<p>Son has been accepted into Engineering, he plans to do Computer Engr. We are OOS international, what would you suggest for selecting a good dorm or is it too late??</p>
<p>Did not know that one had to request for housing before getting accepted.</p>
<p>I have been through some of the old posts but got confused and hence asking for some suggestions so can give the housing deposit asap. Thanks all.</p>
<p>If he never applied I think it’s pretty much too late. But he can still get housing in other places.</p>
<p>Look into apartments. I’m living here next year: Jefferson West. $490 a month for a double in a four bedroom apartment, $665 a month for a single in a four bedroom apartment. The Quarters is okay.
Also look into co-ops.
collegehouses.org - really good for international students. I’d suggest Halstead. </p>
<p>There’s also the UT off campus dorms. The Castilian, Dobie, the Towers. But I have no clue if they are filled or not. </p>
<p>The only problem with apartments are that they are usually 12 month leases so that’s great if you plan on staying for the summers but not so awesome if you are going back home in the summer.</p>
<p>You need to call the Housing office NOW to see if they can help!</p>
<p>It is not too late to apply for housing.</p>
<p>Apply now, pay the $50 deposit, and he’ll get a contract. He’ll be low on the list but he will get a room on campus. If you wait til April or May, you might be getting into “supplemental housing” where you are stuck in a lounge for the first month or semester, but this is early March. He’ll be okay. He’ll probably end up in Jester. </p>
<p>It is too late to “get your first choice” for a popular dorm, but it’s not too late to live on campus.</p>
<p>(When my D was a H.S. senior two years ago, you could apply for housing at 8 am Central Time on October 1, whether you had applied to the University or not. The servers jammed as hundreds of Fall 2008 freshmen tried to get a good spot in the queue.)</p>
<p>Invest the $50 now. There will be another burst of kids applying for dorms around March 31 when they find out more about their acceptances and financial aid at schools that let you know at the end of March and a final burst around May 1 decision day. These are the kids who will end up in supplemental housing (lounge space) for a few weeks or even their first semester.</p>
<p>Also, he can piggyback into a good dorm by finding a roommate (on facebook or through the matching deal that UT runs) who applied for housing earlier. The two file that they want to room together, and the computer uses whoever of two roommates has the best spot in the housing queue to place them.</p>
<p>If you had a daughter, there isn’t much of a worst case scenario for a person who applies in early March. You might get Jester, but hey, Jester is the FIRST choice for a lot of people.</p>
<p>Because you have a son, there is a small chance he would end up assigned to Simkins, the all male dorm. Some would call this the worst case scenario. It is on campus but in an area away from either of the other two groups of dorms; many students don’t want to live in Simkins.</p>
<p>Wow! Wish our GC had told us about this!!!</p>
<p>Midwestmom, So if we apply to off campus like Castilian it is not through the main UT website? </p>
<p>Setphaserstun, is it going to be walking distance to Engineering from co-op and halstead that you have suggested? </p>
<p>Thanks.</p>
<p>You work with the off campus dorms directly. Castilian, Dobie, Towers. (I still recommend on campus, especially this early in the year.) All very close to campus. Castilian is particularly nice for those who have a car; great parking. These are not full yet. They fill later than the on campus dorms. </p>
<p>The coops are probably not ideal for a freshman, but all are in reasonable walking distance of campus. There are two main groups, ICC Coops and College Houses.
[ICC</a> Austin: Affordable Co-operative Student Housing](<a href=“http://www.iccaustin.coop/]ICC”>http://www.iccaustin.coop/)
<a href=“http://www.collegehouses.org/[/url]”>http://www.collegehouses.org/</a>
The web sites show the locations of the houses (and the exceptionally good prices). Halstead is one of collegehouses and is quite nice. Since your son has a cosmopolitan international flair 
from living outside the U.S., he might like Taos coop, also one of collegehouses. It is so close to campus, it is like being on campus, and 1/3 of the residents are international students.</p>
<p>Oh, and the bookstores are also called The Coop - not to be confused with the coop housing. The main bookstore is on the drag, Guadalupe, and there is another “branch” of the Coop toward the northeast corner of campus.</p>
<p>Once you have paid the housing fee, how do you designate what Dorm preferences you want?</p>
<p>You can do this after you get your contract. The deadline for making your rank choices is not til summer, so don’t worry about it yet.</p>
<p>How soon do you get your contract?</p>
<p>Yes I agree, it is better to live on Campus for freshman year. Thanks MW mom for such helpful responses. Will have son look at the websites tonight.</p>
<p>dobie and castilian try hard to mimic the on-campus experience. you should consider these as good options for a freshman. both are primarily freshman dorms and both are very nice.</p>
<p>If he lived in Dobie/Castillian would he be able to dine on campus?</p>
<p>Both of those dorms have thier own cafeteria for thier residents so he would eat there…</p>
<p>I do have a question about Bevo Bucks…if you are living in an off campus dorm, can you buy Bevo Bucks separatley?</p>
<p>For what it’s worth, Dobie is basically (located) on campus.</p>
<p>Yes, you can buy Bevo Bucks separately. Log on to the DHFS web site to find out. The Castilian is the closest dorm to the Natural Science buildings. It only takes me around 10 minutes to get to the civil engineering building. If anyone has any questions abou tthe castilian, feel free to ask.</p>
<p>[Bevo</a> Bucks - Bevo Bucks](<a href=“Bevo Pay | University Housing and Dining”>Bevo Pay | University Housing and Dining)
bevo bucks web site</p>
<p>From what I heard from a lot of kids when I visited this past weekend for RoundUp is that a lot of OOS kids tend to live in Towers, not that others don’t live elsewhere, but Towers has quite a few. It’s a private dorm probably 5 blocks west of campus. It’s kind of a party dorm but each room has a living room and bathroom. I plan on living at Towers next year, they’re sick!</p>
<p>Does anyone also know which dorm is closest to the natural sciences buildings? I looked at the map and from what I saw it looked like Duren and Whitis Court are close but I’m not sure??</p>
<p>Son got into Honors at Engineering, so should he live in the honors housing? Are those good? Where do they dine?</p>