Britanny: My dorming experience was unique because I actually wasn’t planning to dorm; I was on the housing waitlist. Surprisingly, I ended up getting a Mesa Court Towers Quad (Playa). My hall was special in that it had 1st, 2nd, and 3rd years. In my dorm alone, I had a 1st, 2nd, and 3rd year roommate so it was a very unique experience to live with such diverse perspectives. I would say that it’s best not to expect to be best friends with your roommates, but try not to cause drama. Try your best to get to know them, but not everyone is meant to be besties because they don’t have the same connections. I would recommend using your study rooms because they are a way to help you stay on a study routine. Also, because I lived on the 6th floor of the Mesa Towers, I had the benefit of not having to share my washer, dryer, and kitchen with another floor. However, a downside is that when the elevator was broken for 3 months, I had to take 6 flights of stairs up to the 6th floor every day (yay for leg workouts!).
Michelle: I lived in Mesa Court Towers, in a quad room. I got really lucky with my roommates, and loved them! We clicked right away, were all different majors, and had a blast! I was so fortunate to have deep conversations with them, and form a support group within them anytime I needed anything. My hall was really nice, and it was always nice to have someone walk by and say hi to, or just smile and wave. The physical room was great, too. I am a relatively tall person, around 5’ 7”, and I had a top bunk, yet still was able to sit up with my hands stretched up and still didn’t hit the ceiling! There is plenty of light in the room, it is quite spacious for four people living there. There was electricity on top of the cabinets between the two bunks, so I was able to charge my phone and connect a fan that faced me even when I was on the top bunk which was awesome. Everyone has their own spacious desk and drawers. There is a connected bathroom to another quad room of the same gender. We got lucky with a room made for those with physical restrictions, and our room was wheelchair accessible, so we had a larger bathroom than the rest of the hall, yet even the normal bathrooms were spacious, with two sinks, toilets, and showers. That means it was 8 girls to 2 showers, and everyone showered at different times, so I never really had to wait to use anything.
Jessica: Dorming was definitely an interesting experience. I lived in the Classics (Cascada) in Mesa Court. While it was nice to be able to live away from home and be a bit more independent, it can be difficult to live with so many others. I think it's good to try to get to know as many people as you can at the beginning, but after a few weeks it’ll become clear who your real friends are and who you’re actually going to spend a lot of time with. For roommates, I decided to go for random not only to meet new people but also because living with people you know can cause problems. Don’t expect to instantly become best friends with your roommates, and don’t expect everything to be the same if you decide to live with friends from high school. I was lucky enough to get good roommates, but I know others who weren’t as fortunate, so it all depends. In terms of hallmates, because there are so many people living in one hall, there’s bound to be some people that you don’t get along with. You just have to learn to live with the people you are put with and try to find a good friend group. Even though I didn’t have the best experience, I still came out of it with some really good friends that made dorming worth it.
Cynthia: Remember you have friends outside your dorm to escape to. I’m going to let Jessica’s comments also stand for how I felt about dorming, mainly because we were roommates and shared the same pain. I just want to say that the Classics aren’t as bad as some Tower residents made them out to be. I was surprised by how much room we had, since I had always heard complaints about how small dorm rooms are. Personally, I could’ve enjoyed my time a little more if I had let more problems go, but it’s hard to do that when you’re trying to stay focused on your studies. My suggestion for loud hallmates is to switch up your study space or get noise canceling headphones.
Khanh: I love dorming! It is a good way to make friends in the first year. You don’t have to be best friends with your roommates; it is ok (best to lower your expectation or to have none at all and enjoy your first year). The people you want to put on your roommate list might not work out, which is ok too. I applied for a quad in Middle Earth tower with 3 people I met online. We got along great when we met, but unfortunately, we were split up with two of us together with one random person. We got placed in a triple classic in Middle Earth Luckily, we were placed next door to each other, so it wasn’t too bad. Although I was first scared during my hall orientation because both of my roommates left that weekend, I am now glad that happened because it allowed me to get out of my comfort zone and meet a girl who became a good friend of mine throughout the year. There was no drama on the first floor regarding the cleanliness policy of the bathroom and all (unlike third and second floor). With dorming, friendships are established within the first couple of weeks, so remember to get out of your comfort zone and make friends. I met other people in my hall too and got along well; we would go for late night, hang out, etc. Dorming made my experience at UCI so much better and I’m really glad I met those who were in my hall. You can cry, stress with, rant, go crazy, and everything. Roommates wise, not everyone was raised the same as you, so there will be difference with how they want to live. If you have a problem, COMMUNICATE before you cannot handle their presence anymore (this did not happen to me, but I heard a few stories from within my hall). I have a lot more to say about dorming, but I don’t want to bore you with the details. Feel free to reach out if you have more questions. Sorry this was long, but thank you for reading if you made it this far. (and thank you for coming to her TED Talk -Cynthia)
Vy: For me, dorming was a really great experience! It’s a nice opportunity for me to live away from my parents and try to be independent. Since a meal plan is included, I didn’t have to worry about food that much and, in my opinion, dining hall food is VERY convenient; I like the food, though it might get repetitive sometimes. Although I wasn’t close to the people in my hall, I ended up making friends with people from other halls. Just living on campus allows me to be closer to UCI and the friends that I’ve made during my time dorming.