<p>Time has come to start thinking about dorm selection and I'm not too sure what should be my "Top 5." Anyone have any idea on how to narrow down the choices?</p>
<p>San Jac has nicest location+room quality, but Duren is the newest but farthest away from jester(where most people live). I have lived here for a semester, and really haven't been anywhere else other than San Jac(where I live), Duren, Jester, and Kinsolving(best food). Duren has good location if you go to the drag often, and is next to Kinsolving(girls only dorm) which is good for food. Jester is the most social compared to the others Ive seen by far, but the rooms are smaller and its definitely more loud than San Jac.</p>
<p>Honors Quad is nice if you're in one of those programs. San Jac and Duren are like nice hotels. The pictures on the website simply don't do them justice. </p>
<p>Jester smells like pee, but again is "social". </p>
<p>If you're looking for quiet and personable, the Waller Creek dorms (Moore-Hill, Prather, and Roberts) are nice.</p>
<p>Jester is really social, and although it smells a little weird, is definitely the most social. You'll find tons of freshmen there. It's location is very good, as long as your not in communications.</p>
<p>San Jac is usually an upper-classmen dorm, and it's on the bottom of a hill, but it's good. Probably the best one.</p>
<p>The Honors Quad has a great location, but the dorms are some of the oldest buildings on campus.</p>
<p>If you want to look off-campus, Towers is good, but about 5 blocks away from UT. The Castilian is all right. Dobie is really nice, and right on campus (although technically it's privately owned).</p>
<p>If you're male, Towers.</p>
<p>Females: Hardin House
2nd best = Scottish Rite</p>
<p>And everything else is not even close in ranking.</p>
<p>^why towers? just wondering =]</p>
<p>Towers is the party dorm. IF you are into that, go for it. Dobie is a pretty big party dorm as well but it's quiet at the same time. That may be confusing but Dobie is a nice place for alot of different types of people.</p>
<p>San Jacinto and Duren are definitely the nicest on campus dorms. Jester really is not worth living at in my opinion. Its not nice and you can just go to parties there if you want to, even if you don't live there.</p>
<p>Yes. From what I've jeard, Jester is great to chill at, but not so nice to live in.</p>
<p>If you want to get the Jester experience without the nastiness, pick San Jac.</p>
<p>Duren is the newest, but also the farthest from Jester, so it has a "quiet" reputation. However, it's near the Honors quad, Kinsolving, Littlefield, and Whitis Court so there are plenty of people nearby. It's also close to the drag, the private dorms, and West Campus, so you won't be shut out of fun entirely, just maybe some room parties at Jester and living in close proximity to 2500 other people.</p>
<p>The private dorms are usually nicer and have better food, but also have reputations as party dorms (except for Goodall Wooten). They really aren't any further from most classes and life on campus than the "Men's" Dorms (the ones further east such as San Jac, Jester, Prather, and Moore-Hill).</p>
<p>Towers is the biggest party dorm. Dobie is a party dorm as well, but I've heard they really just party with each other and not with people from outside Dobie. The two all-girls private dorms are also nice, and are close to Towers and the other private dorms.</p>
<p>For on campus dorms, it depends what kind of experience you want. If you want to get to sleep at 9 PM on weeknights, Jester is not the place for you. If you want to stay up all night on weekends, then Jester is definitely the place for you.</p>
<p>^hey so if im not a party type crunk and wild person.. like I just to hang out at places with other people
probably study at night and what not (since I'm aiming for med school)
I should probably go to Duren?
anywhere else that's quiet with a lot of people around?</p>
<p>Goodall Wooten is pretty quiet as well, and has a few people. But they don't have any food service, so you'd have to pay a higher price using Bevo Bucks at each meal or else survive on Ramen and fast food.</p>
<p>Hookemhorns probably says that about Towers for guys and Hardin House or SRD for girls because they are in west campus and predominately greek, and if that's something you're interested in, then that is a good place to live. Most of the guys that my son knows who live in Towers are in fraternities, most of the girls at Hardin House or SRD are in sororities. That may also be why Towers has the "party" reputation.</p>
<p>I had heard that Towers was the "party dorm" so didn't want my son living there, but the guys he wanted to live with were set on Towers, so there he is. After having my son there this past semester, I would recommend it to others. He has really enjoyed it and has done great academically, pulling a very high GPA while pledging his fraternity and playing a sport. It's all about time management and compartmentalizing. </p>
<p>IMO, if you have a mindset that you are going to succeed in college, you find a way to make that happen, whether it be by carving out a part of your day to go to the library and study, or by shutting yourself in your room to get work done. Conversely, if you are there just to party and have a good time, you're going to do that, no matter what dorm you live in.</p>
<p>Location, amenities, food service, price - those are the things I would look for in choosing a dorm.</p>