If you want to focus on a UC with housing issues, Davis is the not the right campus to choose. That’s UCSC.
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This is a strange accusation. I have simply provided actual data about UCs and some more specific facts related to UCD. You can do with that data what you wish.
One thing though: UCs are renowned for their well-documented housing problems (save for UCLA now). Davis is less expensive than some of the other communities adjacent to other UC campuses, but the housing crunch there is very real and it doesn’t do anyone any favors to pretend otherwise. And UCD has done a worse job of housing its own students than other UC campuses, as measurable with actual stats (yes, including UCSC, at least from the latest data I’ve seen; though of course the Santa Cruz area is more expensive than Davis).
There’s a lot of negativity in your postings regarding UC Davis (not all fact related) which is where that impression has come from.
We are a family with now 3 children in the UC system. Two at UC Davis. No housing problems.
The youngest just SIR’d to UCSC and I can assure you, the housing issues at UCSC make anything you may be referring to at Davis (again, not sure where your impression of that has come from) seem non-existent.
We made a very careful choice when looking at UCSC because of the housing and have backup plans in place should there be an issue. Not once did we have to look at that for Davis.
We are actually living it. Not reading information complied from various undefined sources.
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If you actually go back and read my posts, you’ll see that the anecdotal/experiential data from students from on-line forums (and a former professor from personal communication) is supported by stats related to class sizes and housing that back up these impressions.
Further actual data below. Again, do with this what you’d like, including ignore it if that is your preference.
Undergraduate-occupied beds Fall 2022 & undergrad enrollment Fall 2022
UCD has had some recent beds come on line and is not the 2nd worst UC campus anymore (with Cal “leading” the way) in terms of share of undergrad housing on-campus. UCD is still towards the bottom of the pack though. Interestingly, UCSC houses a significantly higher share of its undergrads on campus (though they are listed as over-capacity as many of those are housed in doubles converted to triples) than UCD does. Compared to many of these campuses though, UCD actually has the space to easily build.
- Berkeley: 8,704/ 32,479/ 26.8%
- Davis: 12,406/ 31,532/ 39.3%
- Irvine: 12,981/ 28,662/ 45.3%
- Los Angeles: 18,394/ 32,423/ 56.7%
- Merced: 4,077/ 8,343/ 48.9%
- Riverside: 8,100/ 22,911/ 35.4%
- San Diego: 18,022/ 33,096/ 54.4%
- Santa Barbara: 8,869^/23,459/ 37.8%
- Santa Cruz: 8,969^/17,502/ 51.2%
^Above actual listed occupancy: e.g. doubles converted to triples
(sources: UC Office of the President and UC San Diego data shared with CalMatters)
You said:
We are actually living it. Not reading information complied from various undefined sources.
The information sources are listed above. I also previously listed the exact source of previous data I provided.
Within the highly selective public universities like UC and privates, the students’ profile makes the difference. Based on my research of many Ivy’s and highly selective private colleges, the diversity is not great. UCB, UCLA, and all UC’s are very diverse in every sense.
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Lol. I guess I must be living in the matrix. My experience isn’t real. Your ‘facts and figures’ are.
FYI data can be manipulated to look a certain way for any number of reasons. Surely it’s obvious that we don’t take a snapshot of something and believe it as absolute without considering all the variables?Are you aware there are triples and quads at UCSC?
Are you aware that the redevelopment of Cuarto at UC Davis was designed for triples? Are you aware that there are small doubles, larger doubles that can convert to triples at both campuses? Does your ‘data’ include the size and style of these rooms?
This information only includes official ‘on campus’ housing. What about the apartments at Sol? Individual bedrooms with ensuite that are technically on-campus (built on UC Davis land but independently owned and operated so considered ‘off-campus’ for billing purposes?). Do your facts and figures consider all of these nuances? My guess is no, it doesn’t.
Housing problems don’t just include what is available ‘on campus’. It also includes availability of off campus housing too. There is an abundance of it at Davis. Not so in Santa Cruz.
I can’t keep repeating myself. You are trying to tell me that what I am living isn’t true. Perhaps your ‘facts and figures’ are what isn’t true.
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I have no clue about Davis and housing issues, but I googled it:
https://www.davisvanguard.org/2023/02/students-forced-to-camp-out-in-frigid-weather-to-get-housing/
Davis is 100% occupied as of 2022, according the chart contained in this article:
Davis could be a contender for grad school for D21, so I was curious.
