Best dorm at UC Merced?

yamotl
Wed, 03 May 2017 02:52:54 +0000

Don’t worry about the walk or distances between the residence halls and classrooms, dining center, laundry, or anything else. The campus is small enough that the longest you will ever have to walk would be about 10-15 minutes, and that’s only if you live on the very edge and need to get to the police station or TAPS building. The walk isn’t that bad or long. People exaggerate. Sierra/Valley Terraces are the closest to everything but share the laundry area, which is a minutes walk away. And Summits/Half Dome have their own laundry area inside the building.

I would say to avoid living in the Valley if you want more social activity. Sierra, HD, and the Summits would be the most social because they feature an open hallway and lounge/study rooms where students congregate to hang out a lot. If you want to have a more private, in-room bathroom then choose Sierra but otherwise you will have to leave your room to get to the bathroom in the Summits and HD halls. You have to clean the bathroom yourself in Sierra, while it will be cleaned by the janitorial staff in the Summits and HD. People can be messy though…just fyi. Also bring a lock or two and your own soap for use in the Summits and HD because the only toiletry provided is toilet paper. Sierra/Valley also has toilet paper provided that you need to pick up yourself weekly.

As a first year you will not be able to have a car on campus unless you have special circumstances, you will have to park it off campus…which can lead to break ins or busted windows (it happens a lot in Merced). You don’t need a car as a first year because the buses run practically everywhere and there’s uber/lyft. There will be a lot more limited parking starting this coming year and it will get worse because of construction, therefore having a car will be a nightmare (I went through this my last year and it sucked.)

Let me know if you have any more questions! I lived on campus the entire time I was at UCM, and I was an RA for Sierra, Valley, and HD during my stay so I am pretty knowledgeable about those areas. I also had a car my last year so I know about the headache associated with that.