<p>Now that decisions are out, I'd like to get a discussion going about Freshmen housing. Anyone have any pearls of wisdom to share?</p>
<p>FT dorms are the biggest, but they are off campus.
Santa Cruz dorms are Oceanside and can have a great view.</p>
<p>That’s all I know </p>
<p>My daughter did Freshman Summer start and lived in San Nic. She was happy there, right next to the lagoon, ocean view from her window. She lived on the 3rd and 6th floors and made several friends from the halls. </p>
<p>Santa Catalina (FT-this stands for something currently, not just Francisco Torres, its original name) is pretty far away from campus and pretty crazy-full of freshmen who are luxuriating in being free for the first time in their lives (i.e. not experienced drinkers), so take that into consideration. Also, if you have classes that run after dark its a long way to ride or walk.</p>
<p>I saw a couple of the shorties being renovated last year and they are very close to the beach. </p>
<p>Regardless of where you end up-if you are a female, consider the recent news from Isla Vista and stay safe-get a free escort home. It would be great if UCSB students could “take back the night”. I think a lot of people are working hard on that currently and new lights and cameras are scheduled for installation soon. That helps me breath a little easier as my daughter currently resides in an IV apartment.</p>
<p>Thanks for the input. Does any one know if the Spring Insight Open a house scheduled for April 12 will include housing tours? Also is it worth it to go?</p>
<p>@MIMI2012 Did your daughter find the summer start program helpful? I’m thinking I should do that but it’ll be another $5k that I would rather not spend if it isn’t a valuable experience. </p>
<p>She really liked Summer Start-and even passed on a trip to Italy to do it. They housed all the Summer Starts in San Nic so they bonded early, got very comfortable on campus and around IV. They have some silly activities to do which seem dumb, but create friendships-she’s still friends with most of them.
She got some units in and could even graduate early since she does summer school too. She may stay another year however since not everyone is in a big hurry to leave Disneyland, even if they do have to study hard! 
</p>
<p>The shorties are very popular, but last year someone posted that they were also most likely to be triples. FT is biggest, and has a bathroom between the two bedrooms which is nice, but is a ways off campus. I lived there freshman year in another lifetime and learned riding a bike in the rain that some backpack colors run. Also, people say the food there is the worst of all the dorms.</p>
<p>Just saying. </p>
<p>It was fine, but not as much in the center of things. It kind of depends on what you want. It DOES have parking available, which is a plus if you are determined to bring a car.</p>
<p>@MIMI2012 I keep hearing that about summer start. I wonder if my kids would be interested. They have a ton of APs and shouldn’t have a problem graduating whenever, so they don’t have much practical need for it – but people who do it seem to all say it was a fantastic experience.</p>
<p>@collegevetting My daughter thought that it was valuable just for the social aspect and to get comfortable with a big school. By the end of the program she was no longer intimidated by the size and academic reputation of UCSB and felt confident to do well in classes. She has continued to balance her social life and academics and I attibute a lot of that to that little head start with less academic pressure. Her grades are still A’s with a couple of B’s in some chem/physics. She joined a sorority in winter freshman year so she learned to time manage like a pro. Freshman Summer Start is more about getting acclimated to college life but also provides some bonus units as an aside to teach them how to get to class on their own.</p>
<p>I was recently reading about housing & was pleasantly surprised to see it guaranteed for all 4 years -pretty uncommon for a UC! UCSB just keeps moving up my list. :)</p>
<p>@Lilliana330 yeah, and the third and fourth years I think it is at University apartments!</p>
<p>There are youtubes students have done if you go there and search ucsb dorm room. Here is one that shows a few different ways to set the room up (this is a San Rafael dorm but it is similar to Anacapa or the other shorties as I remember them.) If you don’t want to watch 10 minutes of them figuring out how to take the furniture apart (although I thought it was kind of entertaining, not to mention educational if you actually find yourself in that position) you can kind of skim by pushing the view bar. This shows three different set ups, but the best imho is the one they end up with starting at about the 10 minute mark. <a href=“UCSB dorm tour & renovation - YouTube”>UCSB dorm tour & renovation - YouTube;