UC San Diego Dorms Ranked

Number 10

"Living in a triple wasn't great, but ERC is one of the better places for this. While the walls are thin, North America Hall was right near the laundry and the package room, which was nice. It was decent enough in terms of space, with a large lounge. Right next to the parking as well. The kitchen on the ground floor was nice to have." - 4 years ago

We collected 1 dorm reviews for North America Hall

Number 9

"The overall structure: There are 4 suits in one floor and each suit there is 3 triple and 3 singles (there is no double in my floor. I’m not sure about other floors) For the bathroom, there are two water basin, two toilet, and two showers. Also, there are 9 shelves next to the water basin to put stuffs for shower. I feel like the shelves are not big enough to put all the stuff I use. For study spaces, there are one small study space for each suit and there is a common area. Two suits share one common area so it gets easily occupied. Also, there is one study space in the right next to the common area which has a similar structure to the one in the suits.

I am living in a single room and I am pretty much satisfied with the room. The size of the room is pretty small but I had no problem with it.

Pros:
The location is very good. There is two markets right near and it is right in front of mom’s cafe so it is very convenient for coffee lovers. Also, it is pretty much near to the library walk.

It is safe! All the doors and walls are made to minimize the fire transfer when there is a fire. Because of this, the walls and doors are pretty thick which makes it pretty much noise proof. (You cannot hear people right next to your room but still you can hear people in the hallway though)

Cons:
The problem is that for the lower floors (I’m living in the 2nd floor) it is easy for the bugs (especially the moths!!) to come in to the room and the bathroom. There will be moths or some huge bug all the time I take a shower. As there is no fly screen already attached to the windows, I had to buy one from amazon to prevent the bugs to come in.

Also, the apartment does not have a kitchen or a fridge and only has a sink and a microwave for each two suits. So it is not convenient for people who like cooking.

There was a incident where in one of my suitmates’ room, the window was broken and water leaked when there was a rain. Because of that mold started to spread from the carpet to their mattresses and people living in the room have to move to sixth. " - 9 months ago

We collected 4 dorm reviews for Tioga Hall

Number 8

"Pros:
Convenient location: Being very close to the dining hall and laundry facilities can make life easier for students living in the dorm.
Quiet: If you prefer a quieter living environment, Earth Hall South may be a good option for you.
Appropriate darkness at night: Some people prefer to sleep in complete darkness, and Earth Hall South may provide that kind of environment.

Cons:
Random people walking by: If you are living on the first floor, you may have to deal with random people walking right outside your window. This could be uncomfortable for some people, especially if they value their privacy.
No elevator: Depending on how many floors the building has, not having an elevator could make moving in and out of the dorm more difficult.
Distance from other campus locations: Depending on the layout of the campus, Earth Hall South may be far from other locations like classrooms." - 1 year ago

We collected 2 dorm reviews for Earth Hall

Number 7

"The Sixth dorms are the newest on campus (built in 2020) so they are the most modern. There are four residential buildings in sixth. Kaleidoscope and Tapestry are the most similar with both suites and apartments. Suites range from 5-16 people depending on the floor. All rooms are fairly decent sized with a bed, small nightstand/cubby, desk, towel rack, and closet. Suites are conjoined with the suite either above or below which means that there is more noise going around especially confined in a concrete area. Each floor has a communal kitchen and bathroom with cleaners coming every 2-3 days. Depending on the number of people in the suite, there are 2-4 toilets and showers and 3-8 sinks which is nice so there is never any issues with who needs to use what. Suites are recommended the first year because you can meet more people this way. Definitely recommend sixth!

Fyi elevators are slow" - 2 years ago

We collected 1 dorm reviews for Mosaic

Number 6

"All of the sixth college dorms are centrally located on campus. The buildings are very nice and new. There are suites (first years) and apartments (anyone else). Bathrooms are separated and spread throughout the suite so there are 2-4 separate showers and toilet rooms. The dorm rooms are very spacious (comes with twin xl bed/mattress, desk with lock drawer, chair, and large dresser) huge compared to some other dorms on campus. All of the suites have an upper floor with the same number of rooms. Floors are co-ed but suites are not (the connecting floor is the same gender). " - 1 year ago

