<p>I have recently been accepted at UCSB and am most likely going there w/ Computer Engineering as my major and am very excited to go there! I plan on sending out my SIR this weekend. I have been looking up lots of info on UCSB and was looking at Housing info and had a few questions I was hoping you guys could answer.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>I am more of a.. quiet person and would prefer living by myself in a 1 occupant dorm.. which hall would you guys recommend? Are 1 occupant dorms very competitive and if so should I apply ASAP like this Saturday or wait until Spring Insight day?</p></li>
<li><p>When should we apply for housing? ASAP.. this Saturday when I send my SIR? Or should I wait until I go to the Spring Insight day and decide then?</p></li>
<li><p>If I choose to apply to "regular" housing (is it usually double occupancy?) and end up not liking who I am roomed with is it easy/possible to request a change/transfer?</p></li>
<li><p>What is the difference in price between single occupancy and "regular" housing?</p></li>
</ol>
<p>if you are going to live in a single room you should probably just avoid the dorms because they are expensive… most people dorm because they want the social aspects of it - at least freshman year. </p>
<p>yes if you do get a dorm you can ask for a rommate change. There are different types of dorms - regular doubles or triples, arpartment style housing with kitchens, etc. You should probably look at the their website for details and there are threads on the social aspects of each dorm pros and cons.</p>
<p>1) if you prefer living by yourself, by all means get a single. There is not “first come first serve” basis in housing, its all done by lottery once everyone had submitted their paperwork.</p>
<p>2) look at answer 1</p>
<p>3) doubles are fun and they do a good job in pairing you with someone (like asking if you want the room primarily for studying, if you allow visitors, ext) and if you do not like them you can apply for a transfer easily.</p>
<p>yeah single in dorms are pretty expensive and can get boring, the rooms are the size of closets pretty much. So you’re entering as a freshman right?</p>
<p>For applying for housing, if you indicate you want single and you go through the lottery and don’t get it, you still get the “regular” housing right? </p>
<p>Also, on the app, do you indicate which hall you want or is it completely random or what?
Which halls would you recommend for an incoming freshman who isn’t inclined to “party” and prefers to study in his room and go out when he wants which also includes single dorms?</p>
<p>i think on the housing app you have choices to choose from, so you rank the order of the residence hall you want. I think this applies to when choosing what time of room too, so you would first out as your first choice that you want a single and rank your second choice. But yeah if you don’t get your first choice as a single then they put you in a double, as a freshman as long as you apply you are guaranteed housing. I agree that manzanita would be the choice for you if you want a quiet single to study, though it may be too quiet for your liking at times. I know some freshman that have lived there, last year a lot of athletes lived there.</p>
<p>Can anyone provide a little more insight as to which halls are preferable for freshmen. After a small amount of research, most feel that Manzanita is best, but it’s hard to get into and on the other side of campus from the rest of the freshman dorms. Of the NON MANZANITA halls, is there one that would be preferable over others, or is it a wash? I like partying, and hot girls are preferable, lol.</p>
<p>Manzanita is not the best freshmen hall or atleast I think so because only 250 freshmen get spots there so you’ll only get to interact with them. The best freshmen dorm imo is FT because 1/3 of the freshmen class is there and it is off campus so more dorm parties happen there and it is the most social. The only set back is its like a 10 minute bike ride from the main campus, even more to the library. Anacapa, Santa Cruz, and Santa Rosa are the next best ones because they still allow you to meet a lot of people and are very social (although not as good as FT) but what’s good about them is they are on campus so they are close to all your classes and everything. San Nicolas and San Miguel follow and are also good and you can get a great view of the ocean except I feel like you’d be restricted doing things with only the people on your floor (correct me if I’m wrong that’s just my assumption). Overall I’d say the three shorties ( Santa Cruz, Santa Rosa, Anacapa) are the best because they provide a good social aspect and are right on campus, but if you wouldnt mind going back and forth between campus and FT then by all means I’d say that one is the best. Oh and FT also has you sharing a bathroom with only 4 people where as the others you share with everyone in your wing. So that is my understanding and opinion on the dorms at SB, if I made some comments that weren’t true then correct me on those</p>
<p>I’ve ranked my choices for the most part (thanks a lot everyone!), though I’m not sure how I should rank San Miguel… I’ve read both sides to the story. Some say it’s been renovated and looks nice now, some say it’s still the same old “San Mi-ghetto.” Thoughts?</p>
<p>i hung out at san miguel last summer every now and then and it pretty much looks the same, there’s two towers, one was used for summer housing and not sure what they did with the other one, maybe remolded? i kind of doubt it though</p>
<p>Is it true that transfers only have San Raphael and Manzanita to choose from? And they sometimes let transfers into San Clemente? Which is the best of three if you are looking for a place that I can park my car and be social.</p>
<p>housing.ucsb.edu and look up where can I live? it will show you where transfers are housed. For the dorms, you only have San Raf and Manzanita. But there are also the apartments that transfers can live in.</p>
<p>I really advise against living in Manzanita. I was really envious of all my friends that got spots in Manzanita (I was placed in Anacapa), but then when school started, they were all bummed because Anacapa was a much more social environment. You can get a single room at any dorm, so you can have your space to retreat to when you want quiet time, but you can also venture out when you want to meet people, go to the library with peers, or go do something social. Dorm rooms all feel like you’re living in a shoebox, so even if you are a quiet, reserved person, you’ll still appreciate the opportunity to mingle with other students.</p>
<p>Anacapa was awesome, but any of the other Non-Manzanita dorms get great reviews from people I know who lived there.</p>
<p>I’m transferring to UCSB next fall. I definitely want to live in one of the res halls to meet people. A friend who graduated from UCSB a few years ago said Manzanita is the best, but I’m trying to get as much feedback as possible.
Also, on the housing application, I know we also were supposed to rank the student apartments too. I chose El Dorado for my second and third options… Was that a good idea?</p>
<p>I’m not sure about this year,but last year all transfer students were assigned into the undergraduate apartments. UCSB did not have room to accommodate transfers in the res halls, so the same might happen this year.</p>