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Location
164 Orchard Park Dr. , on campus & across the street from the ARC
Office Hours
Mon-Fri, 9:30am-5:30pm
Contact

Phone: (844) 353-3834
Email: [email protected]
Website
The Colleges at La Rue website
facebook.com
Types of Units
Jr. 1br/1ba, 1br/1ba, Grad Cottage, 2br/2ba, 3br/2ba, 4br/2ba
Price Range
$1, 146 to $3,364 for fall 2018

The Colleges at La Rue (more commonly known simply as "The Colleges") is an apartment complex on the UC Davis campus but the buildings are owned and privately managed by Tandem Properties. The Colleges are available only to full-time continuing undergraduate or graduate students at UC Davis..

Residents have commented that this is a stellar place to live for students because of its location and because only students live here. Although there is a lot of activity going on, residents note that the units are very well insulated and that outside noise isn't a problem. It is a great place to stay integrated in university life with the benefits of modern apartment living.

When the complex opened, it featured UC Davis Resnet in each room and still does. The living room, kitchen, dining room, and bathrooms feature tiles. The rooms feature carpeting. Small caged pets are allowed with written consent from management. No other pets are allowed. Aquariums over 50 gallons need renter's/waterbed insurance.

Some apartments are located on the ground floors. The other apartments are located on the second floors and are accessed by individual staircases for each apartment. There are barbecue areas. Storage spaces are available.

The Colleges are heated and cooled using geothermal heat pumps.

The apartment complex opened in Fall of 2000.

Management Notices

Subscribe to Tandem's Housing Updateshere and get notified when we start leasing at Tandem's top communities for fall 2020.

Features & Amenities

 
Free On Campus Parking
24 Hour Study Center
24 Hour Laundry Center
Central AC & Heat
BBQ Areas & Courtyards
24 Hour Fitness Center
No Cats, Dogs, or snakes
Storage Available
Microwave, Dishwasher, Refrigerator
UC Davis Phone, Cable & Ethernet Access

Additional Notes: The Colleges use underground thermal loops for cooling. (citation needed)

Mobility

Public Transportation - The Colleges is on Unitrans J bus line, C bus line and D bus line, inbound only. However, the Colleges is only a short walk to The Silo, where you can catch several other bus lines.

Bicycle - Since The Colleges is on the UC Davis campus, it is completely integrated into the Davis Bike Loop and there are bike lanes, bike paths, and bike-only connectors on all of the surrounding streets.

Pedestrian - This complex is on campus, meaning that it is in a great location for students. The Colleges is very close to the ARC, yet offers its own fitness room. The Rec Pool is immediately adjacent, and residents can easily bring just a towel and simply walk home to change out of their swimsuits. For recreational adventures, walk through campus to The UC Davis Arboretum or walk through the Experimental College Community Garden and head past The Domes to the Bike Bridge.  During the Fall, residents only have to walk a block to watch UC Davis Football at Aggie Stadium. During the spring, Women's Lacrosse also lays down the law at Aggie Stadium.

Since this is near an older part of Davis, the closest access to The Greenbelt is at Community Park. For grocery shopping, some services, and dining, University Mall and Rite Aid are about 4 blocks away. Residents at The Colleges have very close access to Trader Joe's.

Parking - Residents have free on-campus parking at The Colleges. There are a few visitor parking spots as well as two 30-minute parking spots.

ADA Accessibility - Some units are ADA Accessible.

Leadership Learning Community

To live in The Colleges, students were once required to be accepted into the Leadership Learning Community, which offered various extracurricular programs and events throughout the academic year. Today, you only need to be an eligible full-time UC Davis student and enter their lottery system for leasing. You must either find a current resident to move in with or enter a lottery to obtain one of the few apartments that open up each year. The lottery is completely random, with priority to current residents who are changing apartments. Your odds of getting an apartment are much better if you know someone you can move in with, either under a sublease or as a co-leaser. Passdowns of apartments are strictly prohibited and your applications will be denied if a passdown is in effect.

