I’ve been reading posts that were years ago, and it looks as if some UC schools like UCD and UCI had an option for transfers to dorm with the freshmen. Does anyone know what happened to that option? I feel like living in dorms has a much more of a vibrant social scene than living in apartments.
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/uc-transfers/1134940-ucd-housing-for-transfer-student.html
http://housing.ucdavis.edu/prospective/guarantee_transfer.asp
https://housing.uci.edu/apply/Guarantees.html
But it looks like they tend to have different places for new transfers versus new frosh. You may want to ask directly if you are a transfer who prefers to live with the frosh.
@ucbalumnus from the UCD link, “Guaranteed spaces are located in Student Housing Apartments (SHA) and, as space allows, the residence halls.” I emailed the housing for ucd and said transfers room into apartments as residence hall is for frosh. I guess there’s still a chance to dorm if space allows?
As for UCI, it appears that transfers only get apartments.
I will surely ask each UC about it. Thanks for the information though!
on campus dorm space at all the UCs has grown scarce. They prioritize freshmen because they are 17 and 18 and are probably less capable of fending for themselves without a meal plan and housekeeping than a 21 year old transfer student. .
@NCalRent Well, they’re 18 years old, they should be old enough to handle simplistic things like those, right? I feel like transfer students should have an option to live in dorms to easily interact with others.
Nope, the 18 year-olds are in a transition period and have just left home. Many are homesick and are underprepared to live away from home. Some don’t know how to: bank, do laundry, discipline themselves to study, manage their time effectively, borrow and repay money, bathe, etc.
That’s right, YOU feel, but the university doesn’t feel the way that you do. You have a different perspective on what to expect from 17-18 year olds. Why, in heaven’s name, would you want to room with younger students??? PLUS, new freshman get priority and the housing office often runs out of beds in the dorms.
If you think you are missing out on the “dorm” experience, think again:
At Davis, they’ve been putting the students in tiny triples because the school has been out of space for the freshmen for a while. You won’t have a lot of space for yourself. The students are restricted in what they can and can’t bring into the rooms. They aren’t “partying” in the dorms because of the rules which have become more stringent. They have more mandatory RA meetings to discuss rules. You seriously want to be THAT micromanaged because you want the so-called “dorm experience”???
Transfer students at Davis are new to the campus and have their own area to meet and interact with others. They are generally more mature, have more space in their rooms and aren’t restricted by the limits of dorm rules. The school realizes that transfers are new to campus and want them to feel welcomed by putting them together with like students. It’s not that hard to meet people in the SH apartments.
you can’t have the ‘freshman dorm’ experience because you aren’t a freshman anymore and they don’t have the space.
Life is a series of trade-offs, if the experience is that important to you, i am sure you can find a school that dorm’s transfer students in with freshmen -but you can’t go to Davis. Trust me, as noted above, you don’t want all the rules anyhow. There are tons of meet and greet opportunities in the opening weeks of school.
If you are really just gotta have it, be an RA next year.
@“aunt bea” many “underprepared” young adults sure are prepared to drink at an illegal age, but cannot do laundry? If they got admitted to a UC school, don’t you think they should already be good at “disciplining themselves to study” and “managing their time effectively”? Unsure whether or not “bathe” was meant to be on that list. I can agree that kids can get homesick and miss home, but there are times when kids need to grow up and fend for themselves, no one stays a kid forever (by “kid” I mean young adults).
Yes, my feelings are different from the university’s and their views. But that was more of a suggestion rather than a request. It isn’t that I want to live with 17-18 year olds (really, 2 years is a big difference? I can’t agree on this).
By “micromanaged”, I see it as there are rules to which one should respect and IF you are partying in your suite and disturbing the peace of those around you, it is obvious that you should not do that.
TL;DR Kids mature at a different pace from personal individual values and their environment. I’m still 18, but I realize that there are things that must be done, like getting a job, prepare my own food, doing my own laundry, realizing when play time is play time, and study time is study time, and later in life I plan to work with a bachelors degree or masters, and take care of my parents and send them money every now and so and heck, maybe have my own family and live with them if an opportunity for a big house allows.
