For those who have current UT students or recent grads… how does Dobie or similar compare to On Campus? Do you think it’s important for the ‘UT Experience’ to live on campus somewhere like Jester your first year to meet people and make friends? Any advise on dorms for freshmen if so?
My son is a freshman and lives off campus in the Castilian. He is very happy there, and will live there again next year… Spends some $ eating meals with his friends at Jester, but we are ok with that. Many freshmen live in the off-campus dorms, and make friends there. For my son, his friend group is mostly people in his major/college, most of whom live on campus this year but a couple live at his off campus dorm.
@2TXkids, I lived in Dobie one of the years I attended UT and my husband lived there for 2 years (this was 1995-1997). Obviously, that was a long time ago, but I’ve been on campus several times since then (we still live in Austin) and the last time I was there, I went back to look inside Dobie (since renovated).
I really like it. My daughter is considering it. It’s soooo close that in my mind it might as well be on campus. The rooftop is gorgeous. I didn’t go inside the rooms but I recall them being spacious (way more so than Jester, where my daughter stayed for a camp last summer), and I’ve done the online tour on Dobie’s website and they looked appealing. I recall the food being very good.
The prices are good for what you get. They have a swimming pool and basketball courts. My 15yo son was with me when I popped in and he was all ready to move in 
No, I don’t think anyone at Dobie specifically would feel out of the loop socially. My daughter will likely end up there or in an Honors quad dorm.
I lived at Jester for 2 years in the 1980’s and my older sister applied late for housing so she was at Dobie for 1 year followed by 2 years on campus and then a final year off campus. My oldest son is currently a junior and lived at Jester for 1 year before moving to an off campus condo. We went to Explore UT with my younger kids and my sister who lived at Dobie, the Spring before my son started at UT. We took the tour of Dobie that Saturday of Explore UT. Their security didn’t seem as tight as on campus dorms since anyone could go up the elevators to the rooms but then I guess even though Jester has locked doors that require a card swipe, anyone can follow behind someone who is entering. I thought that Dobie was renovated nicely and when I looked at the numbers, it didn’t make sense that Dobie, with a connecting bathroom, housekeeping and pretty much all you can eat (20 meals a week?) was about the same price as a community bath room at Jester with a limited meal plan (probably 7 meals a week?). I asked my incoming freshman about Dobie and he was set on Jester. Back in my day, Castilian and Dobie were new and popular and pricier than the on campus dorms. It seems that now they are not as popular and not sure if it is location or the inconvenience of having to go back there for meals and possibly less variety of meals - only 1 cafeteria compared to more options for an on campus dorm. When I Googled, it seemed that people complained about dirty hallways and stairways and issues with hot water, a/c and smells. This seemed to be for both Castilian and Dobie but maybe I read old reviews, before the renovation and new management. I don’t personally know anyone who has recently lived at Dobie but have had a few friends’ kids who were/are at Castilian and no big complaints. At least at Castilian, the price can go up, so signing a contract earlier may mean some dollars saved. Socially, my experience at Jester was that there are so many people there, you are bound to meet people (whether you meet them at the dorm) but later you may see people you have met before in the cafeteria. Dobie has less residents and as far as I know, my sister only met her roommate and would eat with people she knew before she lived at Dobie who happened to live there to. But she is not outgoing. The dorm atmosphere my sister described at her years at Blanton and Kinsolving were not at all what I had at Jester. She met lots of people in her hall (particularly at Blanton bc the rooms don’t have sinks) and she said people didn’t even lock the doors to their rooms (this probably doesn’t happen today). At Jester I never met anyone in my hall other than the people right next door. There was never anyone in the halls or bathroom. At Jester we did have resident meetings and activities that I participated in but all dorms likely have that type of thing.
Newbie here. D recently admitted to UT. Knowing how late we are (and that she still has not committed to UT), how do we go about finding all the off-campus dorm options? I’m hoping there is one-stop shopping?
This site could be useful for finding off campus dorms https://www.austindorms.com/
@TexasTrue There is a Facebook group for students: UT housing austin for off campus housing. Lots of facebook groups specifically for students. If you are a Texas Parent for a year or four year membership you can join a closed facebook group which also has a wealth of information.
For women, Scottish Rite Dorm is wonderful. I loved it so much that I lived there all four years. It’s just down the street from Kinsolving.
Is there a specific date by which UT will have sent out all housing contracts? (So the rest of us know to scramble for other housing for Fall 2019!)