<p>Should I go to UCSD as a winter admit or go to UCD in the fall?</p>
<p>UCD- I’d get housing for the first year.
UCSD- I’m not guaranteed housing for the first two years since I start winter quarter.</p>
<p>So I’m wondering:
Is the dorm experience necessary at all?
For those of you who has lived both on and off campus, which did you like better?
For those who have not lived in the dorms at all, what was it like? Did you feel like you were missing out by not living on campus?</p>
<p>I dont think housing is THAT important in choosing where you will be attending for college. </p>
<p>Before you consider housing, think about which one is better for your major. Which environment are you most comfortable in.</p>
<p>I’m majoring in international studies. I’ve heard that Davis has a really good program for intl studies and San Diego’s social sciences are pretty good as well. Housing is the only thing that differentiates them… I’m going to SD’s admit day April 12th, and missing school on the 11th (a friday) too. If I go to Decision Davis on the 18th, I’ll be missing another friday. I dont want to miss that much school so close to APs…</p>
<p>I don’t think you should base it on dorms. However, for your major, UCD *does[\i] have a great program, indeed. The campus is pretty nice, too.</p>
<p>But when I think of college, I think of living in dorms. I suppose living off campus will be the same but… its nice to not worry about finding off campus housing isnt it? especially for the first year.</p>
<p>I think your social experience is every bit as important as your academics. It would be lonely and boring going home to an apartment while all of your friends (how would you make friends) are congregating together to study, watch a movie, go for ice cream etc. You would miss out on a lot. Think it through and visit.</p>
<p>At SD’s Admit day, theres a session for winter admits and I’m hoping to meet people there and hopefully arrange to share an apartment or something together… So I wont be going home to an empty apartment hopefully…</p>
<p>Come to UCD. That’s my major too. :] We could be friends.</p>
<p>On a more serious note, though, you should consider the cost of living off campus at SD. I just got back from Decision Day for Davis and one of the advantages of attending UCD is that housing/apartments are pretty reasonably priced, whereas they might be more expensive at SD. </p>
<p>Also, about the dorm experience, my friend’s older sister goes to Penn State and she said that it was really valuable to her. Especially as a freshmen, it was beneficial to live in a dorm on campus because she got to familiarize herself with the different buildings and such. It might be harder for you to adjust if you’re living off-campus your first year.</p>
<p>Being from Norcal I feel drawn to go to Socal. 
Its so hard to decide. And SD was kinda my first choice. I guess I’ll know when I visit.</p>
<p>Like edible stated: Get ready to spend a bundle in La Jolla because it isn’t exactly the cheapest town in California.</p>
<p>Well if SD is your first choice and you really want to go there, don’t let housing stop you. :] I can relate because for the longest time, I really wanted to go to SD too. However, now that I’ve learned so much more about Davis, I think I like UCD a lot more. SD has a good, maybe slightly unknown, international relations program but so does Davis. I plan to double major in environmental studies, so obviously UCD beats UCSD on that one. :] If you’re okay with the financial differences between the two, go with your first choice. College is supposed to be for you.</p>
<p>Activities are a big part of dorm life. The RA’s arrange for mixers, games and the like. Friends will gather in the halls and decide to go out for coffee/hot chocolate. Everyone will sign up to go see a concert or free on campus movie. There will be contests between different dorms. You will be left out of many really fun experiences you can’t even begin to know about. Talk to some college freshman (this year) and see what they say about missing out on the dorming experience.</p>
<p>In addition, UCSD students are very well known for lacking in the social skills department. This will probably make it even more difficult to find/ make friends at UCSD.</p>
<p>k, so i am from la jolla. and no it is not cheap. veryy veryy expensive actually. i am in the same boat… i am debating davis with another school.
If i were in ur shoes I would go for davis. UCSD totally lacks in the social department, and if your doing politics or anything related the capitol in Sacramento and SF would be great places for internships…
As much as the smell of cows is unappealing, i dont necessarily care for UCSD… while the academics are great there is a lot more to college than only that…</p>
<p>good luck with ur decision.</p>
<p>I’m from SF. I want to get away from SF. Davis is too close to home. I don’t really think those at Davis are particularly social either… Davis accepts a whole lot of students from my high school. So going to Davis would mean running into a lot of them. However SD accepts a lot from my hs as well. Davis is in a really rural setting, even though its near Sacramento. I’ve been there twice, once to actually tour the campus, about 7 yrs ago and once for sushi HAHA last year during winter break. Its nice that its a true college town but its so dry looking there. La Jolla I’ve been to, UCSD I havent been but I have already bought plane tickets to SD. People tell me its really pretty out there. UCSD students on the UCSD forum tell me that if you want to socialize you’ll be able to socialize. Why are there so many bad stereotypes about UCSD??</p>
<p>oh just price wise. Everything else about it isn’t bad at all 
great place right by the beach</p>