As part of the Leadership Learning Community, residents were required to attend two 1.5-2 hour events (or a single longer event) a quarter. Some found the programs useful, others enjoyable, and still others treated it simply as part of "the price of living at The Colleges". Beginning Winter Quarter 2008, residents of the Colleges are no longer required to attend events. They are now strictly voluntary for those who seek their own professional development (in the case of leadership/career-oriented events such as resume workshops) or networking/enjoyment (in the case of community events such as ice cream and movie nights).

The Center for Leadership Learning is the home for several UC Davis leadership programs and is located at The Colleges.

Floor Plans (current rates are updated on the Tandem website)

 

1x1 JR Grad Cottage 2x2 3x2 4x2

Photos

Map of The Colleges. Click to view larger size

 

Older comments can be found in the comment archive.

Comments:

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2006-09-09 22:27:57   I got accepted into the program and was offered an apartment right away, along with the other handful of people I knew that applied. We didn't have to worry about a lottery, and it wasn't even mentioned. They do have a really neat system for finding and looking for roommates. —ChristyMarsden

2007-02-02 09:08:16   There are ways to get around the lottery; it is possible to join a friend's lease and then transfer to a new apartment. You get priority since you're technically already a resident. Only problem (or maybe not, if you're into it) is you're required to participate in the programs each quarter. Also, when I lived there (2005-2006) I don't think the lottery program was really in place; we received several emails reminding people that apartments were available if we had friends who were looking for a place to live. —ElleWeber

2007-09-28 11:09:49   I enjoyed living here. I'm not sure if my neighbors were just quiet or the walls were soundproofed, but when they had stuff going on I could barely hear them. Although the walls within the apartment were paper thing. For a 100% student complex, parties never got out of hand and the campus police were always reasonable. I also found the units to be well insulated. —JamesSchwab

2010-03-12 10:50:49   I do not know how its like to live here because I didn't get picked for the lottery. Actually, no one got picked for the lottery, because there were no apartments to give out. They had us sign up for a lottery where there weren't even any rooms available. I'm very glad me and my friends went to sign up for Tanglewood before they told us because if they hadn't then we would have been nearly screwed. Personally, I think it's incredibly rude to not only make us wait this long to sign up for rooms (rooms should come by first-come first-serve basis) but also to NOT INFORM US THAT THERE WERE NO ROOMS TO BEGIN WITH. I believe this was simply a ruse to attract customers to the apartments they were partnered with under their "Plan B" scheme. But that's just me. Btw, they have nice cupcakes. —theshonen8899

2010-03-31 10:21:33   @theshonen8899 – Hey it's management staff here! We saw your comment and were concerned. The Colleges at LaRue is the most sought after housing on campus and availability varies from year to year. This year, so many of our residents decided to stay with us, that only one bedrooms became available for 2010/11.

I’m sorry that it wasn’t clear that many of our current residents would renew and that not all of our units would be available.

We believe that Tandem offers the most diverse array of apartments in Davis, so yes, we’ll take every opportunity we’re given to share those choices.

And thanks, we like the cupcakes too!

—DeeE

    2010-05-09 20:49:13   I have to completely agree with the comment left by theshonen8899. It was extremely messed up on the part of the management to have everybody come to that stupid event and then not even have any apartments. Tandem Properties management is pretty messed up. —JSlice

    2010-05-16 13:12:19   @DeeE - There is a difference between wanting to "share those choices" and forcing them upon people under the pretense that there are actually a viable amount of apartments available. Finding housing was chaotic for me and my friends and we didn't need con artists to waste our time and make it worse. Attempting to control a monopoly where apartment complexes can only survive if they live under your hood is immoral and I hope future students will see through your scheme before wasting precious time looking for housing. —theshonen8899

