The Village vs. Transfer Community @ Porter

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of California - Santa Cruz
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<p>So I was wondering if any current UCSC students could tell me pros/cons of the two. Right now, the idea of having my own room to myself is quite appealing, so I'm leaning towards The Village. To be honest though, I don't really feel that I know much about either options so far. I've driven by The Village and noticed it was basically at the bottom of a giant ravine, but thats really it. I also really haven't seen any of Porter, but I do know that I don't REALLY want to share a room (been there, done that!) and have to live a "dorm-style" life. Could anybody tell me a little about each? I'm trying to make a well informed decision and I think getting the scoop from current students would definitely help. </p>

<p>Thank you very much!</p>

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<p>Nobody? :/</p>

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<p>Disclaimer: I think the transfer community is an abomination and should be dissolved. I have expressed my dislike and concerns about the harmful nature of it to the university at every opportunity.</p>

<p>Note: I was a transfer before it was implemented and a Porter affiliate so I saw life before it and the negative impact it had after it was implemented.</p>

<p>Transfer community:
It is forced segregation of transfers from other students (including continuing transfers). It displaces some Porter affiliates who have been forced to accept housing outside of their affiliation. It also forces transfers who do not want dorm life to be in dorm life.</p>

<p>Personally, I loved the dorms. But I felt I had more privacy (I had a single room my whole time at UCSC) than anywhere else. I had no apartment mates to ask about guests staying over.</p>

<p>My biggest love in the dorms was not having to clean the bathrooms as one must do in the apartments.</p>

<p>The Village:
It is located in Lower Quarry. It is still on campus which is a bonus, but walking from there to the rest of campus is not so fun. The good news is there are the shuttles. The night shuttles do go into the area itself.</p>

<p>It does guarantee a single and there is a kitchen available. If they haven’t changed it, it does not require a meal plan like dorms and apartments on campus do. This is what helps make The Village much cheaper.</p>

<p>The downside is that the buildings really are just glorified trailers (there is a trailer park for real, though, further up campus on the west side of north). It didn’t seem that bad to me when I visited a friend down there, but the building could be an issue for some. Rooms all seemed a decent size from the little I saw (no small singles). I seriously considered it until I decided to live at Porter (before transfer community) to be in walking distance of theatre arts department.</p>

<p>One thing that is missing from both is the bonding with your affiliated college. I cannot say enough how much it meant to me being a part of Porter and only on campus students living in their affiliated colleges learn of this wonderful family that they lose out on because of changes to transfer housing the university made.</p>

<p>My opinion is if you’re going to lose out on that college affiliation kinship and space is important, The Village is the best option. However, I do have a bias as I noted in the beginning ;). But it is something to consider if guaranteed space is important above all.</p>

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<p>yeah, I was wondering the same thing. I really want a single and thought the village would be a convenient option. Is it majority transfer students? From my understanding each college at UCSC has their own stereotypes, I generally don’t pay much attention but what are some stereotypes about the village? I love the layout and dont the mind the trailer park-like scenery (hey, my own bedroom for 9 grand, I am not complaining) but I feel like it is so away from campus, you tend to not mingle with others on campus where as the transfer community would seem like much more is happening.</p>

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<p>Village has historically been upperclassmen. This includes both transfers and people who entered as frosh. However, for 2010/2011 school year when the transfer community was first implemented, transfers could no longer choose anything but transfer community for minimum their first quarter in on campus housing.</p>

<p>Beginning 2011/2012, transfers could choose Village or UTC as well as transfer communtiy. I admit I laughed because I was right that limiting transfers to one area was not wise (the space available was not enough unless all Porter students were pushed out and thankfully the harassment of Porterites ended at taking one of their dorm buildings) and much more space was needed.</p>

<p>Honestly, it is getting harder to get a single. Porter has the most from what I have been told, but the rooms are in demand and there is often a running list for them. Your only guarantee is Village if you must have a single.</p>

<p>Like I mentioned, I hate the transfer community. It segregates just as badly as Village, but has the key difference of it being forced. Village is by choice. I have not spent enough time at the Village, but other alternative communtiy on campus do seem to be quite close. The trailer park had several get togethers according to a friend that lived there and, although not most people’s concern, the family housing tends to be close as well. The only real “close” I’ve seen from the transfer community is the few scheduled events. Remember that the transfer community is only for new transfers. You are not supposed to remain there after the first year.</p>

<p>I did raise hell after I found out transfers from bulding A (transfer community) would be allowed to request to “keep their room” so long as they were willing to take a similar one in building B (Porterite occupied). This displaced legitimate Porter students further and never should have been allowed. I hope they have taken this away, but I’m not holding my breath.</p>

<p>Anywho, my personal gripes aside, there’s not as much of a community as you would be led to believe. It gets broken up after your first year living in the transfer community and you have to start over.</p>