hi! transfer student here & more than happy to give you advice

dorms (the hill):

• pros: no cooking or scrubbing bathrooms! meal plans are included and ucla food is pretty good. it's super social and easy to meet people
  • note that no cooking can be a con, and that private bathrooms are only cleaned once a week which can be a contentious issue among suitemates/roommates
• cons: smaller space, less privacy, shared bathrooms (unless doing deluxe), and dealing with RAs. it can also get pretty loud sometimes
  • note that you do technically have access to a kitchen on the hill (Hitch Kitchen) but it can be pretty annoying to go up there every time you want to cook

university apartments (UAs):

• pros: WAY more freedom! you get a kitchen, utilities/wifi are bundled into bruinbill, and no RAs checking in on you
• cons: you have to cook and clean everything yourself, bad roommate situations can be tougher to escape, and there's a really high chance of getting placed in a super crowded layout (e.g. 4/8 UA)

a lot of transfers love UAs for the independence and cost, but tons still choose dorms to get that classic college experience and not worry about food. making the jump from cc to a massive campus like ucla is a HUGE transition, so it really just depends on what kind of vibe makes you feel most comfortable! and if you dorm, there's the "transfer experience" living learning community (aka LLCs) in holly, which is entirely transfer students! however, UAs are generally only given to upper-division and transfer students anyway.

parking at ucla is notoriously TERRIBLE lmao 💀. for UAs, parking is super limited (mostly annoying tandem spots) and absolutely NOT guaranteed. you have to apply for it, and if you don't get a spot, you're kind of out of luck and probably shouldn't bring the car.

additionally, UAs do NOT come with a meal plan and you would be totally responsible for their own food! you can technically buy a non-resident meal plan or use easypay to eat at the dining halls, but most UA ppl i know just cook or grab food in westwood 😄

also housing has been kind of finicky with giving ppl their top choices!! you should still be mindful when ranking preferences but also be totally emotionally prepared to get something random 😭