Hello!
Texas A&M is such a big school that I find it very overwhelming when it comes to figuring out the dorm and resident process.
I’ve just accepted my offer and applied for residency. Which I got waitlisted for btw, what does that even mean? I paid the deposit…am I guaranteed a dorm?
I’m currently trying to figure out the dorming process…any recommendations on how to find potential roommates?
I AM SO CONFUSED. PLEASE HELP.
Someone else with more knowledge will come in to add more than I can, That said, there will be people who paid their earlier housing application and contract fees when they were accepted. As more schools release their admissions (UT just completed theirs Friday) there will be people who got into UT and will decline their admissions to TAMU. As more people do this, more dorm space will open up.
It would not surprise me if A&M takes all of this into account at the beginning, so they are not as worried about housing freshmen as the freshmen are about getting housing.
There were quite a few kids from our HS last year and the year before who were waitlisted for housing and they all came out just fine. One mom was so worried, she rented an apartment, only for her son to get into a dorm, then she had to find a sub lease.
Register for your NSC, activate your email, make your on campus reservation for your dorm stay during NSC, and look into setting up your bursar refunds, and giving parents access to pay your bills, etc. Your AIS portal should have it but so does your Howdy under your finances tab. If you van’t find the direct pages, google them.
As far as your roommate, I am not sure A&M lets you choose, as other school do, with a roommate matching service. If you know someone you want to room with, I think you can put that on your application. To find a roommate, you might check to see if there is a Facebook Aggie 2020 class. I know a bunch of kids on the UT 2020 FB page were making roommate posts.
The way the dorms work is that you either pick dorm preference or roommate preference. You find your own roommate if you pick that preference, if not the housing department just assigns you to a room. Many take the second option (both my kids did) and it works out fine. If you do not know anyone in particular that you would like to room with, it is the easier option to take. There is no matching service provided - it is random, but seems to work well. If you find a roommate you’d like to room with, the person with the latest housing application date becomes the date for the two of you. That’s why many opt not to find a roommate, and go for dorm preference. You will get a letter in the summer with your new roommate’s contact info and you can arrange who is bringing what and/or any decor ( the decor part happens more often with the girls). IF you are still on the waitlist at that point, you will get another letter letting you know where you stand and your options.
Waitlist means they have a full roster of students that registered for housing. However, due to the policy of priority given to those who register within 30 days there are many who register but will not attend and give up their spots, then the waitlist fills in.
If you are at the very bottom of the waitlist, they put you up temporarily in dorm lounges or 3 to a room until the first week of school. As they confirm no- shows for the dorms. Various reasons include : gateway students (summer probation) that don’t make the grades, rescinded offers of admission, those who opted to not attend but signed up for NSC (that is your way of accepting admission- if you don’t cancel, they don’t know), & those who find alternate housing. The first wave of movement will be after May 1, the national day to commit to your college. People will be making their selections, by that time people have their financial aid packages too & often switch their choices. In a school this large, there are those who just don’t show up for personal reasons too. So there is some movement on the waitlist up to the first two weeks of school. They do house you though, you’re not left without housing.
This school & the surrounding area has lots of housing options. Don’t panic. Some off campus apartments are run like dorms, have roommate matching & even separate billing/leases for every tenant. You do not need a roommate to find an off campus apartment if you desire to go that route. Many of them are individual rooms with their own bathrooms and then a shared common space (kitchen & living room). They are very close to campus &/or on the bus routes for the most part. Some have meal plans too.
As far as NSC goes, you can make reservations for it online. You will be there overnight or two nights if you choose to go to the optional pre-NSC day (we did). You can stay on campus or in a hotel. We did a hotel for both kids. It will be VERY busy, a full schedule and then your evening is spent looking online for classes to register for on day 2. Social time is very limited, so pick which ever option works for your family (dorms are cheaper, hotels IMO are more relaxing). You will be instructed how to add your parents to your account at NSC- there are a few options and how to set up refunds for your account, you don’t need to do that yet. Most parents attend NSC, there is a parent track and a student track - some of it is joint, but they do split you for part of it.
Another cool part of A&M is Fish Camp. It is a fun off campus experience where you meet other freshman before school starts. They teach you the traditions of the school and you get assigned to an upperclassman who helps you with questions & helps you through your first weeks of school. Your fish camp group has a few social meetings during your first week of school, which helps with the transition & a place to get answers for all the where and how questions that come up during your first week. It is optional, but highly recommended. There are several sessions, look for info coming in the mail or online to sign up.
Thank you for the clarification on the bursar stuff (parents getting access) For my other two college kids, we took care of all of that from home. With three different colleges now, they all do it differently.
Let me ask you about dorms. He chose room over roommate. Put his contract in on Nov.6. His two buddies headed to A&M didn;t get theirs done until Jan. His first preference is the engineering learning community. after that, is variations of Hullaballoo. Is there any further he needs to do for the dorm or does he just wait for the letter in the mail, informing him of his dorm location and roommate?
Provided nothing has changed, you just wait now for dorm assignment notification. As long as you have signed up for NSC you’re good to go.
Thanks for all that helpful info! In regards to NSC accommodations, the dates I chose (Aug 22-23) do not have accommodations available on campus for that session. As you mentioned, @AGmomx2, there are hotels to stay at, so how far in advance should I make a reservation?
yesterday… lol . Anyone who had any TAMU experience will make reservations ASAP- rooms go quick here!
@AGmomx2 Will 2 hours ago work?
bravo! You’re becoming an Aggie now! 