<p>i will be a freshmen at santa barbara. i am unsure about which housing option will best fit me...i do not want to be surrounded by parties every night, but i do want to be in a sociable area. also, i would love to be near campus point, but santa cruz and anacapa do not look so nice in the online photos (unless i am wrong?). i heard that manzanita is the nicest area, but isn't it mainly for sophomore/transer students?</p>
<p>You should probably check out the UCSB forum: [University</a> of California - Santa Barbara - College Confidential](<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-california-santa-barbara/]University”>University of California - Santa Barbara - College Confidential Forums)</p>
<p>Whether or not you’re surrounded by parties depends on your neighbors, basically. It doesn’t seem like there are as many in Manzanita Village because it’s broken up into 17 houses, and people can’t freely move from one house to another (they’re always locked).</p>
<p>Manzanita is by far the newest - I think it’s around eight years old, but Anacapa and Santa Cruz are comparable to the rest of the on-campus housing that you can get at UCSB (Santa Rosa, San Nicolas, San Miguel).</p>
<p>Oh, and sophomores don’t really have a priority in Manzanita Village… the demographics of it have changed recently - I think that since last year, it’s been overwhelmingly a freshman area. Transfer students are no longer guaranteed housing in the on-campus residence halls, as of this year. I don’t think there are really spaces set aside for them anymore.</p>
<p>thanks- extremely helpful!</p>