UC Berkeley Sophomore Dorms Ranked
Ranking the best sophomore dorms at UC Berkeley, according to students.
Number 5
Martinez Commons
based on 4 reviews
"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." - 4 years ago1 student reviewers said they lived in Martinez Commons during their sophomore year
Browse 4 Dorm ReviewsNumber 4
Garden Village Apartments
based on 2 reviews
"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." - 4 years ago1 student reviewers said they lived in Garden Village Apartments during their sophomore year
Browse 2 Dorm ReviewsNumber 3
Enclave
based on 1 review
"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.
" - 2 years ago1 student reviewers said they lived in Enclave during their sophomore year
Browse 1 Dorm ReviewNumber 2
Channing-Bowditch
based on 2 reviews
"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. " - 2 years ago
1 student reviewers said they lived in Channing-Bowditch during their sophomore year
Browse 2 Dorm ReviewsNumber 1
Blackwell Hall
based on 17 reviews
"I think a double was pretty spacious compared to the other dorms at Berkeley! The ceiling is just concrete which was a bit ugly but it isn't a huge deal. I loved that the floor wasn't carpet. The walls were very weak (and thin and the door is not soundproof, so watch your volume) and dented way too easily... you could press your fingernail to the wall and it'd dent. The window doesn't open more than 6? or so inches and the window itself is a lot smaller than the windows in other dorms. Lighting was fine but you'll probably want to bring a desk lamp. There's plenty of room for all your belongings since you get an individual closet and two drawers under your bed.
I loved the lounges on each floor, the all-glass study lounges gave a great view of the bay and sunsets and were a great place to work with friends. The ping pong tables and pool tables were also super fun. The building was really clean because I lived there the first year it was built. There are three fast elevators.
The bathrooms are gender neutral which freaked me out a little at first but I quickly got used to it. The toilets and showers are in individual stall rooms with doors and walls that extend from floor to ceiling so they are definitely private enough. They were kind of gross a lot of the time but I guess that's not really a building problem, I remember they cleaned the bathroom pretty often.
Overall I think this is the best dorm but I might be biased as I had a really good time here." - 4 years ago5 student reviewers said they lived in Blackwell Hall during their sophomore year
Browse 17 Dorm Reviews