Congratulations to all that were accepted into UCSB! Now, that we’ve been accepted, let’s discuss living arrangements and the pros and cons that come with the variety of choices.
Where do you plan on living your first year at UCSB?
I am a sitting duck until the beginning of May because of the UCB decision so I am currently thinking that I’ll be living off-campus.
As a four year transfer, I have lived in both dorm rooms and shared apartments the last two years, so I’ve already had the on-campus living experience. As a result, I don’t have the internal struggle of not wanting to miss out on that experience. Most parts of the campus-living experience are similar across universities, so if anyone has any questions about living on-campus, then I can probably share some advice.
Transfer housing probably. It’s expensive af, but coming in as a junior means I only have 2 years left and wouldn’t mind taking out a small amount of loans to get the college experience
Are the university-owned apartment complexes like Santa Ynez, et cetera, considered “off-campus” or “on-campus” housing?
What’s the nicest place a transfer student can live in / still be in the hot spot for all the parties and stuff
I want to go to the transfer housing so I don’t feel like an outsider and meet people who are new to the school too. It would be nice for it to be both though, transfer and a continuing student. Same @aedie1
@hdoan24 yep, wondering the same exact thing. I’m there to do well in school but I also want to get the party experience I missed out on the last 2 years going to CC. I know Del Playa is nice but not sure how it all works
@falltransfer1 Santa Ynez is off-campus housing, about a 4 minute bike ride.
@TheVisionary Can you talk about the pros and cons associated with both? I’m interested on some insight between the two. I am sure it would help a lot of us transfers!
@RyanOMalley Well, there are a number of factors to consider:
Social Life:
I am neither an introvert or an extrovert. I am comfortable being in social settings and meeting new people; however, I also equally love spending a day alone. I love being productive and I am most productive when I am alone. Ultimately, I strongly prefer a balance between being alone and being around others. Which is perfect for a high school setting, when you can be social in the day and alone at night; however, living on campus in college changes that dynamic. There are people who spend all day with their friends, eat every meal with their friends, spend all of their free time with their friends, study with friends, and that works for them. Personally, it would drive me insane. So, I did consciously allow the people in my building to think that I was a shy introvert so that they stop knocking on my door at midnight on a Tuesday.
Think back to high school. If you were someone who loved spending weekends or after school hours at a friends house, then you will probably love roommates and living in a social center. If you were someone who was satisfied with spending time with friends at school or during ECs, then you will probably find constantly having people near to be off-putting. I actually find that I have a greater desire to socialize and be involved when I am not living on campus because without the balance I tend to get sick of people in general.
Cost:
Do not purchase the biggest meal plan! Meal plans can almost always be ordered or upgraded after the semester starts. Test the waters first. The biggest mistake is that it is not simply about whether they food is good. It is also about how the food makes you feel. Having restaurant style meals every day sounds amazing until it starts to become too much. The options that were available at my dining hall were not specifically unhealthy, but there were more calories, oils, fat, etc, then I was used to. If you are staying in the dorms, then you usually don’t have a choice. But if you have a kitchen, refrigerator, etc, then I would start with the smallest options. Especially if you are a very simple eater.
When comparing prizes between living alone and living with others factor in at least another 1k annually for a number of reasons. Sharing a kitchen/refrigerator meals that you cannot buy groceries in bulk. You will not have the space. This means when you are debating between one item for $3 and another with twice as much for $4. You have to go with the smaller bag because you will not have space to store the jumbo bag. This means that you will have to shop for groceries more often then you would if you had the space to buy enough food for a month. Which means more micro-expenses. Another factor is that you will run threw triple as many sanitary products if you are sharing an apartment with four people rather than living alone. There are probably other factors that are not coming to mind. Especially if you go with a meal plan, you will snap and run out to get food off-campus at least a couple times a month.
Convenience:
This one really depends on how much you trust yourself to be responsible. I am currently in Orange County so I have experience with the issue of traffic in certain areas. However, the traffic is not as bad as it is made up to be. If you leave the house at the proper times, know which routes to take at each time of the day, etc, then having to drive to campus won’t be that terrible. I’m writing this post only a half an hour before class so it is convenient to be able to be able to leave for class at the last minute every day, but it is not worth basing your living arrangement off of. If you are looking for places off-campus, get off the computer and hit the streets. Everything looks far on a map. What seems like a half hour commute on paper can turn out to be ten minutes.
Finally: Don’t shout this from the rooftops, but the biggest mistake that people make is getting discouraged by what is available off-campus the moment that they SIR in the spring. Apartment contracts in big college cities often run from June to June. If you look in the spring, then all of the options will be insanely expensive because those are what were not chosen by students before the year began. You have to wait until the end of May at the absolute earliest when the spring semester ends and students begin moving out to see the reasonably priced listings. But don’t spread the word to much!
Does anyone know approximately what the average age range in the San Rafael residence hall is?
No one wants to live in Isla Vista?
Most of the “on campus” apartments and even some res halls are in IV
I suppose there’s nobody planning on living in family housing? The stressful part of family housing is the waitlist. They’ll let me know when an apartment is available for me which could happen at any point in time 
idk what I’ll do for a backup in the meanwhile when I start my first semester, Airbnb or something lol
Not to mention the extravagant prices, of course. But my wife adores the beach, so at least there’s that. She was sold the moment I mentioned it’s walking distance from a park, a costco, and the ocean. God, I sound old
@TheVisionary I’m in the same boat because of the UC Berkeley decision. Do you think it’d be a viable option to SIR now and secure a spot in housing and cancel it if I get into Berkeley?
Money’s not an issue because I’m currently in a position where I can take the sunk cost if I do end up cancelling the SIR and heading up to Berkeley.
@HeideggerNSartre Housing doesn’t open until May 1st! Maybe you’ll hear then or soon? If money isn’t a problem, then I would just do it. It’s $100 :-?
Oh, from the website!
“There is a cancellation fee if you wish to cancel your contract. If you cancel prior to July 1, 2016, the cancellation fee is $250. If you request cancellation of this contract on or after July 1, 2016, it will be cancelled only if we have a replacement for you, or if you have also cancelled your registration with UCSB for Fall 2016. The cancellation on July 1, 2016 or later is $350”
@bobaloverr Wait, so you can’t even file for a housing contract until May 1st? If so, that’s pretty great since Berkeley decisions come out on the 29th of April.
It looks like transfers can live in the residence halls freshmen live in, and i’m not sure if that was the case in previous years. Does anyone know if the housing in these residence halls will be segregated between transfers and non transfers?
@pastas No it’s not segregated. But most transfers live in Manzanita and San Rafael I believe
@HeideggerNSartre Nope! I was trying to do it because I’m so excited (lol!) but it says that housing opens May 1st.
OOOO then yeah! It sounds like it will work to wait from UCB first 