<p>whoa nice! I want a triple but I still have to decide if I wanna randomize roomates... I want to do random because I don't wanna get stuck with the same boring people from highschool, but my parents are being rather difficult about it...
Are the people that choose random roomates generally happy? (sorry kind of broad) I mean, do you see anyone who gets a really mean roomate and they are miserable living there?</p>
<p>Is it possible to choose a roommate with a friend from HS?</p>
<p>Or is it always random?</p>
<p>i heard you can make requests</p>
<p>Most of my High School friends room with someone else from high school. I have a random roommate. </p>
<p>On my preferences I put I wake up early and go to sleep relatively early... hoping not to get a roommate that parties all the time and is drunk half the time. It worked. I get along with my roommate just fine, despite the fact I go out of my way to annoy him. He mostly plays video games all day and is very easy to ignore.</p>
<p>I'll put for preferances</p>
<p>AVID MUSE FAN</p>
<p>ASIAN</p>
<p>@ tatertots: LMAO!!</p>
<p>I dunno, I kinda dont like how mesa has suits are with only one gender. At middle there could be all girls right across your room but not in mesa. Thats one factor I don't like lol. Middle seems a bit bigger plus they have new flat screen TVs lol but the actual rooms are smaller than mesa haha. Mesa seems more friendlier too. I dunno we'll see haha.</p>
<p>I live in Middle, in the only Co-ed Suite in my hall. I have girls next door. Its no big deal, as a matter of fact I have become good friends with some. Its also nice to because we have less guys fighting for our bathroom =D
And yea the flat screen TV is nice =D My hall also has a foosball table!</p>
<p>Are most of the dorms co-ed? O:</p>
<p>In Mesa Court, guys and girls rooms are separated by sections. And Middle Earth, guys and girls rooms are in the same halls right?</p>
<p>^^
Correct. At least from the tour that I took thats what it sounded like.</p>
<p>LOL haiku, I am a Muse fan and Asian. HAHAHA. Muse as in the supermassive black holes Muse, right?</p>
<p>I am probably settling for MESA COURT. I wish I could go do campus tours & stuff. But nobody to carpool with! :(</p>
<p>MIDDLE EARTH if you want convenience, Its right next to the engr and social science dept's.</p>
<p>i’m a current first year so i’ll try my best to help the incoming freshmen, just as my class was helped:</p>
<p>you have to take all feedback with a grain of salt because experiences are so subjective. i wanted mesa but was placed in middle earth, and i suppose for the most part i’m happy with it. from an objective point of view:</p>
<p>about middle earth:
closer to main campus (unless you’re in claire trevor; then mesa is closest to your classes)
closer to where the good food is (you can eat anywhere, but if you live in mesa and want food at middle earth you will have to walk 15-20+ minutes to get food there)
buildings are closer together
a safer community (next to police dept, RAs actually do rounds… no offense. also check crime log rates, a lot more happens at mesa than ME)
key cards (doors automatically lock; if you lose/break your key it’s less expensive to replace)
architecture is more modern (hotel-like)
programs every week for people living in ME (ice skating, etc.)
closer to the ARC (gym) – if you’re in mesa you would take the shuttle, but from the edge of middle earth it’s about a 10 minute walk, tops
co-ed suites (my building has one per floor and the other suite is single-gender) – however i saw no advantages to this over mesa (it’s not like you CAN’T walk over to room of the opposite sex); in fact the single-gender suites (at least girls) seemed to bond better than co-ed suites
can raise your bed as high as you want (depending on how old your building is but most beds should be able to do this)</p>
<p>mesa:
bigger rooms (not sure if this is true; one friend got a double room with 2 closets per person and another friend got a small converted study room)
if you like a camp/park-ish feel, mesa is better (lots of trees, really spread out)
from my POV, people seem to bond more over in mesa because of the building layout (suites are smaller). however it does depend on the building you get (could be small or big, depending on when it was built)
mesa = party community. totally different from middle earth.
more storage space (can’t raise bed but you have more storage already there because of drawers under the bed, etc.)
chairs are cushioned (haha)</p>
<p>single vs. double:
having a roommate doesn’t guarantee having a best friend, or whatever the misconception may be. many people have had problems with their roommates (myself included; we don’t bicker but i would hardly call us friends) and the roommate compatibility form is basically crap and didn’t really affect anything (in my case).
there will always be the chance that you will get a roommate who is horrible, but there’s the chance that you will have someone great. however it is nice to branch out</p>
<p>will update with more comments as i read through the posts</p>
<p>ETA: i would agree that the themes do not play a large role except for the programs offered in the buildings. i was in IR (interpersonal relationships) but only saw many cliques in my own building. but this isn’t always the case (again, everything is subjective).</p>
<p>Wow thanks so much jennifer7! This helped alot. I think I’m gonna go with middle earth now :D</p>
<p>So what is the %chance estimated that I’ll be able to dorm with a friend from HS?</p>
<p>you’re welcome froobles :)</p>
<p>some points i wanted to clarify since i can’t edit my post anymore:</p>
<p>closer to where the good food is (you can eat anywhere, but if you live in mesa and want food at middle earth you will have to walk 15-20+ minutes to get food there)
^^ i think i estimated too high; i would probably say 10-15 depending on where you live in mesa (and how slow you walk); however for middle earth it’s less than 5 regardless of where you live</p>
<p>mesa = party community. totally different from middle earth.
i added to this part in the other thread but didn’t here… not to say that this is ALWAYS the case at mesa, but from what i hear, the RAs are more lenient when it comes to drinking and they tend to look the other way when they see it happen.</p>
<p>and junshik, i dormed random so i don’t really know the answer to that. but from what i understand, you have pretty good chances of getting who you request if you make your answers compatible (not sure if that translates to “similar”) on that questionnaire about sleeping habits, etc. although i know some people who didn’t get the roommates they wanted because of some errors so if that does happen, try to fix it asap</p>
<hr>
<p>if you guys want to look at the map to see how the sizes of the communities compare and what buildings they’re next to, look at the core map:
<a href=“http://today.uci.edu/pdf/UCI_09_map_campus_core.pdf[/url]”>http://today.uci.edu/pdf/UCI_09_map_campus_core.pdf</a></p>
<p>Is housing based on a first come first serve basis? Also, has anyone had a strong dislike for either ME or Mesa for any reason and why?</p>
<p>do you mean first come first serve for a housing community that you want? or just getting housing? you should have guaranteed housing, but as for your housing PREFERENCE, i personally do not think it’s first-come first-serve. i submitted my application right away and still did not get the community i wanted. it’s possible that for my year in particular, there were many more requests for mesa than middle earth and that’s why many of us were placed in ME (who wanted mesa).</p>