I am currently a first year at UC Merced and have been following this page since my admittance. I am more than happy to answer questions from my experience about the school, campus/dorm life, and anything prospective students would like to know. Ask away! (:
Is the campus deserted on weekends? We heard this is a commuter UC. Also is the food really that bad? Are there any inside chains(Subways, Starbucks, Pizza Hut, Panda Express?). Just asking as all the UC’s we toured the guides said how great the dorm food was and we saw many of these chains on campus.
Hello! I have been admitted to UC Merced and I will be attending there in the fall! I was just wondering how the dorm system worked? Do we randomly get assigned roommates or do we take some sort of compatibility test? Also which dorms are considered the “best”? Thank you!
@urenough
Is the campus deserted on weekends?
On the weekends, the campus itself is usually really empty compared to the weekdays, as a large portion of the students do commute.
Is the food really that bad?
A lot of students like to poke fun at our campus’ DC (Dining Center/Commons), because the food here does get old after a couple of weeks. Although there seems to be a lot of options at the DC not a lot of it would be something I would have again. I’m not a picky eater and I found myself getting sick of the food here haha.
The UC does not allow chain restaurants for the time being, but they do allow small businesses from Merced to come on campus and serve food like Thai, Indian, Mediterranean, and Mexican, which are waaay better than the food provided by the campus. There are taco carts and hot dog stands that are located on campus as well, so the campus is showing that it’s doing its best to provide a lot of food options.
@celinec Hello Celine! Congratulations on your admittance and I am pleased to hear that you are becoming a bobcat! 
For the dorm application, you have to apply through the UC Merced housing website: http://housing.ucmerced.edu/apply/Fall2015. The application process that I went through had a basic survey on your major, behavior in the dorm, such as what times you go to bed/wake up, if you play music, video games, etc. which will be shown on your profile to help you match to others with similar behavior. Also, there are optional written parts to apply for Fiat Lux and another program that I forget at the moment, that also affect your housing status.
As for roommates, you can choose to be randomly sorted or you can look for potential roommates through the housing application, where you can contact them through email and try to find the best matches for you. In a way it is sort of like a dating site haha!
There are several dorms available, that have both good and bad sides. For freshmen, they have the option to live in the Sierra Terraces or the Summits. For the Sierra Terraces, the two dorm buildings Mariposa (where I live right now!) and Tuolumne are freshmen only, and are both identical in structure. Both of them are the located the closest to campus, the gym, and the DC, Tuolumne being slightly closer. Although they are in a great location, the dorms are a bit cramped and small, and just about fit 3 people; also, their bathrooms are shared by another room of 3 people, so you must share the bathroom with 5 other people, and have to clean them yourselves 
You can also choose to live in the Summits, which are available for freshmen and continuing students. They are split up into buildings: Cathedral, Tenaya, and Half Dome (which just opened in 2014). These dorms are brand spanking new! They have bigger and more spacious rooms compared to the Sierra Terraces, and have maids that clean the bathroom regularly. The bathrooms in the Summits are shared by the entire floor, so it’s a community bathroom. They are the farthest from campus, and take a longer walk to the campus compared to the Sierra Terraces. But, you do have laundry rooms on the first floor of every building, a dance room, piano room, hang out lounge with video game set up, and more. Choosing which dorm you want to live in is based on personal preference.
I hear the food isn’t that great for most UC’s, but anyways which are the cheapest dorm rooms.
@DarthRadec09 The cheapest dorm rooms are in the Sierra Terraces. Tuolumne and Mariposa are meant to be only occupied by 2 students per room, but due to the demand for housing they accommodate 3. It makes the room a little packed and makes it much cheaper than the Summits and Valley Terraces.
I was also wondering, do you get along with your roommates?
@DarthRadec09 my roommates! they are awesome. haha, I think I really lucked out on getting chill roommates; I haven’t had any major problems with them this entire year. I chose to select my own roommates and really investigated them and talked with them beforehand, which I think made my experience much better.
Is there any new construction going around right now?
@PerrisPanther Yes! COB 2 (Classroom and Office Building 2) is under construction and planned to open in 2016. I really think that with the addition of it the campus will start to look even larger!! I’m super excited for it to open 
hi I got admitted and I was wondering what’s the party’s like? and is it actually fun ? what do students who live one campus do for fun? and the education their worth living their?
Hey I wanted to know what student life is like over there at UC Merced and if there are any dance clubs or something like that?? I’m a ballet dancer and I would love to continue dancing when I go off to Uni
@chubar hello chubar, congratulations on your admittance!
What’s the party’s like?
I’m not a huge party person, but I have been to a couple of kickbacks.They are pretty fun, especially if you go with the right people. I do know some friends that go often, so it seems that the party scene is still alive.
What do students who live on campus do for fun?
Cow tipping. Haha just kidding
The campus itself doesn’t really offer much in terms of activities other than studying, and the gym, but we have a lot of open grass where people like to play soccer, flag football, volleyball, and basketball in the gym. The Campus Activities Board (CAB) put on great events, the biggest one coming up being Cowchella! (UCM’s version of Coachella ) Other seasonal events like Treats & Beats (halloween dance and carnival where we had Sage the Gemini and J. Holiday) and the Enchanted Ball, our winter dance that was so so fun! The great thing about these events are that they are all free! The Residence Hall Association also like to hold dances and fun activities for those living on campus.
I think the main thing that students like to do is participate in clubs or fraternities/sororities. Clubs and organizations like to facilitate events on campus; you can get an idea of what types of things they do through catlife: https://catlife.ucmerced.edu/Events. The community is one of UC Merced’s strengths and getting involved on campus make it hard to get bored, although Merced itself doesn’t have a lot to offer.
Is the education at UC Merced worth living here?
Definitely! I truly believe that UCM is a place full of opportunity, where you can create yourself while also pioneering a brand new university. It’s easy to complain that Merced is boring and not worth living in, but you have to be motivated and actually put work in to make the best of what the campus has to offer!
Do you know if it’s possible to change majors before orientation starts or at orientation?
Hi @val916! I know of several dance clubs on campus, such as INTRO, Dance Coalition, and Hip Hop Movement; they like to perform during special events such as Bobcat Day and they always do a great job! The dance clubs here are alive I’m not sure about ballet though, but you can definitely incorporate that into different types of dance! You can learn more about the dance clubs here: https://catlife.ucmerced.edu/organizations?SearchValue=Dance&SearchType=Category&CurrentPage=1&SelectedCategoryId=5260
Hey @potatos, you aren’t able to change majors during orientation, but you can register for classes pertaining to that major. Then during the semester make an appointment with your academic advisor and fill out an undergraduate major change form. If you get approved, you should be able to have your major changed in the Spring! (:
Any transfer students still have applications under review? Does anyone know a timeline?
@Thisguy98 Yes, this guy here. I heard the last day is 5/1. GL
Also, I have a question of my own. I was looking through the stats from last year’s transfer and noticed that about 44% of about 2.5k applicants were accepted. However, the total number of admitted were as low as 110, and I was very overwhelmed by this tiny little number.
Could you explain to this number or ,at least, about how is the life of transfer students. (I read article which released 2 years ago that says transfer students feel isolated due to small amounts of transfer students). Even this forum seem consists of mostly Freshman.
@Meooow Still havent heard, but I did hear similar stats. In fact, last year around mid-May, I got some sort of invitation to apply and attend Merced. I didnt take it because I still had the Statistics course to complete, but I have to assume it was because of the low transfer attendance. Either way, if I get in, I’m going as a transfer student. They’ll have 111!