Hi all,
My son was admitted for the 2015-16 UT year. He is wanting to major in pre law and hopes to get into Plan ii or Liberal Arts Honors. He has played varsity basketball for the last 4 years and is looking into getting into a fraternity. So, we are trying to find him a good dorm fit; not too wild or big, like Jester. But not too studious where he could be turned off too. What do you all suggest? Possibly a small athletic, smart, community? Hard to find?
Thanks so much!
If you think Jester is too wild… you sure you want him in a fraternity? Ontopic though, San Jacinto is the best dorm in my opinion.
Duren is nice and quiet, but the location favors engineers. The Honors Quad has older dorms but is well located. There are some smaller dorms, including some that are all male. There used to be a website where you could do a virtual tour of all the dorms.
Some of the wildest and craziest kids on campus are Plan IIers. The Honors Quad is a such an interesting place because it combines, extreme intelligence + independence (sometimes for the first time, because it is my experience that a great deal of honors kids get a bit wild at UT because they been helicoptered for years) + too much time on their hands = crazy and wild times.
I agree that Duren is probably the quietest on UT campus but I would not consider Jester to the wildest…not at all.
I also second what yolohyfr said…if you are concerned about “wild” then you need to reconsider the fraternity angle. Sometime parents just need to get realistic. Go to Youtube and search UT Round up. (The biggest Fraternity and Sorority event of the year) My daughter is in sorority and I have a really open mind and frankly my mind was a bit blown. My daughter is also Plan II and swears that Plan II kids drink more than her sorority sisters and do crazier things…just her opinion.
Yes, when I was at UT, I discovered that engineering students can be big partiers, too! I enjoyed college, probably too much. 
All of you have great points. Thanks!
My son lived at Jester and was just fine. He didn’t know to sign up for housing, so had no other choice. It was not wild, but he did have some stuff stolen in the hall bathrooms while he was in the shower.
My son is a sophomore mechanical engineering student and is living in the Honors Dorm for a second year last year, Blanton last year and Carothers this year). It has been a fantastic place to live - clean, beautiful and close to his classes. The community in the Honors Dorms is pretty close knit and my son is really happy with the group of friends he has made. I would love it if he stayed another year, but he and three other buddies from the dorm will be sharing a house off campus next year.