<p>Hey everybody. I signed a TAG agreement with UCSC and plan on transferring next fall as a physics major. I was blown away by the beauty of the campus and the great reputation of its astrophysics department. I'm really excited about attending, but here's the thing. I'm 30 years old and trying to figure out what I'm going to do about housing. After commuting to work for a number of years, the idea of rolling out of bed and walking to class sounds like a slice of nirvana, but would on campus housing be weird at my age? What options would allow me to have my own room and access to some kind of kitchen instead of a meal plan? Perusing the housing site, the only thing that seems to fit that bill would be the Village. Does anybody know anything about it? What's the vibe? Would someone my age just stick out like a sore thumb. I'm not especially self-conscious but would like to avoid being the college equivalent of that random old dude who still attends high school parties. Any info would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance. Take care.</p>
<p>I don’t know much about the Village but it is far from the rest of the campus (there is a campus bus service that goes there). Visit the [UCSC</a> housing website](<a href=“http://housing.ucsc.edu/village/index.html"]UCSC”>The Village) to find out more about it.</p>
<p>You can also get a single bedroom in an apartment in one of the 10 (residential) colleges. Each apartment has its own kitchen, shower, living room and you live with 5 or 6 other people. If you do this you have to order a 55 meal plan for each quarter but you can use 1 meal plan to buy $8 worth of stuff in a campus restaraunt/store. I say stuff because there is one place on campus that has groceries and hygiene products for sale that you can use a meal for. </p>
<p>In regards to people, UCSC is the most liberal/hippie of all the UCs. The people here are very chill and friendly. Parties actually aren’t common here because there is a small greek system.</p>
<p>Thanks for the reply Techhexium. An on campus apartment was really what I think I had in mind, unfortunately looking at the website, it appears that transfer students would have to choose between the transfer community (which I think is just a dorm in Porter), uc town center which isn’t actually on campus, and the Village. I’m not really looking for a “college experience”, that part of my life has long passed. I brought up the “old guy at the party” thing just as an analogy of someone who looks out of place. I have no intention of attending college parties. I’m more interested in a good steak and a microbrew. I guess I’m really wondering if there are adult students who live on campus, and what that experience would be like, or if I’d be better off just renting a place off campus. I don’t really know the santa cruz area at all. Does anybody have any thoughts on places to live near campus? I’m going to try to plan a trip when I can get a couple of days off and see the area. What should I check out when I’m there?</p>
<p>For the choices you have for housing, you should go for the Village or off-campus. The transfer community in Porter which I heard is loud, obnoxious and filled with drugs. (I misspoke eariler. I don’t know much about Porter but it is the party college). We’re all adults by the way but people of your age most likely live in Graduate Student Housing (which fits < 100 people so most graduates live off-campus) so I think you’re better off getting to know more about Santa Cruz. The city has a very local vibe. I’m trying to learn more about the city though. You should definitely check its subreddit community to find out more about the city (your questions can be found by searching at the top right of the page)</p>
<p>I can’t resist staying this before I begin my reply in regards to the OP… Don’t buy into stereotypes. There are parties everywhere. No one college does it more. Same with drugs. Ignore people who tell you differently.</p>
<p>That said, I think the transfer community is a waste of time. Avoid it. I say this as someone who was a transfer and lived at Porter (but as an affiliate and not as a part of that slap in the face, salt in the wound insult known as the transfer community). I was a little younger than you (I turned 25 after I transferred), but I ended up in a hall with mostly frosh. I was in a single. It was never weird… But they also thought I was a lot younger than I actually was.</p>
<p>Based on what you’ve said, Village would be fine for you. Guaranteed single, choice of a meal plan or not, and on campus. Yes, it’s in lower quarry, but it’s not that bad. I considered it myself when I was worried about getting a single. They are trailers, but I thought they were good when I would visit a friend there.</p>
<p>The old way was better when they used to allow transfers to live at their affiliated college and many would choose the apartments.</p>
<p>And as someone who also did an obscene amount of commuting herself, it was incredible rolling out of bed and walking to class for two years :).</p>