UC Berkeley Dorms Ranked

"PROS: - largest dorm rooms at berkeley, most are only doubles too! - super close to CoC/Engineering. made going to my 8ams really easy (as a chemical engineering major) - more quiet spacey area for studying compared to other dorms - some of the best views on campus!!! - you are able to hear (and sometimes see) when there's concerts at the Greek Theatre sometimes! - stayed hella fit/avoided freshman 15 bc of the premade work out up the hill it's on - best dining hall on campus (and onsite!) - in a much safer area compared to the other dorms - option to be in a single gender suite/floor if interested in that - each suite has a private study room and a private bathroom (shared with less people compared to in other dorms) - has a mini gym! - you occasionally see turkey and deer lol // CONS: - older building (but still does the job) - def does lack social life within the dorms. you can def find community/social life outside of your dorms through meeting people through classes and clubs, but it will be difficult within the dorm. (there are def friendly people, just people are more introverted and some are less interested in doing outgoing activities) - away from a lot of city life compared to the other dorms (again contributes to lack of social life) - is, again, on a hill (so difficult to get to) - very little elevator access, mostly stairs (but each building usually only is at most 3-4 floors) - knew of a few friends who had mice problems!! but did not experience it myself // OVERALL, this dorm is def suitable for CoC or CoE majors and those also looking for a guaranteed quiet roomy space and aren't into party vibes. It is on the northeast side of campus and so it is far away from other dorms or general city area, but is def quieter and safer. Unlike the other dorms, the dorm is divided into suites instead of floors, so your living space is usually with around 6-8 people instead of like 15+. It is "log cabin: style so to visit other rooms/amenities (ex, doing laundry or using the gym), you must go outside-- everything is not all connected in one big building. However, to enter the entire dorm area / facilities is gated. You then have a key to enter from the outside into your suite, and then a key for your room inside the suite. The dorm area amenities include an onsite dining hall, laundry rooms, study rooms, vending machines, a mini gym, and rec rooms with mixed activities. Personally, I sometimes wish I stayed in another dorm to experience more social life within the dorms my freshman year, but I don't regret staying at Foothill and it was also especially nice having a lot space and quiet when I needed it! // (I included pictures of the exterior, a picture inside the private common area in a suite, a picture inside the bathroom, and a picture of the view from the dorm!)"

"To be honest, nobody's first choice is unit 2. Sure, it's only a few minutes farther than unit 1, but it's substantially farther than BW/Unit 3. It's not as far as Clark Kerr, but they have nicer amenities. I lived in a Cunningham Hall double in the corner room. It was a bit larger than the standard doubles/triples. On my floor, the bathroom only has one functioning shower; three of the four sinks have very low water pressure; and the fourth sink has too much water pressure that it splashes everywhere. The elevator is painfully slow and there is no way to see what floor the elevator is on to know if it's time to cut your losses and walk down the stairs. The mail room's hours are a bit limited. The gym is a joke–rsf is a 25-minute walk. The study lounge is pretty bad compared to some newer buildings. "

"Rooms: The rooms are nice. The layout online is inaccurate, you might get a double in a room that should be a single, or you could get 2 full baths instead of 1.5 baths. Overall the official website is a bit inaccurate for this. Bathrooms: Water pressure is great, everything is clean and modern Common Area of Apt: Common area is also great and we have a half balcony (you can't go out but can open the door). The layout is a bit weird with the kitchen being at the front door though. We have a 2 dining tables (and 6 chairs), 2 coffee tables, a couch, and a chair. General Apartment building: There's a common area on the 3rd floor thats super nice and secluded feeling, and there's roof access that looks out over SF and Berkeley. There is not much management in the way as it is in the Freshman dorms, but help is there if you need it. It's also MUCH less social, but this is mostly because its an apartment and people aren't roaming around as much. Location: Location is the only meh part. Its close to campus (5 min walk from sproul) so that's great, but their entrance is on the street next to People's park so its a bit scary at night, but that being said I've never had any issues. Otherwise the proximity to campus is nice. "

"Building is a bit old but the location is convenient - close to campus and a bunch of restaurants and boba"

"Pros: close to campus, arguably one of the better dorms, living situation is alright Cons: small, gross bathrooms and tiny stalls, loud "

"I lived alone in a double room. For the most part the apartment itself it extremely nice and modern. The washer/dryer however were abysmal. You could only put in a handful of clothes because it was so small and left your clothes damp. I put in a work order to get my bedroom light fixed (didnt work in the first place) and have sinced moved out and it was never fixed. The area isn’t entirely safe as I was nearly mugged just around the corner. But if you don’t plan on going out by yourself then this is definitely a decent place. Overall, the place was nice and secure, but there were many small issues that made me not want to live here again (vary among other people). There was an air conditioner but never figured out how it worked or if it even worked so I didnt mess with it."

"I live in a double suite with seven people in Clark Kerr and have had a mixed experience. The culture is definitely completely different from the rest of Berkeley, there are a lot of people from socal who are in Greek life, and it's definitely the least racially diverse dorm at Berkeley. I've found that if you live in a suite and aren't super outgoing, it's difficult to find a community here. That being said, this campus is absolutely gorgeous and definitely has the best amenities and food. Although the walk to campus is pretty far, I've found it to be therapeutic (when the weather is nice) and a good way to force myself to exercise lol. And if walking isn't your thing, you can always take the bus, which comes pretty frequently (but not always reliably). If I could go back, I wouldn't chose to live here because of how my social experience ended up being, but if you definitely plan on rushing, are from southern California, or were stereotypically popular in high school, I think you'll thrive here. "

"Overall was great because there was weekly cleaning from a sweet lady, which allowed the place to stay clean constantly. the bathroom was huge and so people can use the restroom and shower and brush their teeth separately. I lived in the double double and so even though there were 4 people in the apartment, it still felt very spacious. I felt very safe around the complex for most the time (even though we had an incident once)... It's gated so only residents can enter in. The only flaw is the location, since its only a few steps away from peoples park and right behind the parking lot of taco bell which gets really loud at times. "

"I enjoyed living at Martinez as a transfer, but if I were going to do the whole experience all over again I would probably have some reservations. Yes, location and amenities at the building are good, however I had issues with water (?) leaks that appeared over my bed intermittently throughout the year I lived there. Sent in a service request, no response. I also had some issues with the washer & drying machines, as on two different instances a portion of my clothes were ruined by some gunk that dried on them. I never pursued trying to recoup my losses, as I learned it was an outside company that handled maintenance and complaints. Last but not least, while the Martinez location is ideal in terms of where it is in relation to Crossroads dining hall and campus, it is also right next to People's Park. Where my room was we overlooked a courtyard where homeless folk would sometimes hang out. There were instances where me and my roommate were woken up by yelling, and in one case, we saw a homeless man assaulted from our window. The only way to TRY and tune it out was to shut the window, but we used the window to try and control the temperature in our room. Now, given my complaints, Martinez is not a bad dorm. Overall it was a positive experience, and certainly worth the investment if you want to try and be involved with a community of transfer students or upperclassmen."

"I lived in one of the only few dozen singles and it was HUGE. It had nice flooring, fast elevators, a super cool lobby, and I liked a lot of the other freshmen there. The location was very nice and close to campus with some pretty cool restaurants right around the corner. There are many cons though. The room smelled really bad when I first moved in, and my particular window was abnormally small. I hated my neighbors as they were too loud and always made the halls very gross, despite the amazing daily cleaning service. The room didn’t get enough light and there was a really loud custodial sink right behind my bed that woke me up every morning at 9am, but it was a good alarm clock hahaha. I also wish they let us use the kitchen but they closed it off :("