<p>My daughter will be attending TAMU this fall and tried applying a few weeks ago for on-campus housing, but they closed housing applications for women on March 9th because they were full. Although they say they "may" reopen in May or June, there are no guarantees. Thus, we need to find off-campus housing for her. </p>
<p>Since she'll be a freshman and coming from out-of-state (California), we really want her in a dorm with meal service, activities, etc). We visited the campus last summer but didn't look at off-campus dorms because we assumed she'd get into on-campus housing. We won't have a chance to visit the private dorms before applying for one of them, so it's going to be sight unseen and need to rely on what the dorm management sent to us and opinions/comments we can find online. We've looked at the websites for Callaway, Traditions and Cambridge and also got pricing for all 3 of them. Based on the threads I've read here, all of them have their pros and cons (good/bad, quiet/noisy, clean/dirty, etc.).</p>
<p>The pros and cons that we have about each of these dorms are:
- CALLOWAY: Pros - great security, close to campus/bus line, and fairly quiet (except for the railroad tracks). Cons - bunk beds are the only option for a 2BR/1BA shared, lots of traffic, currently a wait list for a 2BR/1BA shared (but will probably clear), very Greek (sororities/fraternities - my daughter isn't too sure yet if she's interested in Greek life.)
- TRADITIONS: Pros - closest private dorm to campus, convenient (to shopping, restaurants, etc.). Cons - poor security, floor plans only include a bedroom & living room - no kitchenette like the other 2, not well kept in terms of cleanliness and maintenance, and noisy/lots of partying.
- CAMBRIDGE: Pros - newest/cleanest of the private dorms, good floor plans, lots of resident activities. Cons - furthest from campus (must take the bus or get a ride plus more difficult to easily hang with on-campus friends).</p>
<p>My daughter is a straight A student, has high morals and ethics, and is not into drinking or drugs. Although shes very serious about her studies, shes also a social butterfly and enjoys having fun and hanging out with friends. Given the pros and cons of each dorm as well the info about my daughters personality, we would appreciate any insight you can provide us with as to which of these dorms would make the most sense for her. Thanks so much!!</p>
<p>i think any of them will provide the same thing socially. of the three i like cambridge the best.</p>
<p>tradition is close to campus and the bar scene.</p>
<p>callaway is over on the side where they have built a gazillion apartments in the last 10 - 15 years and the traffic and congestion is crazy. over where the cambridge is, there is still plenty of student housing, but not so much like over by callaway.</p>
<p>callaway is really close to the rec center and kyle field.</p>
<p>since cambridge is on the bus line, it is really easy to hop on and go to campus, but if your daughter doesn’t live on campus, she will most likely make friends with people where she lives.</p>
<p>everyone at a&m uses the buses. it doesn’t even make sense to drive and park.</p>
<p>cambridge is closest to sorority houses if she is interested in that.</p>
<p>if it was my kid and i was choosing an off campus dorm, i would choose cambridge.</p>
<p>my kid is living in an apartment complex. you can do that too if you want. they lease by the bedroom so you don’t have to come with roomies you already know. no meal plan though. some even have a lot of planned activities sort of like a dorm. </p>
<p>cambridge is closest to sorority houses if she is interested in that.</p>
<p>Thanks Mike. I appreciate your candid feedback. My daughter has gone back and forth with which one to select, but I don’t want her to wait much longer, as Callaway already has a waiting list for all room types. I really wished that she would have been able to get into on-campus housing, but since that’s not a very promising option, we need to make a decision soon. Cambridge is 3rd on her list, but primarily due to the distance from campus; she loves everything else about it. Decisions, decisions, decisions . . . . Thanks again!</p>
<p>idk how many dorm beds there are on campus … maybe 10,000? wherever she ends up, there will be plenty of students (the other 40K students) and easy access to campus unless she lives at one of the apartments that are not on the shuttle route. and as places go, it is really not far from campus, just not as close as the other two.</p>
<p>My daughter applied to the leadership learning community. She was accepted and they reopened housing for her in May of last year since she had to live on campus for the community. Maybe, it is an option to consider. They are required to participate in activities and two one hour classes. However, overall it has been a good experience for my daughter. She lives in Aston in the Commons (south side dorms).</p>
<p>My son lived at Traditions and liked it fine. He got tired of the food around midterm, but the living accommodations were great. People say “it’s by the BARS!” but it’s also by all the restaurants and some stores…it’s not like she HAS to hang out in bars if she lives there. It’s also very convenient to the engineering buildings and just down the street from A+ tutoring.</p>
<p>Since she’s coming from OOS I would recommend she attend Fish Camp to make a core group of friends before school begins. If you want more info good “TAMU Fish Camp” or PM me. S1 is a counselor and I think it’s a great program!</p>
Here’s the link: http://fishcamp.tamu.edu Both of my OOS students went. It is both fun & really serves a purpose to help connect you with other freshman & a few upper classmen too. You learn traditions, yells, learn some dances, ask questions & most importantly find a small group that gives you scheduled opportunities to get together the first few weeks of school while you are finding your way. I’d highly recommend it - it is not mandatory nor academic. The other group they have is called impact which also has religion involved in a similar format. You can attend one, both or neither. Mine could not fit impact into their schedules, but knew many who have gone to it and enjoyed that as well.