    2010-07-02 18:09:57   I've lived here for 4 years now and have loved it! It's obviously a great location, but the management has always been really wonderful as well. They do a great job maintaining the place, the very few problems I've ever had were taken care of right away, and the ladies in the office are always very helpful and pleasant. The apartments are also very well soundproofed. Even when my neighbors had stuff going on, I could barely hear them. If you can get a spot here, which I know are hard to come by because people like me love it here and choose to stay until graduation, I highly recommend it. My ONLY complaint would be that it's difficult to have guests over on weekdays because TAPS tickets in our parking lots and there are only 4 guest spots (at least in the north lot). But I know guest parking is kind of a pain at a lot of complexes in Davis, so it's really not a big complaint. —LizaT

    2010-09-12 22:56:39   I lived here for four years and loved nearly every minute of it. The management team is always helpful and I never went longer than 48 hours without my repair request being filled. The things that I hated were more or less two fold: I lived in a single bedroom and the sinks are TINY. Due to the fact that they are split in the middle, the sink is so narrow I can't put full size plates at the bottom of the damn thing. That's the only flaw I had with the apartment. The other complaint isn't the Colleges fault but rather the *(&#$ Banduh. They like to practice inbetween the pool and the southmost part of the complex in the summer. Despite my complaints in previous years they continue to do this. I lived right next to the pool and no matter what I did, I was subject to their practices. Even when on two separate occasions I was sick with a 100+ fever. Banduh's response? "Can't you just go somewhere else?" No you inconsiderate boob, I pay to live here. Why don't YOU? —OliviaY

    2010-09-21 12:57:32   I've lived here for the last 4 years and just recently moved out to a complex down the street on Anderson. I absolutely loved it here. The location is fantastic and the management is great. Maintenance issues within the apartment were taken care of the very day we would call in and the maintenance staff have always been courteous and helpful. The grounds are always clean as they mow the lawn, trim bushes, etc. every Tuesday, I believe. My only complaint would be the poor air circulation in our 2 bedroom apartment, but that's minor. The place is well insulated and generally quiet. Noise has never been an issue for me. I already miss living here. If I could afford it, I would have tried to stay here despite no longer being a student. I highly recommend living here. Great experience. —SharonLee

    2010-10-23 13:51:09   So I just moved into The Colleges in September with two other people. I regret doing this more than almost anything else in my life. Maybe we got a bad apartment and the rest of the complex is great, but here is my experience so far:

    First, the floor was never cleaned after the last tenants moved out. I didn’t notice at first since the tiles are dark colored but it became very obvious after the carpets in the bedrooms started turning black. Three rounds with a mop (probably the first cleaning in years) and it still isn’t clean. This probably explains the German cockroaches that outnumbered us from the day we moved in.

    Second, Davis Wiki describes The Colleges as a quiet complex where “outside noise isn’t a problem”. The windows are high quality double-paned glass and block the sound fairly well. However, The Colleges is right next to an outdoor day care center with dozens of screaming children from 8am to 6pm every weekday and no amount of insulation will stop that noise. They even parade the children around the complex during the morning to ensure everyone is equally annoyed. Don’t forget the loud parties – the police don’t seem to patrol this area, making it prime for parties that make The Colleges sound like Ket on a Friday night.

    Finally, units in the same building are not well insulated from one another. Our upstairs neighbors constantly sound like they’re playing basketball for hours at a time, with the stomping and bouncing continuing until 2 or 3 in the morning. Occasionally (i.e. a few times a week) they play what sounds like a subwoofer audio test (or really bad techno), with loud random frequency sounds lasting for hours, rattling furniture in my room and keeping me awake until 2am when I have class the next morning.

    The location is great and allows me to easily get out of the apartment and on campus to study. I only wish I had somewhere else to sleep. —dpb

    • The reality of of living in an apartment is that you share a wall and hear things on the other side.

