<p>Hi All,</p>
<p>Whitis Court is where i'll be living in if i join FIG (freshman interest group) @ UT Austin.
What are some of your opinions about FIGs and Whitis Court dorms?</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>that FIG is a very good way to get a good dorm room, if you happened to apply late.</p>
<p>FIGs in general are not as big as UT makes them out to be. you have a meeting once a week, they bring you food (donuts, pizza, whatever), and bring speakers in for entertainment/education/advice. </p>
<p>they're an easy way to make some quick friends in your major, and the hour a week (maybe a little more, but probably not, for residential) probably couldn't be spent in many better ways. if you ever have a test or another engagement, the meetings are somewhat optional and nobody will bite your head off for not coming.</p>
<p>Whitis Court is a great place to live. Small communities with living rooms. Great place to make new friends.</p>
<p>A few questions about ResFIGs that I hope someone can help with...</p>
<p>First, about how many students are in each ResFIG? </p>
<p>The online brochure at <a href="http://www.utexas.edu/ugs/fig/pdf/2008_fig_brochure.pdf%5B/url%5D">http://www.utexas.edu/ugs/fig/pdf/2008_fig_brochure.pdf</a> says that ResFIG participants live in both Whitis and a portion of Duren. How is it determined which ResFIG students live in Duren and which live in Whitis?</p>
<p>If you sign up for a ResFIG, let's say the one that's open only to College of Communication admits called "COM-N-SENSE", does that mean all of the other students in COM-N-SENSE are in your same house at Whitis, or are all the ResFIG students dispersed throughout Whitis and the portion of Duren?</p>
<p>Thanks in advance for any info/insights.</p>
<p>The other advantage of the FIGs is that there will be the same 30 or so kids in two of your courses. Very nice for people who arrive at UT wanting to meet new friends. In the fall there is the weekly seminar. In the spring, the group does a community service project together. Very nice.</p>
<p>It is my understanding that everyone who is in the same Res FIG group lives in the same dorm. Only some of the FIGs are residential. Some are based on your college and major. Check the link to the brochure on this web page.
College-based</a> FIGs - First-Year Interest Groups
brochure:
<a href="http://www.utexas.edu/ugs/fig/pdf/2008_fig_brochure.pdf%5B/url%5D">http://www.utexas.edu/ugs/fig/pdf/2008_fig_brochure.pdf</a></p>
<p>I was forced into my FIG by my mother (do the FIG or don't go to the UT option), but honestly my FIG (non-residential) this past semester was AMAZING. I'm bummed that my particular FIG doesn't continue into the second semester. It's really nice to see familiar faces in several of your classes, even if you aren't the best of friends. However, I know of plenty of people who ended up not liking their FIG much. The extra weekly hour is pretty pointless in some aspects, but I looked forward to seeing most of my friends (and it happened to be conveniently placed after one of our classes). To me, it's just one of those instances where I believe a good majority of it is putting effort into it to get something good out.</p>
<p>Thanks, MidwestMom and ortaluce. It does seem like a FIG (and in particular, a ResFIG) would be helpful in making UT feel like a smaller school. I probably won't force my daughter to do one, but <em>really, really encourage</em> her to do one. I think kids at a huge school like UT need some kind of "anchoring" group so they'll feel part of a community, whether it's a FIG, a Greek organization, an honors program or some other kind of group.</p>
<p>Also, Whitis is a nice place to live, with its courtyard and smaller buildings, and proximity to Kinsolving, the Communication bldg and the Drag. Kinda far away from Gregory and the workout facilities, but that's ok.</p>
<p>One other question... That weekly hour you referred to, ortaluce, is that graded at all, or is it more of a social hour? </p>
<p>Thanks again!</p>
<p>The weekly hour is not graded, it is a social hour mixed with helpful tips to succeed at UT (how to cope with stress, how to study effectively, etc.)</p>
<p>And, Whitis is a nice place to live (I live in Duren next door and lots of people I know are there). Kinsolving cafeteria is definitely nice to be next to (as opposed to Jester's J2), and the location is nice right next to the drag. Gregory isn't that far away in a way, I think of it as a warm-up =). If your daughter goes to the gym a lot, I found it beneficial to renting a gym locker each semester since I lived on the opposite side of campus. Frequently, I find myself on that side of campus wanting to go to the gym, and it's a real convenience to store all my stuff in the locker.</p>