UCSB Dorm Selection

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of California - Santa Barbara
1

With our daughter now set on UCSB (sent the SIR in last week), we were looking for some insight from current UCSB students about the dorms.

First off, she was told at the ‘Admitted Students’ day that 95% of incoming freshmen get one of their top three choices in terms of dorms. Can anyone speak to their own experience with this, as in ‘Did you get one of your top three choices?’ and ‘What were your choices?’

Her choices so far are as follows:

  1. Santa Cruz
  2. Anacapa
  3. Santa Rosa
  4. San Nicolas
  5. San Miguel
  6. Santa Catalina

She put these in order based on liking the ‘low rises’ (Santa Cruz, Anacapa and Santa Rosa) the best. She liked their proximity to both the main campus amenities and also the beach. Her next grouping was for the two towers on campus, San Nicolas and San Miguel. I think she’d be comfortable in these if she had to be there, but she’s really set on the low rises. The next choice, Manzanita Village, were probably the nicest dorms and were literally hanging over the ocean, but she thought they were way to ‘dead’ socially and didn’t like being in that corner of the campus. Her absolute last choice was Santa Catalina, which was insane the day we were there. Aside from being a good ten minute bike ride from the University Center, she didn’t like the vibe.

Does anyone have recommendations on these dorm rankings based on your own experience in the dorms?

The other big reason she liked the Santa Cruz dorms the best was the Living Learning Community called FYRE (First Year Residential Experience). By choosing this LLC, will this really make a difference when she’s assigned a dorm since it’s the only dorm the LLC is in? Or is it such a popular LLC that a lot of incoming freshmen choose it and make getting assigned there a crap shoot anyways?

On a final note, we noticed a lot of the buildings were really warm when we visisted, probably in excess of 80 degrees despite the weather outside being warm, too. Does UCSB use Air Conditioning in the buildings infrequently because of their energy conservation efforts, or was this maybe just a fluke day? Are the dorms kept warm like this, too?

Any answers would be greatly appreciated. Since there wasn’t a new ‘dorm discussion’ on this page, I guess I figured we’d start one Under this heading.

2

Too bad no answer. I would like to know this too.

3

I think the majority of students rank the dorms similarly - low rises>high rises> Manzanita or Santa Catalina. With respect to the potential to have an ocean view from your room, many choose Anacapa then Santa Cruz then Santa Rosa.

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@Flournoy_Parent My daughter is headed to UCSB in the fall and we toured twice, but never the dorms. She’s found a roommate through social media (we live in Arkansas) who wants to live in San Catalina. I’m concerned about how far away it is from campus since my D is a heavy sleeper. You said it was “insane” when you toured - what do you mean by that and the “vibe” you didn’t like? I would rather she live on campus, but this future roommate has friends and an older sister at UCSB that all say San Cat is the place to be. I’m concerned it may be the place to be for the wrong reason.

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@tmeg01 We got to tour a hall at Santa Catalina on a Sunday night before this new quarter started thanks to a Students our daughter met while we explored Isla Vista. Without getting folks in trouble for specific issues, I’ll just say there was substance abuse going on outside the building in a large group, drinking inside and outside, etc. I’m sure there are lots of great people that have wonderful experiences at Santa Catalina, but I think it’s distance from campus makes it easier for things like what we saw to happen. Yes, it college and things like this happen, but we were just shocked at how in the open it was happening.

The girl we met liked Santa Catalina (or the FT, as the students call it) because you meet lots of freshmen there, but she said it can get crazy. She said distance was rough in the few times the weather was bad, or when she was sick, but wasn’t a huge issue. Their dining commons there is notoriously bad, too.

What is your daughter’s personality like? She may do just fine at Santa Catalina if she can ignore the distractions.

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I should clarify that the ‘substance’ abuse we saw was marijuana smoking, not anything harder. The dorm was loud, too, although it was only around mid evening when we were there.

7

@Flournoy_Parent Thank you for your response. My D is pretty shy at first, but fairly social after that. She’s a good student, so I’m really less worried about the party scene than I am about the location. She is really hard to get up in the morning, and knowing she has to bike a mile in the cold weather (she thinks anything below 75 is cold) will be a non-starter. I’ve also heard the buses are not entirely reliable, and if she forgets something at the dorm it’s just too bad for her. I have to remember my college days though when my dorm was a probably a mile a way, we walked (no bus or bikes), and classes were never cancelled for snow. I feel like she will miss out on the college feeling by being off campus, but this roommate is insistent. I’m starting to get the feeling this roommate is a big party girl and maybe not the best fit, but my daughter doesn’t want to be rude and back out now.

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When someone says it is the “place to be” they are referring to the social scene and not academics. Santa Catalina or FT (short for Francisco Torres - the name before UCSB bought it) has more of an active party scene than the other dorms.

It used to have the reputation for the worst dining common as well but I don’t know if that has changed.