<p>I am hopefully attending UCSB next fall and I was just wondering, what would be the best housing option for a 20 year old girl who is a transfer student from a community college? </p>
<p>My two options are basically either living on campus in the dorms or in the apartments owned by UCSB. From what i have heard IV is the place where most upperclassmen live, but that is not an option for me because i dont really know anyone there and would like to make friends easily. </p>
<p>So from experience, what is better, dorms or apartments? By better i mean funner, safer, easy to make friends and meet fun people ( I obviously want to party & im very outgoing so i dont want to get stuck in a place where people just stay in and study ALL the time). This may seem superficial but where do the most upperclassmen hot guys live besides IV? I want to make the most of my college experience and not only get a good education, but also have a good time since i have been stuck at a boring community college for the past two years! Thanks for your advice! :)</p>
<p>I’m gonna try to live in the freshman dorms. It may sound stupid but I’m pretty much on the same boat as them, just trying to meet new people. It’ll be easier for when I have to move onto IV, would you not want that?</p>
<p>You cannot live in freshmen dorms, the only on campus housing options available for transfers are university apartments and two residence halls, Manzanita and San Rafael. If you decide to live on campus, you will likely be grouped with other new transfer students. University apartments are not directly on campus and most are 2 to a room and 8 to a suite, and are much cheaper at around $550 a month but does not include a meal plan. Both San Rafael and Manzanita are known as anti social because of their layouts and are separated on the far side of campus, although right by the beach. Manzanita is the newest dorm and have the largest rooms and private bathrooms which lock, San Rafael has suite style rooms and mostly house juniors and seniors. Manzanita is also mostly for continuing students but some freshmen. I’ve done a lot of research and my first choice will probably be Manzanita then univ. Apartments. I would rather live on campus for my first year and the location is pretty awesome (I visited), right by the beach and super close to Isla Vista. The apartments, however, provide more freedom from RA’s and are generally less restrictive and of course cost is the biggest positive of univ. apartments.</p>
<p>I think you are making a few erroneous assumptions about housing. If you live on a old-fashioned dorm floor you get to know many of the people on your floor, which is nice in terms of building a group of friends quickly. But dating people on your same floor tends to be frowned upon (some call it “floorcest”) because if things go sour you’re going to be stuck seeing each other the whole year. In dorms built around a suite model you meet fewer people right of the bat, but for what you’re looking for that won’t really matter. What helps with dorms in terms of meeting people to date or hook up with is the higher density of people right around you, people that don’t necessarily live on your floor, you run into them all the time because everyone eats meals in the commons, and dorms host activities for their residents. In apartments you cook in your own place, and there are usually not many (if any) apartment-complex wide gatherings the way there are in dorms. Dorms also have more support services such as RAs, and also host info sessions.</p>
<p>You will meet plenty of guys in your classes, at parties, thru clubs, etc. It doesn’t matter if they live in your dorm or neighborhood or across IV; it takes maybe 5 minutes on a bike to get to across IV so it isn’t like distance is any obstacle no matter who you meet. </p>
<p>I would suggest living in the dorms. You’ll have a good year, then your 2nd year move into an apartment in IV with some of the friends you’ve made.</p>
<p>@andrewexd What are you talking about? I know transfers can live in freshmen dorms cause I’ve asked there already. You have to just specifically tell them you want a freshmen dorm instead of transfers, I talked to one of then about this already. No idea where you got that wrong info</p>