    • Have you tried talking to your neighbors at all? Usually they don't even know they are making noise. If that doesn't work Trish is very helpful in the office. Make a complaint to her and it WILL be sorted out. I had to eventually resort to that once because of a rude neighbor who simply didn't care. As for the parties...they happen in every apartment complex. Again TALK TO THEM if the noise is a problem or call the campus cops. They break parties up very quickly but you have to go through the Campus Police, not Davis Police. Trish is also helpful because if there is a specific apartment throwing lots of parties she intervenes. I had this happen as well. Basically befriend Trish and talk to her about these issues. She doesn't bite!! —OliviaY

    And the Colleges are only open to UC Davis students...I don't understand why you seem to think its a big deal that people have parties (which generally do go until about 2 in the morning, incidentally). Sucks that the daycare children make noise all the time, but that's what little kids do.

    It seems that your only complaint is about noise, in which case you're better off going farther away from the campus and getting a house. —sososharp

    @OliviaY That's not necessarily the reality of apartment living.

    • Not everywhere in California but in Davis it is. It's a college town and college kids inevitably throw parties. It still sucks but I think you'd be hard pressed to find a single complex where there isn't one loud party in a 9 month period. If you do I'd be impressed. The comment above mine didn't come from me...but it is usually pretty true that when you share a wall you're going to have some things come through. I couldn't ever hear neighbors talking but my alarm clock woke someone up once. He was nice enough to leave me a note and I turned the volume way down. Problem was solved.—OliviaY

    @sososharp No, noise was not my only complaint. Regardless, noise is an issue for some people, and this wiki is misleading: "residents note that the units are very well insulated and that outside noise isn't a problem". Hopefully my review will balance the description that was probably written by Tandem Properties. —dpb

    Sososharp: Imagine that you were a student who had an 8 AM exam the next day when someone decided to throw a loud party next door. Or that you had to work to support yourself and had to get up early to earn money to pay your rent, tuition, and other bills. Or that maybe you go to sleep at 12 AM every night and don't want to stay up until 2 because your neighbors do. Or that you had homework that you really needed to concentrate on, and that you couldn't do that with the noise from a party entering your apartment. Or maybe you just wanted to live in your apartment in peace without having to listen to party noise all the time. If you are going to do something that you know is going to make noise and most likely disturb your neighbors, it's your responsibility to ensure that your neighbors aren't disturbed. It's not your neighbors' fault that you want to party, and it isn't up to them to put up with it. Have some consideration for others. —IDoNotExist

    • IDoNotExist: I don't need to imagine, since I am a student of UC Davis who works a ridiculous amount of hours to pay rent at my place of residence, the Colleges at La Rue. I'm simply stating what is fact: if you move into an apartment complex which is only open to UC Davis students, you are going to deal with noise and your neighbors are going to throw parties. I'm not saying that Dpb doesn't have a right to be annoyed, but I am saying that you're only fooling yourself if you are expecting people not to throw parties. I'll agree about the insulation not being as good as advertised...heck its not even close. —sososharp

    • For being so sharp, you have failed to realize the point of dpb's comments. He never said that he didn't expect people to throw parties. He just didn't expect the noise to be a problem, based on some reviews claiming this place to be "well insulated" and even "soundproof". As a resident of this fine establishment, I think these apartments are actually quite wonderful: I love the fact that when I moved in, my carpet had all kinds of cool stains left by the previous tenant. It really adds to character to this room. When maintenance came to remove mold and padding underneath my carpet due to a major leak, it was awesome - not only did they remove my closet doors and stack them in my hallway, they also never replaced the carpet padding! It's great because I can access my clothes more easily, and every time I do, I am reminded of how thankful I am for the padding on the other side of my room. I also really love being able to hear, in clear detail and through my walls and closed windows, the sounds of my upstairs neighbors talking, running up and down the stairs, and whatever else it is they do. Every once in a while, I even get the rare treat of hearing the people on the other side of the courtyard! You see, it's pretty boring at 4 in the morning, and these little things really spice up the place and make me feel like a close part of the community. It doesn't bother me that I've been unable to sleep and have been missing all my morning classes, because school is for losers. Oh, and what would I do without the roaches? It's so entertaining to watch them crawl around in the bathroom when I'm taking a dump. They don't seem to like me though - they always end up hiding under the un-caulked floorboards. This place is so awesome, I'm going to ask for a 5 year commitment when I re-sign my lease. Did I mention the rent? I pay $720/month - what a steal! I would gladly pay twice that. —btb

