<p>I'm just ending up my first semester at a local CC. I'm planning to transfer to UCSC in the fall of 2013. I'm studying for BioInformatics, and already have my plan for the rest of my time at CC. I'm all pumped up about UCSC <em>love the campus.</em> , and had a few questions about the transferring experience.</p>
<p>I'm without a doubt going to dorm my first year there, especially since I feel like I'm "missing out" this year. Aside from that...</p>
<p>-How are the transfer dorms at Porter? How's the "mood" there?
-Since Porter has the transfer housing... does that mean I'd be stuck in porter?
-I don't quite understand the difference between all of the residential housing colleges... what's each one known for?
- For anyone else doing BioInformatics, how's the program there?</p>
<p>For someone who's gone through it all, how was your transfer experience?</p>
<p>-Mood at porter in general is laid back, more hippie typical santa cruz style.
-Make friends outside of Porter and you won’t be, as long as you aren’t allergic to human interaction, you’ll be fine, you gotta take action yourself in college, if you sit in your room all day, you won’t meet many people.
-These are all first views of colleges, not necessarily true.</p>
<p>Cowell is typical college students, sports etc.
Don’t know much about Stevenson, but everyone tells me thats where the bulk of the Jewish community is
Crown is where the sciency computery people go.
Kresge and Porter are like I said populated by typical santa cruzish people
College 8 I heard is where a lot of people from SoCal go
Oaks and Merrill I know the least about, all I know is Oaks is very diverse.</p>
<p>How are the transfer dorms at Porter? How’s the “mood” there?</p>
<p>I am currently living in the transfer dorms at Porter and I love them. They’ve been newly renovated and look very nice. My room is pretty big in size (its a double), although my next door neighbor got a slightly smaller double… There are some HUGE triples that I have been in. My roommate and I (both being women) have a ton of clothes and random things, and our room definitely has enough room for all of it. I have a wonderful view of the quad, to where I get the luxury of hearing the talented musicians playing. Sometimes I get annoyed because I also get to heard loud (sometimes bad) singing, people’s conversations, and random yelling which at times has made it difficult to keep focused on studying. But it isn’t so bad to where I’ve been completely ADD and not study.
All in all, I LOVE living in the dorms at Porter and I am very thankful to have chosen it.
The mood there is laid back, happy, and social. You can talk to anyone. I have gone to the dining hall and sat at random tables with random groups of people and made friends with all (and even go out with them on weekends). Some of my friends hated the dorms, but that’s because the are the anti-social type people who want to live off campus. I personally would not trade living in the dorms for anything. I highly recommend it. </p>
<p>-Since Porter has the transfer housing… does that mean I’d be stuck in porter?
Pretty much, unless their overcrowded. Some people have been living in college 9/10 and Merill who are transfers. BUT… even though that SOUNDS lame, it is not. The transfer dorms are full of other people who are in the same situation as you- transferring in (and most likely also don;t know anyone). It is the perfect atmosphere, because you develop a bond with them that people who have been there since freshman year cannot share with you. You can make your own friends, rather than being the outsider trying to make fair with other students who have their own clicks dead and set.</p>
<p>Don’t believe the stereotypes. You’re going to find all sorts of people. The only reason one tends to find more “art related” things at Porter has to do with the college’s focus and the classes held there. It’s the same with all other colleges on campus. I honestly never see a drastic difference in the people except that there is definitely a much bigger divide at Porter since the abomination known as the transfer community came to exist. Porter is, unfortunately, becoming a transfer college and affiliates (including affiliates who were transfers as well like me) are feeling neglected.</p>
<p>Anywho, you would not be “stuck at Porter.”</p>
<p>The transfer community was something they never should have implemented. However, you are not stuck there. Transfers who wish to live in campus housing were required to live at least their first quarter in the transfer community beginning in Fall 2010. Beginning Fall 2011, transfers were again given access to choose The Village or the University Town Center as well as the transfer community. After your first quarter, you can apply to move into your own college affiliation.</p>
<p>Beginning your second year, you will have affiliation priority within your affiliated college to apply for that year.</p>
<p>I was a transfer myself and I have found the transfer community to be a detriment to both Porter and transfers. It takes away creating those ties with your affiliated college. I’ve met several other transfers who were shocked to learn they would lose priority at Porter because they were not affiliated. As for Porter, several of the affiliated students have been kicked out to other areas on campus because of the transfer community taking up space (which, by the way, Building A was promised Winter 2010 to upperclassmen Porter affiliates only to be taken away last minute with no warning).</p>
<p>The school advocates integrating transfers into university life and how transfers are no more and no less than those who entered as freshman, yet they separate them off.</p>
<p>So as a transfer who watched the creation of the transfer community, I think it’s awful (obviously ;)). All that they claim you get out of it is not worth what you’re losing in my opinion especially since it comes at the cost of displacing others.</p>
<p>I don’t want to take away from your thread steveleeto but I’m also very interested in the differences in residential life at the various colleges. My child is awaiting a freshman admittance decision from UCSC, loved campus and would be coming from the dark not-super-friendly northeast…wants to socialize and meet laid back (as described above ‘Santa Cruzish’) people. </p>
<p>@biomajorathlete, are you a human bio major? If so how do you like it?</p>
<p>Thanks Kinder for that judicious response. Since i am transferring in the fall I was wondering if the transfer community had an impact at the school at all.</p>