Hi all,
Had a quick question - I will be starting at Cal Poly in the fall and living in the Towers. I was curious what the common trends are for upper classman. Do students typically move off campus after their first year? If so, should I be looking to move into one of the off campus apartments such as Mustang Village or should I try to find a house near campus. What have y’all done in your 4 years at SLO in terms of housing.
There are some kids that live on campus all four years, but many move off campus. My son only lived on campus his first year. Second year he lived in a house with others from his club sport. Third and fourth year he lived in a studio at Mustang Village.
How do you know that you will be in the towers? I thought that hasn’t been determined yet? Also, I was under the impression that there really isn’t room for students to stay all 4 years in the dorms (unless they are RA’s.
There isn’t room for ALL students to remain in the dorms all four years , however there has always been room for students who wish to remain in the dorms all four years to do so (excluding RA’s).
Cal Poly’s goal is to get as many students as possible in on campus housing, it’s in their master plan. They are opening new dorms fall of 2018 (capable of housing just under 1500 more students). The building of new apts/dorms will probably continue into the future as bonds pay for construction and rent pays the bonds (no cost to state). This also helps reduce rent/partying in SLO, which locals like, except for landlords. There is a rumor that in 2018, 2nd yrs may be required to stay on campus.
My D is upcoming 2nd yr and will be renting downtown (5 min drive). This is not common for most 2nd yrs who tend to rent on campus or within walking distance. Many 2nd yrs stay at Poly Canyon or Mustang (same vibe as towers), but this year they will be overcrowded as Poly has 500 more freshman then they expected. Generally speaking, the closer you are to campus, the less you get for your money; but, if you are extremely social it may be worth it.
1st year: Freshmen dorms
2nd year: Poly canyon village
3rd/4th: off campus.
I would recommend this order since it makes for a great experience and also some responsibility. Freshmen year in the dorms lets you be connect with other students. Sophomore year in PCV is similiar in that you are with other second years and allowed to connect without having to worry about the responsibilities of a house etc. As mentioned before, soon the university will try to make all first and second years stay on campus anyways.
Third and fourth years are good to be off campus which helps build responsibility and ownership of taking care of a place. There are arguements for both on and off campus, but building responsibility over two years has really helped me down the road with housing applications and general home care.
Consider this, in both the dorms and PCV: someone cleans your bathroom every week, makes sure the fire alarms work, lawn care, provides food close by or meal plan, close networking etc.
But the real world is this: nobody is going to clean your restroom for you, no body is going to turn off the fire alarms and reset the batteries for you, nobody is going to cut your lawn for you, you’re on your own for food, and making friends will always take more effort out of college. In other words, third and fourth year off campus ACTUALLY prepare you for the real world unlike the dorms and PCV which are “too comfortable” and don’t force you to grow or take responsibility.
Hope this helps!
-Senior Engineering Student.
That’s some great advice! Thanks!
@mustangmom2o21 Glad I could help!