<p>How many freshmen actually live on campus and how important is it? My D has always hated the whole camp like living! bunk beds, etc. I would imagine the chances of a dorm room in the new Northside dorm is slim to none! need advice!</p>
<p>Living on campus isn’t that important in my opinion. I live on campus, but a lot of my friends live off campus and they’re doing just fine.</p>
<p>Check the private dorms. They are a little pricier, but they have their own locking bedrooms with shared living areas. Calloway & Traditions are basically across the street from campus. Cambridge is a bus ride away.</p>
<p>I would not rule out being able to get in Northside dorms. Housing applications only opened up just recently. You could still get in. Plus there are some private room options available on campus too.</p>
<p>I did not go to Texas A&M so it is difficult to answer but is it worth $10,000 a year (7000+ meal plan) to live on campus (new dorm/private room) versus being 2 min down road via bus?</p>
<p>Have they posted the cost for the new dorm? I had not seen that. For me, for a first year, I think it’s worth it, but I understand why it might not be for others.</p>
<p>Plus those places down the road aren’t free either! They are much like a dorm in the way they’re set up…includes cable, internet, etc. Meal plan available, etc.</p>
<p>What the cost difference is, I don’t know. And whether or not a meal plan is required, I don’t know. </p>
<p>I would like for my first year to have little to be concerned about except going to class, studying and getting her bearings. She has been pretty sheltered at home, and there are enough distractions at A & M without being concerned about catching a bus, if she has enough in her account for breakfast, being housed in Northgate which is a pretty busy place, etc.</p>
<p>I dunno, I just think it would be better/easier to house on campus the first year with a meal plan until she figures out what’s what, and what she can handle.</p>
<p>Housing for new northside dorms are reveille rates which start at $3500/semester for doubles</p>
<p>Here’s a study from 2010 about housing:</p>
<p><a href=“http://reslife.tamu.edu/download/construction/reshalls/studentHousingStudy022210.pdf[/url]”>http://reslife.tamu.edu/download/construction/reshalls/studentHousingStudy022210.pdf</a></p>
<p>According to the study, in 2010 (meal plan included):</p>
<p>Callaway - $8,250-$12,500
Tradition - $8,950-$13,450
Cambridge - $8,074-$13,978</p>
<p>The new Northside dorms with meal plan (for a non-private room) are $9,598-$11,163 - so it’s pretty competitive, I think.</p>
<p>All the rooms are the $3500/semester rate except for Single/Private, which is $4,750. So if you did the private room, it would jack the rates up to $12,098-$14,263.</p>
<p>Etxcat - I should have mentioned that a LOT of freshmen live off campus and don’t consider living on campus important at all. After all, they DO have the bus system, and there is off-campus housing pretty close by. You just have to weigh it all out and decide what is going to work best for your kid!</p>
<p>My D has several other friends that are going next year and one of them is renting a house. The other one is going to rent a room. There are a lot of options.</p>
<p>depends on your kid.</p>
<p>i am a parent of a junior (another college) and a freshman (blinn). i think it is important to live on campus for one year. it is a chance to get involved, meet new people, do new things, reduce the hassles of living off campus.</p>
<p>older one will live on campus for all four years. she likes the convenience of it. she lived in suite style dorms (like northside) for two years and will live in a sorority house for the other two. she went to a school knowing not one soul, so she has had to learn how to meet people and make friends and get along on her own.</p>
<p>younger one is more like your kid. not thrilled with camp living etc. didn’t get into a&m, so didn’t have the option of a dorm. lives in an apt. with three friends from high school. they hang out almost exclusively with kids they knew in high school. ugh! college is about growing up and figuring out who you are, not just a four year extension of high school.</p>
<p>i say do the dorm for one year.</p>
<p>Living on Campus has been great for my freshman D so far. She did potluck for a roommate and it has worked out really well for her. </p>
<p>She really likes being able to walk to most of her classes and be able to go back to the dorm easily between classes. She said its really nice on gamedays to not have to worry about parking… lol she just can walk to tailgates etc.</p>