Dobie - Honest opinion

@rach98n definitely will do!

@corpuscristi They promised a $500 gift card and you signed a lease recently? We signed 2 weeks ago and never heard of that. I’ll be calling them tomorrow! Thanks @rach98n !

It was if you tour and sign a lease within 48 hours.

Hey everybody! I was a first year transfer student to UT and lived at Dobie this year and re-signed for next year. My honest opinion: The food was incredibly mediocre, sometimes a little strange. But not terrible, the hours aren’t fantastic for the dining area, but it’s not terrible. The rooms are pretty bleak but Jester dorms are even worse. Everyone generally kept to themselves at Dobie and it was never loud. But, it also had a really low capacity because of the bad reviews. To me, all of the negatives are outweighed by the positive that IT IS SO CLOSE! I was in the PCL (24 hour library) until 2 or 3 am most nights in my first semester and I would have not felt safe doing that if Dobie wasn’t a well-lit and usually busy (yes, even at 2am haha) 4 minute walk away. One time I woke up 15 minutes before class started and was literally able to get to class right on time because of Dobie’s proximity to campus. If you have any other questions feel free to ask!

Also, I heard that if you refer a friend we can both get a gift card (not sure if it’s still happening, but I would really appreciate it if I was able to refer one of you guys. It was like $500 for each of us at one point.)

We never heard back about the gift card despite a couple emails, and we did sign a contract within 24 hours, so I guess we’ll find out at check in. Either way we have a contract so its good to hear @Geekytheatregeek that you liked it enough to come back a second year. Location, location, location! :>

@Geekytheatregeek When you lived at Dobie last year, was that before or after the new management took over? I’m thinking maybe the new management was there but trying to turn things around which they still are. I’m a little concerned about security, though. Dobie doesn’t have a secure door for each floor like Jester does. I didn’t see any security guards. If you have any knowledge on the security aspect of this dorm I’d love to hear about it. Do you mind saying what floor you stayed on? What did you think of the elevators?

Also, your mentioned that it was quiet at Dobie. Were you able to hear people talking in their rooms when you were in the hall? When my D stayed at Jester West for orientation (2nd floor which I think was unrenovated) she could hear people in their rooms talking. I’m hoping the walls won’t be thin at Dobie.

I lived there with the new management. I had a friend that lived at Dobie with the old management and she said that it was absolutely terrible. I saw some new faces in the management office toward the end of the year so I’m wondering if they changed again, but they seemed nice. Dobie does have around the clock security guards and after 10 pm everyone has to show an ID and be checked off a resident list to enter the building and you also have to sign in all guests and they keep the guests’ ID until they leave.

I lived on the 9th floor. The elevators were moderately fast, but I heard rumors that the occupancy was less than half last year so that could be why. There would be occasions where an elevator didn’t work and sometimes they “jump,” but maintenance said that it wasn’t dangerous? I could not hear other people in their rooms ever. I’m not sure if that is because of wall thickness or quiet roommates, but I couldn’t hear anything.

Thank you so much @Geekytheatregeek That was really helpful!

@CorpusChristi I called and spoke with the RA who we signed with and he assured me that he had entered everything into the computer regarding the gift card that day, so we’ll see! I was hoping he’d email me so I’d have something in writing, but I didn’t get that. Regarding security - they have 2 guards at all times. One patrols the garage, etc and one in house. One thing Castillian had that Dobie doesn’t and I wish they did, was requiring key access for the elevator floors, but then I guess anyone could follow you off the elevator.

I went on a tour of Dobie this Spring. I have a son who is starting UT this fall although he did not tour with me. I went with my sister who was a Dobie resident 30 plus years ago when it was considered upscale. I was shocked at the prices compared to the lowest priced on campus dorms. My son wanted to stay on campus and will likely end up at Jester. Although for the price and with a more substantial meal plan, I was thinking Dobie looked good to me. My sister complained of slow elevators even when she stayed there. I read the reviews and they were horrible. Hope Dobie can be restored to some of it’s former glory.