Housing?

[spacemanspiff]

Hey, I'm an incoming graduate student and I was wondering how social and lively the graduate dorms are (specifically Escondido Village and Raines). I'm trying to decide whether to live on campus or to live with some relatives that live nearby off campus.

Comments

[disquesinge]

I dont know much about rains but EV is known for being antisocial and kinda gross. Rains is not as gross and it is closer to campus. Depending on which part of EV you get put into you can be so far away from campus you forget you are a student.

So in summary: EV is subpar, Rains is better, but who knows how lively it is.

[spacemanspiff]

so is parking hard to find for commuters and residents?

[virogtheconq]

Yes and no. There are several levels of parking permits: A, C and Residential (there might be a few more), with A being the most expensive, C the least, and Residential only for students living on-campus. Since C is the least expensive for commuters, there are generally fewer C spots than there are cars; if you get to campus before 9:30, parking is still decent for C permits, though it gets rather crowded after that. There are still parking spots out in the boonies, but depending on where you'd headed, it could be quite a trek. If you come in around noon some spots will have opened in individual lots, though it's a crapshoot as to where. There are also some parking structures scattered around that usually fill up about the same time

[sdragon]

EV was socially dead when I was in undergrad there.

[virogtheconq]

Graduate housing in general is pretty asocial - it depends on how social your neighbors are, since there usually aren't that many house-organized events (though I've heard some of the high-rises are). There are a few graduate hotspots on campus (the 750 Club or your department, for instance), but I wouldn't say there's an active grad scene - it's certainly not dead, but it's not going to be particularly active.

[spamchang]

EV is a somewhat-densely scattered group of apartment/townhouse style residences over a large area, so different areas of EV may be different (see campus map). Rains is more dorm-like, but since each suite opens to the outside, there are no hallways to hang out in. Some grad students are lively, some aren't. There's been a push towards kicking grad social activity up a notch, but generally it's not going to match that of the undergrads just because everyone is so focused and a bit busier.

[epistolarysmack]

Yay incoming grad students! (Me too.) I was wondering about the same thing, so if you get any more inside skinny, do let me know. :-)