We collected 2 dorm reviews for Kaleidoscope

Number 5

"The North Torrey pines living and learning neighborhood is the brand new heart of UCSD. The project was recently completed in the fall of 2020 and is still realizing its full potential as the rest of the restaurants start to roll out. One of the biggest stand-out features of apartments and suites at the new sixth (NTPLLN) is that the bathroom and shower stall are all individually roomed. Anyone can use each facility separately without using the other. This allows for great bathroom privacy as well as fewer clashes in usage timings. The bathrooms themselves are of impeccable quality, and some suites in the Catalyst building (mine) even have a rare bathtub. The location is central and almost crucial to all classes for undergraduates, and the food is considered to be the best in the Sixth dining halls." - 2 years ago

We collected 2 dorm reviews for Catalyst

Number 4

"Honestly, I loved it here. A triple is pretty small but it is totally do-able. Our window was closed most of the time so it felt pretty dark and stuffy in there but not too big of a deal especially with a fan. The mail area and dining halls are super close by as well as gyms. There is no kitchen so bring a microwave or you can use Argo or Blake's kitchens. I lived on the first floor, no stairs was a plus but the common area situation was a little weird. There were two doubles and a single (for the RA) and a one stall, one shower, one sink bathroom. We didn't have our own private common room but we used the fleet common room which was huge and super nice." - 4 years ago

We collected 4 dorm reviews for Keeling Apartments

Number 3

"Podemos was recently built in 2023, so all of the rooms, bathrooms, and kitchens look new and modern. Podemos is solely an apartment building, so every apartment has a kitchen. There are laundry rooms every odd floor, with two washers and dryers per floor. On each floor, there is one eight-person apartment, and the rest of them are four-person apartments. Inside the apartments, there are only singles and doubles, and the doubles are much bigger than many of the other colleges' doubles. The cleaners come once a week, and living here is also nice because many shuttles make stops near here. There is not that much greenery near Eighth college so it looks a little dull, and the building is pretty far from the center of the campus. " - 9 months ago

We collected 1 dorm reviews for Podemos

Number 2

"This is the new Sixth College, which is officially dubbed as the "North Torrey Pines Living & Learning Neighborhood". Everything is brand new and is only about 1-2 years old. The style of both the interior and exterior of the buildings are modern and sleek.

Pros:
- It is new!
- Everything is clean
- No rodents or insects (as far as my experience) in comparison to other colleges
- Very lively and chance to meet new people
- Toilets and showers are separate, meaning that more people can take care of their business without waiting for someone else

Cons:
- Kitchen is communal, makes cooking a bit difficult
- Some of the doubles are smaller than other doubles (by a few feet) but it is still manageable

What to expect:
There are two types of living styles within the building; suites and apartments.
Suites are much larger and hold about 10 people
Apartment are, well, apartments. Fit for about 5-8 people.

Upper floors may be connected (i.e. 10th and 11th floor suites are connected to each other), which can be a good or bad thing. It's good if you love meeting new people and like having a smaller community to hang out with (you'll be living with nearly 20+ people in total). But for others, it can be opportunities for more noise complaints. Depends on what kind of person you are.


Sixth College is known to be a highly demanded place to live at and a college to be enrolled in because of their newer buildings! Dining Hall is decent with a variety of options (especially with some new restaurants that just opened up) and is within a two minute walking distance. And there is also a Market for your convenience.

Generally, my experience so far has been nothing but positive! My suitemates have become some of my closest friends and every day is a different experience. Definitely put Sixth College at the top of your list! " - 2 years ago

We collected 2 dorm reviews for Tapestry

Number 1

"I lived in the Tamarack apartments on the 7th floor in the bigger double. It has 2 doubles and 2 singles and you all share 2 bathrooms and 1 shower. Also a pretty big kitchen/living room, there's a fridge and an electric stove/oven. Probably a good idea to bring a microwave, toaster and coffee maker. The janitor cleans the bathrooms and wipes down the counters in the kitchen once a week which was a big help. No AC just heat so a fan could be a good idea to get some air circulation but opening the windows makes a huge difference. There's a study room on every floor to the left of the trash chute room, had four table seats and two sofa chairs. Sometimes it was occupied but great study spot if you find it empty! There's trash chutes on every floor, they had pretty small doors though so trash & recycling had to be smushed to fit through. The elevators were so quick I lovvveeed them, I was always running a lil late but they got me down in like 3 seconds and sometimes saved me hahaha. There's a laundry room on the first floor with a lot of machines, it was rarely fully occupied but I did my laundry either in the mornings when I didn't have class or in the middle of the night, & never on weekends. I loved how close of a walk it was to the Eucalyptus bus stop between Muir and Revelle. I had a pretty good view from my bed, in my opinion it was the best place to live on campus!" - 4 years ago

We collected 4 dorm reviews for Tamarack Apartments