<p>I am really torn between which to put as my first choice. Important note is that I am pretty much 100% living on Scholars Floor (parents want me to). Anacapa is closer to the beach and classes than Santa Catalina. Santa Catalina, however, has the 4 to 1 bathroom rather than over 30 to one bathroom and also has larger rooms. santa catalina distance may pose problem, but i dont think that i would mind it too much. anacapa apparently provides best college feel. help please?</p>
<p>Anacapa was my first choice, I got into Santa Rosa, which is basically the same. I have some friends that live in both FT and Anacapa. All the dorms provide a college feel, this is a college campus, and living in a dorm of any kind will ensure that. I would not want to live in FT because of the distance from campus. It’s about a 10 minute bike ride each way and if you have a couple of hours between classes each day you either have to bike all the way back, go to the library, or go to a friend’s room, where as if you live in one of the on campus dorms, your room is right there. Having said that, it’s probably easier to make friends in FT because there are less people on a floor. As for the bathroom thing in the dorms, you’ll usually have the bathroom to yourself anyway, maybe one other person will go in while you’re in (except at around 8am and 10pm). But I’ve never not been able to get a stall, shower, sink or whatever. Good luck with your decision.</p>
<p>Live in FT!
Pros:
All freshman
Own bathroom
Sink and mirror in your room
Biggest rooms out of all the dorms
Nice pool
Study rooms everywhere if you don’t want to study in your room(called espacios)
and there is also 1 large area with couches and tables that’s really quiet all the time for
you to study
Maids clean your room/bathroom every week
The maintenance people are constantly cleaning the 2 towers
You get the portola dining experience
Convient mailboxes and mail service
Meet so many new people
Plenty of parking space if you want to bring a car
Kmart, Costco, Albertsons, Movie theater, Ross, Home Depot, etc. is only a 4-5 min bike ride
Isla Vista (for partying) is literally across the street
You are closer to Sands (beach) where everyone goes to surf/bonfire
Running trail
Tennis Courts
Gym
Game room
2 laundry facilities
Boys and Girls on the same floor, you literally will live across people from the opposite sex. It’s not one wing/side is all guys and the other side is all girls… it’s girls and guys live across from each other</p>
<p>Cons:
A bit of a bike ride to class, but you get use to it and if you get good enough, it’ll only take you 7 min tops to get from FT to anywhere on campus
There are people the constantly yell “**** FT” as they drive by not in a mean way though
Gets pretty loud since people are very social depending on your floor mates
Portola doesn’t have the best food, but they do have awesome themed days once in a while that is really fun and you can order omelets, burgers, and sandwiches everyday</p>
<p>In the end FT is a really great place to live the only con is the bike ride which sucks when it’s raining/windy.</p>
<p>DRussian, do you happen to be Russian by any chance?</p>
<p>lex739, thank you for a detailed explanation. I have changed my preference from the shorties to FT.
Ho convenient is long boarding as a method of transportation around the campus?</p>
<p>I am sorry to hear that your parents are dictating your choices on dorms. I graduated years ago from ucsb and now my son is going to go there this fall. his choice was anacapa though, and that was my dorm when I first lived there. Scholars floor is just a somewhat theme. Not everyone will be super brainiacs on that floor and also doesnt mean that there will be no socializing. Socializing as a freshman is the best thing for you in the early days and anacapa is perfect to make really good friends.</p>
<p>^I agree with avilabeach805. If your parents were going to college they could pick whatever they wanted but since you are going they cannot tell you what to do. </p>
<p>A guy with parents who used to be strict here. Speaking from experience.</p>
<p>@AndreyB, I am Russian! My parents were born and raised in Moscow and I am first generation American (however, Russian was my first language and I consider myself to speak at around a middle school level, but I read/write at a kindergarten or first grade level). </p>
<p>I think that I am going to choose Anacapa as my #1 choice and FT as my #2 choice. While FT sounds great, I would like to have the “college experience” my freshman year (such as the large residential halls). In addition, when I visited UCSB, there was something about the shorties that just felt “right”. Being able to go right outside the dorms to the ocean is really nice as well (while I am sure that the distance from FT to the beach is not a problem, it is nice to have the ocean within 50 feet of where I live). On a side note, I do not really mind living on the Scholar’s floor; it’s not like I really want to not live on that floor (in addition, my parents did also provide convincing arguments to live on the scholars floor). I am planning on majoring in Chemical Engineering, so I think that scholar’s floor is a good alternative because of that as well (it would be really bad to get distracted by the big social scene at FT; I would 100% get distracted, and I do not necessarily want to risk that). Overall, I do not think that the social aspect should be a problem; college is what you make of it, and I plan on meeting many people in my hall as well as during classes.</p>
<p>Dennis??? Is that you?</p>