I got off the waitlist as a transfer student recently and was looking for some recommendations for housing. I’m entering Berkeley as a junior because of AP credits but I am actually a second-year college student so (please correct me if I’m wrong) I don’t think it would be problematic if I got stuck with freshmen instead of transfer students as the groups are a year younger or older than me. For the most part, I’m looking for an affordable place, but want to select houses and dorms that on my application that may be difficult to get if I don’t otherwise apply. I’m a pretty sociable person so I feel I’d be fine with roommates and I’m not one to really care about a lot of space or my own space. Long as I can study in my room or I’m close enough to study at a library, I’ll be fine. Any information regarding any of the apartments or dorms would be really helpful.
Confused about “want to select houses and dorms that on my application that may be difficult to get if I don’t otherwise apply”
Dorms are fun I recommend them. They all have pros and cons.
Last year, my Clark Kerr dorm building was half freshman, half transfers. Transfers ranged from 16-30 years old so I’d say you’re covered. Clark Kerr has a lot of courtyards, big rooms, and big lounges but it’s a walk to campus of 20 minutes or the short 79 bus every 30 minutes (every 15 minutes if you walk a bit to the 51B).
Any more specific questions?
I too am confused by the “want to select” sentence. On campus housing is always going to be pricey. The fewer people you are living with, the pricier it will be.
If you wind up in a dorm, don’t look to do much studying in your room, especially if you are in a forced triple. Just very tight. On the plus side, Cal has a lot of libraries. If you want on-campus, make sure your last choice is “Anything Available”.
I think we need more info. What is your major? Are you looking at a dorm or an apartment?
I’m actually living off campus this first semester, but curious to learn about the dorms in case I decide to move in second semester. What I meant by that sentence was that I didn’t want to select a place as a preference if I’ll get that anyways for “any house any size”. My major is undeclared L&S → L&S Comp Sci. I was looking more into apartments, but I’m looking overall to keep costs low while still being close to campus.
The dorms per month comes out to $1667. Except for Foothill which is probably closer to $1900 a month. That includes 12 meals a week.
You’ll probably want to consider staying on the north or northeast end of the campus if you stick with CS. My kid is staying at the brand new Blackwell dorm on the south end of the campus, mainly because we thought that freshman year he would be all over the place. Which is true, except that even as a freshman, on some afternoons and evenings he’s got labs at Soda and Cory and it’s a bit of a hike to get back to the south end of campus. Foothill is the dorm that is at the northeast end of the campus where a lot of the engineering and CS students end up.
My kid, currently an undeclared L&S, is at Foothill. We checked, it seems to be reasonable walks to all his classes, that are mostly technical (he is actually a math major). Foothill seems to be a reasonable location for the technical introverts… And yeah, price per month is a bit more than $2,000.