I didn’t see any recent discussion thread on housing. I am interested in reading comments about the housing options for freshmen. Which are the most popular options and why? Which gives the best value for money? Mistakes to avoid? How to interpret the lease terms for off campus complexes? I understand one could write a book on this topic, and probably someone has already done it, but I think there is also room for sharing own experiences.
The majority of the on campus housing is for incoming freshman. Sophomores, Juniors and Seniors do stay on campus, they are not the majority
A lot of people select a dorm based on cost, an LLC (living learning community). Some will select a dorm based on that that was their only choice by the time their room selection time rolls around.
Popular are Hullaballoo and that will likely be full with the auto and academic admits, as their dorm selections times will be earlier than most all review applicants. The dorm assignment time is based off the housing application submit date.
Modular halls are popular. Several of the commons dorms are engineering LLC and they have a brand new commons area with market and all kinds of stuff that opened in Spring. There really isn’t a bad place to be or avoid. It just depends on what you want. All of the floor plans are online and some have a video tour. A lot of freshmen move off campus the next year.
There are two apartment complexes through the university. White Creek and The Gardens and people seem to love them.
My Aggie stayed in a Modular at NSC and he really liked the size and layout. However, he lived in Mosher and they were fine. The rooms are not super spacious but they are not claustrophobic. The commons area is really nice. He moved off campus for this year so I am not familiar personally with the others.
@Thelma2 My son is auto admit and still under Engineering review. We already submitted the housing application after we got the “admitted” letter but have not chosen the residence hall type yet as we will attend Aggieland Info Day next Monday to take the housing tour again. Is it too late to choose now?
@LilyWu Go ahead and put your preferences down. If it works how it used to (housing completely changed last year from the year before, when my son was going through) getting the app in is what was key and you could change our preferences up until a certain date. Listing those 3 preferences is only for reslife to assign you a room, should you fail to log on and do the self selection. That email comes out in late April I believe. Maybe first of May, with your selection date/time.
At the end of the day, for some that get really late admissions,there may only be rooms assigned by the uni as they take students off waiting lists and temp housing.
Thank you for your comments so far. The options on Residence Life website are pretty easy to compare. The rates for the residence halls are surprisingly high per sqft and in many cases you share a room. Are apartments, for example Calloway Villas, popular or are they too far?
@TXPapa Freshman are required to live on campus in the dorms or university apartments at White Creek their first year. Personally, I applied for White Creek after I got my acceptance and all of them have individual bedrooms and in some cases are cheaper than dormitories. I would seriously consider if you or your son want privacy.
@TXPapa @Evon1254 Freshmen are not required to live on campus. @Evon1254, Yes, while rates are high, as a parent, I liked having my student in a dorm (Hullabaloo) his freshman year as it was a good way to assimilate into college life. However, note that on-campus freshman are required to purchase a meal plan and we found these expensive and not always used. Most students move off campus sophomore year. Apartments like Calloway Villas are popular and A&M has a good bus system. My son lived in U Centre (4-person townhouse directly across University Dr.) sophomore year, and is in a 5-bedroom house in Bryan for his junior year.
My bad @lee6666 I misread the website.
Howdy, @TXPapa !
Housing for Freshman can be a difficult choice.
Has your son or daughter ever shared a room for any length of time? Did they like it?
Does your son or daughter really need a certain amount of sleep, are they easily awakened? Are they grumpy?
Do they want to live on campus, near campus or away from campus?
If they want to live off campus, they have to factor in extra time to get to classes.
Does your son or daughter like their own space or do they like being the center of attention?
Is your son or daughter neat or messy, does it matter to them if someone else likes things to be neat or messy?
Are they a picky eater or will they eat almost anything?
Will they have a car available in CStat or will they rely on the bus system?
What is financially possible? We told our girls, you have $X for housing for 4 years of college. If you spend more one year, you will have to economize on other areas. They both chose more expensive options for their Freshman year.
Perhaps have your son or daughter make a list of what they really like and what they really don’t like and what isn’t all that important either way. There are a lot of different options in CStat. If at all possible, visit the places that are high on your list before you make a final decision.
Our family experience:
Our Aggie '16 (Freshman in 2012) lived in Callaway House with one suite mate. That girl’s older brother had lived in Callaway as a Freshman so their family was comfortable with that location. We were clueless and we let our daughter make the decision. She wanted to room with her friend, they were friends at church, from different HS but they had been on mission trips together. The girls had their own separate bedrooms with their own sink, a shared bathroom, living room and an “efficiency” kitchen with only microwave and refrigerator. My daughter had never shared a room other than on mission trips or family vacations, she was very particular about her belongings and was very grumpy in the morning so we did not think that she needed the extra stress of sharing a bedroom for her Freshman year. Callaway House has a cafeteria on the bottom floor. She is a picky eater, at that time she did not eat meat, only fish and some veggies & fruits, but did manage to find something to eat there. And she did try new foods in college that I couldn’t get her to try at home, LOL. We also kept her fridge stocked with micro meals, including homemade frozen meals. We did not have a meal plan of any sort for her, I don’t think that we even knew that it was an option. She did not have an assigned parking space and that was often a source of stress for her.
For her Sophomore year, she lived in her sorority house, in a tiny room WITH a roommate! They met during the first day of recruitment and are still best friends. The sorority house is actually very economical. They lived in a 4 bedroom condo with 2 other sorority sisters for their Jr. year and in a two bedroom duplex for their Senior year.
My current Freshman TAMU Blinn-TEAMer lives in a one bedroom full kitchen apartment in the Northgate area. She wanted a full kitchen because she is an even pickier eater, and likes to cook. So a dorm or Callaway House were not options for her. She does have Dining dollars that I think are mainly used at Chick fil A and Smoothie King! She wanted to be as close to TAMU campus as possible and on the North side to be closer to Blinn, even though she does not have a car up there yet. Parking can be an issue, so get an assigned parking space if living off campus. This daughter also has always had her own room at home. None of the few girls that she knew from HS who were in CStat were people that she wanted to room with and she DID NOT want to be matched up with a random stranger. We thought it would be much less stress for her to just have her own apartment. She also has very particular decorating ideas and would not have liked a bland dorm room. The funny thing is that a couple of her sorority friends often stay with her on the weekends! They have room mates that they need to get away from sometimes (their friends from HS, older sisters, or random matched room mates) so they hang out at my daughter’s place! I was a little worried about her living by herself since she can be messy and I thought that she might be too “alone”, but she seems to have it all figured out. 
She straightens up her apartment before the weekend and loves having her friends stay over. Next year, she will live in the sorority house with one of the girls who stays with her on the weekends.
The leases are always confusing! Since this is a full year lease, our daughter plans to attend at least one of the Summer '18 sessions. And since she was in a single apartment, she was allowed to move in a few days early so that we missed the crunch of “move in day”.
Good luck!
@AggieMomAgain Thanks, lots of good thinking. After checking the various dorm options and the rates, I think I will advice my kid to drop the current plans and get into student housing business.
@TXPapa : I hear you! If we lived closer, I would love to get into the CStat housing rental market! I tried to talk my husband into buying a condo when our oldest daughter was going into her Jr. year, but we really didn’t know then that we would have another Freshman Aggie this year. But it is still on my mind and a good possibility for a retirement house!
Good luck!
Did anyone attend Aggieland Info Day today? We went and tried to tour the southside residence halls but we were told that they could not take us to see the actual room like they did on the northside. And we should be able to take the virtual tour. We just did after we got home but we don’t think the virtual tour is up to date because the southside hall was just remodeled in August 2017. Can someone please fill me in? Much appreciated.