<p>What's the best off campus private dorm? I've done some research about Dobie, UT Towers, and the Castillian, and have read a lot of mixed reviews for them. Which is the best? Are these better than on-campus dorms? What's your experience with dorming your freshman year? A quick summary of each would be great! </p>
<p>I lived in Dobie my first two years and currently live in 26 West. I cannot speak for UT Towers or the Castillian. There are three elevators for the 26/27 (can’t remember) floor dorm and it probably took me 5 minutes on average to get from my floor (the 24th) to the bottom when going to class starting from when I pressed the down arrow which is pretty bad. One elevator broke every other week. Residents on the bottom 5 floors were asked by their RA to just take the stairs. The food in the cafeteria is pretty mediocre and costs something like $7 or $8 per entry which is a lot to me. There’s a food court down below with a subway, pizza place, mexican, chinese, and some other stuff. The beds were not that comfortable. My room did have a spectacular view of campus, though. Maybe half of the rooms get a view of the campus and the other get to see whatever is south of Dobie. The parking was overpriced so I never had a car. I was in a corner suite which was a nice size. The walls in the bedrooms were not particularly good at preventing noise from adjacent rooms. The gym was fine for cardio but you’ll want to take the 5 minutes walk to gregory for anything else. It was probably a 7 minute walk to Welsch and 12 min walk to RLM which is an area where a lot of classes are. Hope this helped.</p>
<p>@SadHippo wow thanks so much for your reply! I was really considering Dobie, but your description makes me reluctant… Should I just live in one of the on-campus residence halls?</p>
<p>I would tell you to consider the Callaway House, but I think they’re already resorting to a waitlist for new applicants. From what I’ve heard though, it’s the best off-campus housing by far.</p>
<p>Anyone know if it would be possible to get a studio for <600 in North Campus or a room and private bathroom <550? It would be great if it’s no more than a 15 minute bus ride(this is flexible) to UT.
Sorry for posting it in here, I don’t know if I should make a separate post or not.</p>
<p>I haven’t really heard anything good about the off campus dorms. I would personally recommend just living on campus, it’s probably the best quality you can get for a dorm. </p>
<p>Dogshelter, I think you can find housing like you describe, but the rooms are pretty small. North campus is generally quieter and cheaper than West. </p>