    • I'm not interesting in getting in a pissing contest here, but what part of this "Don’t forget the loud parties – the police don’t seem to patrol this area, making it prime for parties that make The Colleges sound like Ket on a Friday night," doesn't sound like someone surprised about the fact that people are throwing parties? That in no way is a complaint about thin walls or shitty insulation making his/her apartment noisier. That is half a complaint about lax enforcement by the police (which is fair), and half a complaint about college students doing what college students do (which is unrealistic). I did not say that Dpb doesn't have a right to be annoyed by the noise (I stated the opposite, as a matter of fact), but I am saying that he or she came in with unrealistic expectations. — sososharp

    2010-11-02 07:56:11   I aggree with dpb about the random noise from upstairs neighbors - while we didn't have a problem, it always sounded like they were moving large pieces of furniture around when in reality they'd only move a chair in or out from a table. It's ridiculous, noise transfer from top to underneath. Maybe it's because of the tile floors? —ChristyMarsden

    2010-12-20 16:39:27   I moved in to The Colleges in September (2010), and have been nothing but happy with my experience thus far. As far as noise, everything is relatively quiet, in fact I rarely ever hear a loud party. So as far as The Colleges being a noisy or loud place to live, I believe that is relative to your apartments location (The Colleges is a large complex with the majority of apartments NOT next to a loud daycare) amd the people the live near you. The ladies that work in the office are very friendly and repairmen are an added bonus (there to fix pretty much anything for free!).

    Not only is it the nicest and classiest apartment complex I have seen in Davis but it is also right on campus, making it truly the best place for students to live. It is slightly pricey, but the convenience is completely worth it!

    Also, the prices on here are not updated for the new lease year: Four bedroom/2 bath is $2520/month.

    —jmlavero

      2011-01-10 10:05:14   does anyone know how to set up a wireless router at the colleges? —jkoed

      2011-06-22 00:13:50   Stayed here in the summer. Had a leak in our bathtub that i guess messed up the downstairs apartment too, so they told us they need to fix it and sent us to the Holiday Inn hotels in downtown for free service until it was fixed. Was very delighted with the situation (very nice hotel) until we came back and were expected to pay the $220 for the energy bill (they had to dry stuff overnight so a high powered machine was on 24 hours for a week) —JohnathonJosephs

      • Hi JohnathonJosephs (Deirdre from the rental office here): We will typically reimburse you for the increase in electricity cost for the dehumidifier running. We just ask that you bring your bill in along with another 2 so that we can verify the increase in cost.

      2011-09-05 23:35:33   I lived here for two years and it was amazing! A bit pricy but you definitely get what you pay for: you're right next to campus and you get great servicing on any issues about maintenance. The easiest way to get a spot here is to find someone (through uloop or something) who is renewing the lease and needs to fill in spots, instead of the lottery system. —MarisolG

      2012-08-22 22:43:02   So glad I'm only subleasing here. It's small, overpriced, and poorly lit. The washers are obnoxiously small, parking is inconvenient, and tenant are loud. I locked my keys in the apartment and called their emergency number; they said "You'll have to call a locksmith." What's considered an emergency, then? Being held at gunpoint? And if your tenants are paying over $700 a month for your cramped apartments, you can at least try to help resolve an easily fixed problem. The subleasing process was a hassle, too. They specifically wrote on the sublease form that the original tenant was not to give me his access card. Then, I go to the office, and they acted shocked that he hadn't given me his access card... Sure, it's close to campus, but that's about the only pro I can think for this place. —Bohemian

      * Dear Bohemian, We're sorry to hear of your frustrations with the sublease process. While management authorizes subleases agreements, each sublease is an agreement between tenants so the way that keys and things are given differs from contract to contract. We apologize for any miscommunications that happened during your move-in process. As for the emergency maintenance line, it is an outside service that we contract to help handle emergency maintenance issues occurring after office hours—sudden water leaks and that type of thing. We typically give a hand out at move-in that goes over which service to call for different types of after hours issues. Your roommates probably have a copy, but please feel free to come into the office if you need another one or have any questions about after hours help. We're sorry you got off to a bumpy start here and we'd like to do what we can to keep you happy for the duration of your stay.