@NCalRent it isn’t that I want the “experience”, it’s that it seems much easier to meet people since they are meters away from you. Unless it is just as easy to meet people in apartments, which I have no knowledge on whether or not that is the case.
Don’t rely on housing to meet people. I’ve had much more luck with classes, clubs, volunteering, and research.
If you’re 18, are you a freshman? Are you worrying about things that won’t affect you for another two years?
UCLA has dorm housing for transfers.
some apartment complexes have organized/scheduled mixers but, there will be time to meet people in classes, at the gym, IM and pick up sports, the campus pool, on campus movie nights, plays, live music, football games, not to mention Fraternities/sororities, clubs, If you try, you’ll have lots of friends in no time.
good luck.
Really I can’t imaging too many transfer students wanting to live with 18 year old freshmen. Yes, it is only a 2-3 year gap in ages, but there is a big difference in maturity between 18 and 20. I know none of my kids would have enjoyed rooming with a freshman when they were juniors. If you are living in an on-campus apartment with other transfers, you will still get a lot of interaction with others and have opportunities to meet people.
Some of the schools that do have dorm housing for transfers try to put them in dorms with other transfers or continuing students (e.g. UCLA and UCSB).
@bodangles That’s pleasant to hear. I guess I will have to put myself way out there then, thanks.
I like to think ahead in the future about events, giving lots of thoughts into many stuff so I can make my decision much simpler, it’s just weird.
@NCalRent Thank you for the tips. It sounds simple and forward. I’ll keep these in mind.
@youcee I’ve heard about UCLAs position, never knew that about UCSB! 
@takeitallin I believe maturity is the result of one’s individual experiences, but yes, I guess you do have a point of maturity level not on equilibrium with freshman and transfers. I hope that is the case, because I’m also wondering if anyone has had experiences with living in apartments and still having just as much opportunities to meet people as first years do.
Thanks all for the comments, I’ll refer back to this much later.
At Davis, they are less than a few meters away from you in the transfer housing. My daughter attended and graduated from Davis and there is no way she would want to live with the freshman after her freshman year. The setup and the apartments around Davis are filled with everyone except freshmen. My daughter met more people in the apartments.
Now you’re getting it!
I don’t think you remember that HS is very different from a university. These campuses use the quarter system where the students only have 10 weeks to earn a grade, and, they can’t “schmooze” a professor to try to change a grade. So, time management is a big issue for those beer-guzzling 17-18 year olds.
Yes, i meant bathe. Some students get so wrapped up in their gaming that they neglect to bathe until an RA gets on their case.
You can’t know how you’ll feel about living with freshmen two years from now. It’s possible that it only seems fine to you currently because you’re also a freshman.
Just the other day I was thinking about how unimportant those kinds of age differences feel when you’re on the younger side, but now that I’m a senior the freshmen feel like babies. 
At Berkeley I know of a transfer who got put in a residence hall with freshmen - and he had not requested it and hated it. I was put in a suite with one sophomore and two freshmen. And the building was freshman-sophomore-intensive. I HATED IT. Where you ultimately get placed has to do with space. You could indeed end up with freshmen, especially at the UCs where space is tight. They’re forced to cherry-pick the students who get funneled into the less desirable spots. Quite a few transfers at Berkeley ended up mixed in with freshmen. I doubt you will like it. Trust me.
They probably have more room at Davis but if you want a residence hall I’m sure you can switch with someone during the open period after the term starts.
Haha. I can imagine OP’s expectation being crushed by the reality if he is indeed put in a freshman dorm. Oops. Sorry.
Many of them have never managed their time and studying without parental monitoring and pushing.
Also keep in mind OP, as someone over 21, you can get in big trouble if drinking with underage students. You can’t so much as pour a glass of wine in a room with underage present without possible repurcussions.