IV Apartments and University Apartments: The Pros and Cons

Next year, I'll be in my third year of college at UCSB. Although I'm looking forward for my third year at UCSB, I'm not completely sure where I'll be living. Initially, I was hoping to live in an apartment in IV (Isla Vista), but I wasn't successful in finding an IV apartment due to not getting into any of the ones that I applied for. I was told that the IV apartments that are still available are probably quite expensive, so I might end up living in UCSB's university apartments, which have applications that open on February 28. However, university apartments are further from the UCSB campus than IV apartments. Below, I wrote a list of some of the pros and cons for both IV apartments and university apartments.

IV Apartments Pros

• Closer to the main part of the UCSB campus: Walking from the IV apartments to the main part of campus doesn't take a very long time.

• 

  An apartment in IV (Isla Vista)

  Don't have to deal with unexpected fire alarms: I'm currently living in the dorms and experienced a fire alarm after 1 a.m. back in January this year, so I'm worried that there could be unexpected fire alarms in the university-owned apartments too. If I live in an IV apartment, I likely wouldn't have to deal with a fire alarm going off after 1 a.m.

IV Apartments Cons

• Need to buy furniture for the apartments: Unlike dorms or other university-owned housing, IV apartments usually come unfurnished, so there would be a need to buy furniture, such as tables and beds. Tables, beds, and other larger pieces of furniture can be hard to carry into the apartment and so it could be hard to put those pieces of furniture into the IV apartments.
• Noise from construction: I heard that some people that I know who live in IV apartments have to deal with construction around their apartments and were unaware about the construction, so their beds were moved and it can be hard for them to sleep. If I live in an IV apartment, it's possible that I might have to deal with loud construction noise, which could make it hard for me to sleep.

University Apartments Pros

• Rooms come fully furnished: There's no need to buy any additional furniture for university apartments, so I wouldn't have to worry about carrying any large pieces of furniture to the university apartments.
• Don't have to deal with bills, deposits, monthly rent, and co-signing: According to the UCSB Housing website, there's "no figuring out bills with various roommates, no deposit or first and last month rent, and no co-signing leases" for the university apartments. Instead, the billing for university apartments is done via BARC (Billing, Accounts Receivable, and Collections System).

University Apartments Cons

• 

  Sierra Madre Villages,
  a university apartment at UCSB

  Further from the main part of the UCSB campus: I might need to take the bus or bring my bike from home whenever going on the main part of campus, which is where classes are held. Currently, I've been walking to all of my classes since my bike is at home (there wasn't enough room to bring my bike over to UCSB). However, if I end up living in university apartments, because they're further from the main part of campus campus than IV apartments, it would take a longer time for me to walk to the main part of campus from the university apartments and so I might need to take the bus more often to go to campus or bring my bike over.
• May have to deal with unexpected fire alarms: Like I mentioned earlier, I experienced a fire alarm in my dorm that occurred after 1 a.m. back in January this year. Since university apartments, like the dorms, are also campus housing, I'm worried that I would experience unexpected fire alarms if I lived in a university apartment.

In conclusion, both IV and university apartments have their pros and cons, and even though I might end up living in a university apartment due to not being able to find an IV apartment yet and that many of the IV apartments that are still available are likely quite expensive, there are still some good things about living in university apartments.