      Best, The Colleges at La Rue Management (NikiRose)

      2013-02-19 22:48:41   I highly recommend this apartment if you can win the lottery to get a room. I saw some other guy giving reasons as to why NOT to live at the Ramble on the other DavisWiki page, and I felt that was the best way of telling people about an apartment. Thus, I'll give my reasons why the colleges at La Rue are GOOD.

      1. Good management. There's about 3 people I've seen regularly in the office. They're always courteous, and always answer your questions politely. Me and my roomates once forgot to turn in the rent by the 3rd day of the month, and were let down about the $10 late fee. When I went to the office to turn in the checks though, one of the managers told me that the checks would be cashed on Friday, and that we wouldn't have to worry about the fee. Real nice people.

      2. Packages and mail have a good system. There isn't an email notification system like in the dorms, but the office leaves a note and a key in your mailbox to unlock a bigger box that holds your package (if its small enough, otherwise you pick it up inside the office). I check the mailbox regularly anyways, so it works well for me. I've actually found that when the office is closed, UPS delivers straight to my apartment doorstep, which is pretty convenient.

      3. The area is very quiet. I think I might've read something that people wrote about this place being loud because it's next to a daycare center. Though I do see those kids when I'm biking out to campus, the noise doesn't really leak into my apartment. To be fair though, I live in the middle section of the complex. But other than that, the complex is really quiet most of the time.

      4. Lots of study centers (with bathrooms inside). The study centers are nice places to go when you get tired of working at a desk. I'm not sure if my fellow residents are naturally clean, or if janitors clean it up regularly. Either way, I don't see trash lying around the study buildings.

      5. Plenty of laundry areas and machines. I usually don't have trouble doing laundry, as long as I don't procrastinate until Friday, or the weekend. Even during those days though, there's bound to be empty washing machines and dryers around the different laundry rooms.

      6. Excellent maintenance. The microwave in my apartment broke, and I sent a request for it to be fixed. I think it was literally the next day that a bunch of guys knocked on the door and brought in a completely new microwave. That was pretty cool.

      7. Good water pressure and temperature quickness. The water doesn't tinkle on you like those at the Ramble (According to another guy's review). The sink has a powerful faucet, good for cleaning dishes. It usually doesn't take too long to get hot water either.

      8. Free, high speed internet. The speed of the internet is good enough that you don't need comcast or any additional cable services. I'm able to stream 720p videos on youtube without any trouble, I'm not sure what other benchmarks would be useful. The MBPS fluctuates depending on how many people are using it, since it varies on the usage from people in the entire building. I've never had trouble with internet disconnecting or anything like that.

      9. Regular landscaping/grass cutting. This one isn't a big deal, and I don't know whether this is standard for apartments. I just like the fact that the grass is always nicely trimmed, and the leaves are routinely swept up during fall.

      10. Excellent pricing (for me at least). I pay $316 a month to share a living room with another guy. The third roomate has the bedroom to himself. We have the normal 1x1 flat. ($316+$316+$438 = $1070). Honestly I think this is a killer deal, but I'm probably more space efficient than most people. I was worried that the management wouldn't like us cramming 3 people into a 1 bedroom apartment, but they gave us all room keys, and key cards. We only got 1 mailbox key, but I don't see that as much of a problem. We just keep it on the shelf in the living room. —ElliotsYoung

      2017-06-06 21:02:37   Summer sublease June 24th through August 30th. Shared room $800 for everything (more if you want your own room)!! Air conditioning all summer no cost - to you!! Right across from campus, front building next to La Rue Road and across from Rec Pool/Outdoor adventures. May include bed and desk for extra. 530-665-9645 —bchick

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