywhere. Of all the people in my building, I only know a few engineers, and they definitely do not talk about engineering. However, if you want to find a fellow English major, you’ll probably be better off finding one in Mesa.</p>

<p>Depending on where you get placed, Middle can get noisy too. It depends on who lives in your building and next to your building. I live by the parking lot, so car alarms go off in the morning (can you say annoying?).</p>

<p>Also, remember that since it’s only the first year, you’ll probably be taking mostly general ed. so unless you’re going to take lots of humanities classes, it won’t matter where you live since they’ll be scattered everywhere.</p>

<p>Regardless of where you get put in, I think you’ll end up liking it. Don’t get too set on one place because what happened to a lot of people this year was they all put down Mesa and many of them ended up in Middle. Now they love Middle though, so it’s not an issue anymore.</p>

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<p>PoorCookie put it very well. I think you will be happy in either place. They both have their pros and cons. I just find mesa convenient since it is next to the arts and i love my room, haha. :)</p>

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<p>hey, when are we supposed to list our preferences? did we get that sheet already? or do we wait? i just paid something for housing…</p>

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<p>@ poorcookie: nope, mesa people acknowledge that their food is bad too, haha. (one friend said, “their salad is even bad. HOW CAN YOU MESS UP SALAD??”) mesa commons has a nice environment though (very spacious). pippin is bigger than brandywine and has more variety but there’s something about the bad lighting at night that makes it feel… dingy.</p>

<p>i’ve been to at least one building in each phase in middle earth and although 3 is newest in ME (where i live), i like phases 1 and 2 better. there’s just more character to the buildings than those in phase 3 (which has a simple floor plan). however the utilities might not work as well (flooding in bathrooms etc) in the older phases and i’ve heard their walls are really thin.</p>

<p>noise level depends on people in your hall but if it’s too noisy you can just leave to go to the library or to another study center.</p>

<p>@ Theaterluver’s comment: although all RAs are required to write up people for drinking, etc., from what i’ve seen i wouldn’t say that all the RAs write people up</p>

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<p>English is excellent, and if you want, you can add an emphasis in Literary Criticism and Theory or Creative Writing. At the graduate level, Literary Criticism and Theory is outstanding, one of the top two programs in the nation. The Creative Writing MFA program is also highly selective. An article in the Atlantic Monthly a year or two ago included UCI in a list of five or six places “Where Great Writiers Are Made.”</p>

<p>UCI is strongly interdisciplinary; there’s lots of cooperative interaction among faculty in different areas. So you’ll also benefit from UCI’s excellence in drama, philosophy and comparative literature.</p>

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<p>@Thoth… you don’t list your preferences until (I believe) May. That’s when you get to fill out the real application (which community you prefer, which theme(s) you’d like, etc.) and pay the deposit (~$350).</p>

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<p>Yeah… some RAs are lenient and don’t write people up and some RAs are never here to write people up. So people are bound to smoke and drink anyway. But most people get caught eventually (eventually means that could vary from right away to the end of the year…) and you can always call a line called “duty” on them for noise complaints, etc.</p>

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<p>i never call duty line even though sometimes my neighbors drive me crazy. i would just feel guilty for getting them into trouble, haha.</p>

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<p>poorcookie:
how do you know which one is the older phase?</p>

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<p>Thanks for all of the great advice guys : )
If I do end up attending then I think I’m going to have an emphasis in Literary Criticism and look into a Poli Sci minor.</p>

<p>I think I’m leaning towards Middle Earth as of now, just because I know that it’ll give me more incentive to go to the gym and I can’t stand bad food, so I’d rather just take the safer route (I honestly don’t want to waste 30 minutes walking). And I’m sure I’ll meet some great people at ME and through classes too, so that shouldn’t be too much of a problem.</p>

<p>TWO QUESTIONS:

  1. So I’m going to Discover UCI on April 15th - which is better - a housing or a campus tour? I think a campus tour is of higher priority, but I could always do that on my own after the event, right? But I wouldn’t be able to go into a house without asking a student, and it would be harder to explore through…</p>

<p>2) Will I be able to talk to professors/financial aid officers/etc. if I go to the campus? Do I have to make an appointment beforehand?</p>

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<p>You can take both a housing and a campus tour</p>

<p>the financial aid office should be open and ready for parents/families/students.</p>

<p>Depends on the professor. If you sit in on a class you might be able to catch them afterwards, although some professors scurry out very fast. So if there are any in particular that you really want to catch, you might want to shoot them an email in advance, or you can find out when their classes are, and go visit the class.</p>

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<p>@ ankii: you can find out which building is what phase for Middle Earth by going here: [UC</a> Irvine Student Housing - Middle Earth - Hall History](<a href=“http://www.housing.uci.edu/me/hall_desc.asp]UC”>http://www.housing.uci.edu/me/hall_desc.asp) I tried looking for Mesa Court’s phases, but I couldn’t find it anywhere. You can try looking at the housing site though.</p>

<p>@ Junine: If you look at the schedules and plan it out, I’m sure you can take both tours. They run multiple times during the day, I believe. But if you HAD to pick one, I would go to the housing one. You can take the campus tour yourself (you just won’t get the little tidbits and facts the tour guides give you as you walk around) but like you said, you can’t get into a dorm yourself. Who knows, seeing the rooms might help you decide whether you like ME or Mesa better. </p>

<p>And although there aren’t many pics and the pics don’t really show too well what the rooms look like, you can take a look at the photo gallery if you haven’t already: [UC</a> Irvine Student Housing - Photo Gallery](<a href=“http://www.housing.uci.edu/photo/index.asp]UC”>http://www.housing.uci.edu/photo/index.asp)</p>

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<p>Info about the Mesa Court phases (they call them units, but it’s the same thing… the lower the number the older) can be found here:</p>

<p>[UC</a> Irvine Student Housing - Mesa Court - Hall History and Descriptions](<a href=“http://www.housing.uci.edu/mc/hall_desc.asp]UC”>http://www.housing.uci.edu/mc/hall_desc.asp)</p>

<p>Unfortunately, they don’t have floor plans for any of the units.</p>