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Should I live on-campus at UCSB?

I got accepted into UCSB and I was wondering if I should live on-campus? #apartments

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Bri’s Answer

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Hi Matthew, I highly recommend living on campus, especially if it's your first year at UCSB. When you live on campus, you will meet a lot more people, hear about a lot more events, and in general have a more enjoyable experience. Living in an apartment can be isolating, and generally you'll have less resources available to you. I lived on campus when I went to UCI, and had the best time. Not to mention, being able to easily get to your classes without having to worry about traffic and parking. If you have a longer break between your classes, you can easily go back to your room and hang out, instead of being stuck hanging out in a student center or library because there's not quite enough time to go home. It's very convenient, and you usually end up having fun random adventures with people in your dorm.


I'm an introvert, and living on campus helped me easily make friends and social connections that I wouldn't have made otherwise living off campus. I'm still close friends years later with a handful of people I lived with on campus, whereas most of the people I met in classes or otherwise I don't even keep track of any more.

Bri recommends the following next steps:

See what housing options are available - there's a mix of dorms, apartments, and other set ups at various campuses.
See if there are any "themes" that might interest you - some dorms and complexes have themes based off of interests, majors, and clubs. If there's one that you find interesting, learn more about it! Or, learn which ones you want to avoid!
Take a tour - there are lots of campus tours about the college, but there are also housing tours, usually done by people that have lived in those places before. They can be great resources to tell you what they liked and hated about specific places to help you make a decision.
Nothing is written in stone - if you live on campus and hate it, there are always options to change rooms or move off campus (note, it's not always easy and there might be some extra fees). It's a LOT harder to go from living off campus to living on campus though, so that's why I'd recommend living on campus first.
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