Sonic One

seriously, Pippen and Mesa Dining Hall are extremely similar. What allows Middle Earth to take the bait on food is Brandywine. All their food is cooked to order and I love it.

I lived in Mesa's newest dorms, the Village, and they are freaking huge. The only bad thing is they have like 5 exits unlike the old dorms that have one so you don't see everyone pass through the entrance every day. Also, they are really far from campus, like a good 10-15 minutes walking.

The reason why middle looks smaller is because Mesa has room to grow while Middle is sort of enclosed.

Oyama

You lie, Andrew! Stop imposing your LotR propaganda onto prospective students.

WhenD

I live in Mesa Court now and I really love it. I suggest you pick mesa because you'll live right next to the Bren, so you will just have to cross the street to go to sporting events or concerts like the one they had this year (fall out boy and kanye).

Sonic One

haha actually if you're gonna talk proximity, I'd rather live in middle because it's closer to the ARC. If you're too lazy to walk to the Bren once or twice a year, then I don't know man.

x4bidnluvx

sorry to sound pathetic but what exactly is the ARC?

alicantekid

ARC = Anteater Recreation Center. It's the gym.

jas0n

Reviving this thread since the housing apps are out.

courtesy of vc1188

MESA:
pros-
- newer and nicer (actually it was opened with UCI according to the website)
- slightly bigger rooms
- more bathrooms and lounge areas (meaning less people sharing)
cons-
- far away
- food not as good
- can't move around furniture (haha not a big deal to me but maybe for some)

MIDDLE:
pros-
- more centralized
- more "social"
- better food in two dining halls
- has a gym

cons-
- older, not as nice (especially the older phases, heard those are badddd)
(Mesa Court should be older but maybe mesa court remodeled or expanded?)

Jaywin

Frankly, I think its a draw between the two residence halls. In the end, I chose Mesa...hopefully it will be the right choice. Who knows?

jas0n

Yea, I agree. Each is unique in its own ways. Hopefully I'll personally enjoy Mesa with you :].

Jaywin

Sweet man, what hall you choose? I took technology as first choice. Then general.

jas0n

I haven't gotten my housing application in the mail yet but I'm planning to pick among the following:

MC: Academic Excellence or Wellness Halls

A question to current students: Do these halls really make a difference? Does the hall administrators get serious about these themes?

I have a slight urge to go to Middle Earth because of the UROP, Academic and Career Options, Health and Safety Strategies, and Intellectual Competence halls. Mostly the UROP hall, but I thought freshman aren't able to do research. Sounds interesting though.

Bleh...my indecisiveness returns.

jas0n

Recently, I was surprised to find out the math teacher in my Academy program went to UCI and majored in EE! She said a lot of my classes will most likely be in math, physics, and engineering first year. Should I reconsider Middle Earth? Her and I are late often ^^.

lbraasch

Mesa is more of the party dorms. Middle is more of the Computer Science people, less drinking/smoking.

It really depends on what you want i guess. I lived in mesa, and altho the food sucks at Mesa Commons, you can just walk to the Middle Earth eatery.

In terms of meeting social people, Mesa is the way to go. As a former mesa resident, the view of middle earth people was that they were a little... weird.

blinkblink

Yeah that's what I've heard from other UCI students as well.

tacobell

I'm a little weird and I chose Middle Earth so I guess it's true!