Have you seen the parents that line up at 2am to make sure they get their kid into Kindergarten? That get’s sensationalized in the news too. I haven’t heard of a kid not getting in Kindergarten.
Maybe they don’t get the class they want or the school they want. But they get a place.
This is exactly how housing works.
My daughter was 4 months past the usual application date last year because she made a last minute decision to stay one more year. Found housing in 24 hours.
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These articles are a bit exaggerated (“Forced”? 
) from the real, lived experiences. The students camping out (we know a HS acquaintance from that group) decided that particular apartment complex was highly coveted and fed a bit of a frenzy. Once someone says they are camping out, word gets around and some people panic.
At the time, there were many off-campus options, cheaper and with private bedrooms. The compromise may have been distance to campus (e.g. 1-2 miles versus 0.5 mile), or proximity to campus shuttle or grocery store.
It would be great if Davis guaranteed Sophomores on-campus housing, but it is a big stretch to say that there is an affordable housing shortage. Many spend much less off campus than UCD housing costs.
eta: Some apartment complexes also feed the frenzy by announcing a “first come first served” policy for lease signing on a specific morning. This is NOT the same as a housing shortage.
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I’m just posting articles. And no, I haven’t noticed anyone in my area lining up for Kindergarten at 2:00 AM. The chart in the last link shows Davis housing at 100%.
I have no dog in this hunt. D18 went Michigan. D21 goes to Cal Poly SLO and has no housing issues there (2-year on-campus guarantee), but for it being expensive. However, SLO tuition is quite a bit less than the UC’s.
As I said, if Davis is a choice for grad school for D21, I’ll get worried then.
It’s not just one article. I just grabbed one. There are other articles about UC Davis if you drill down the list. Here’s another one from 2019:
I honestly won’t care about Davis’ housing issues or non-issues for another year or two, at least.
There’s nothing to worry about with regard to housing in Davis at all.
Like the other poster said, the article is exaggerated. It’s sensationalized and basically ‘toilet paper shortage’ all over again.
I’m starting to wonder if some people here are only talking about on-campus housing. Because there are lots of off campus housing options at Davis.
And if you lived in our area (30-40 mins from Davis) you would understand the Kindergarten reference lol.
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The article you posted quotes information from 2017-18.
There has been a ton of development since then.
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Yes and my point that I’m trying to make is that housing issues at Davis didn’t start this past year or two with that one earlier article linked.
Davis has had previous housing issues. It’s not just a one-off.
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Thinking more on these stats, are we considering 4 years of housing the holy grail? Is it highly desirable by a lot of families? I can say that 2 years might have been in the top 10 of “college wants” for us, but never 4 years. Most students I know want to move off campus by Junior year for multiple reasons (independence, cost, location, etc.)
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I think the difference here is how you approach housing.
Are you prepared to apply on time? Are you prepared to compromise on size of room, type of housing, location/distance from campus? If the answer to these questions is no, then you may have issues finding what you want.
If you are prepared to be a bit more realistic in your search, there will be no issues finding housing.
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Almondwood is not the newest complex. It is not the closest to campus and not the cheapest. There are many nicer and more affordable student apartment complexes in Davis.
Agree 100%
The articles mention that students secure leases in Jan/Feb before Sept move in. My student who is in private school secured a lease the December before August move in. This is not unique to UCs.
One unique thing about Davis is that 95% of the leases start on Sept 1 and end on Aug 31. Basically, there is one week where everyone moves. Large trucks go up and down the streets picking up mattresses. People leave sofas, desks, dining room tables on the curb. Sometimes other students pick them up to furnish their apartments. If not, the large trash trucks come by and pick everything up. It is kind of a chaotic week but it works for the utility companies and trash collectors.
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Turning an app in on time is the easy part. But compromising will depend on the compromise.
Size of room, distance from campus and type of housing are relative factors. But if the housing situation becomes undesirable, then we would move on to a better choice of school.
I wonder if those numbers factor in student choice? Whether or not they’ve chosen to live to off campus or commute from home.
I’m sure those kinds of variables are considered when they are looking at admissions. UCSC probably expects more students to want to live on campus than say UC Davis, UCI or UCB that are more traditionally commuter schools.
Tbh, I think you may have a misunderstanding of what the housing situation is like in Davis if you think it could become undesirable.
It really isn’t that bad. All you need to do is look at realtor.com or apartments.com to see the abundance of choices available.