No, those type of apartments are bottom of the barrel by definition, so his roommates were never gonna be winners at life. The Chads, Chadlites and high tier normies probably already knew people in Isla Vista before they even got there via extended social networks, and found a room that way or coordinated to rent a house with friends or future classmates they knew and trusted.
To any normie+ person the Capri student apartments, where ER lived, are a mere stepping stone to something better. Capri was somewhere to crash at night the first 6-8 months while you integrated in Isla Vista life and find a cheaper room in a better situated house with more popular housemates and/or friends. You join a frat or have a social circle that grants you access to better living quarters.
After one or two semesters you need to moved on to that better place. Elliot stayed stuck in Capri. There already was a thread about this elsewhere.