<p>I'm an incoming junior at UT looking for housing. I did the whole dorm living thing this past semester at my current university and enjoyed it. Met ton's of new people, did wonders for my sex life (LOL), but my academics seriously suffered as a result. Jester seems like a a great place but I'm extreme apprehensive about spending $600 to park my vehicle. That is just absurd.</p>
<p>I really want to take school seriously the next year but I also want to have a decent social life as well and I feel off campus living will provide that balance. The Co-Ops look nice because 1)they're cheap 2) parking is cheap. I've been looking specifically at the super co-op since it's newer and more modern so I'm wondering if anyone can comment on it.</p>
<p>P.S.
Also if I do decide to live off campus, will the financial aid office reduce my package? I'm expecting around 7k in grants each semester and my tuition is already covered separately.</p>
<p>bump because i’d like to know if financial aid is different if you live on campus vs off campus</p>
<p>and advice to the OP…depending on your major…taking school seriously might mean A LOT less of a social life.</p>
<p>moving off campus might benefit you because then you’ll have to actually leave to go to class earlier instead of waiting till the last minute to go
or…you could always show up to class late lol</p>
<p>and lol on dorm living increasing your sex life very nice sir.</p>
<p>Lol Locness I know exactly what you mean. I was a commuter the first year at my current school and I woke up every morning early so I could cook, get ready, etc. Back then I made it to class on time all the time. </p>
<p>Now that I’m living on campus I literally wake up 5 minutes before class and walk there, it’s made me so lazy, but yes the sexual activity has been quite nice though. The only thing attracting me to Jester at this point is freshman hoes, but I don’t know. Is it really worth that much money?</p>
<p>Talk to meee if you want to know about co-ops.
I have lived at a co-op for almost a full 12 months now. </p>
<p>And that you’re looking at the super co-op is good.
Hurry though, because contracts have been available for a few weeks now. I know people who are on waitlists now. </p>
<p>LAWL at the sexy timez remarks. FYI, a co-op is NOT a brothel, no matter how loose some of us might seem (not much more than the average college student) are and how hippy most of us are. xD</p>
<p>Please DON’T move here just because you think it’s cheap. Living in a co-op means BEING cooperative and we all work together to make things run. Some people cook, some clean, some garden, etc. If you slack too much, you can get evicted.</p>
<p>The super co-op is good for upperclassmen and graduate students. Myself, I’m from a smaller more older building that runs more parties and such, but to each his own. I’ll probably go to a more studious one for 2013-2014.</p>
<p>Dorms would suck after freshman year IMO. They’re too…confining and maybe that’s what some people need. Especially a freshman who’s just out of their parent’s house. You know, it’s really safe and clean, but there are many rules (all intended for safety). Still, if you want freedom for students by students, then co-op is a way to go, but you work too. Yep.</p>
<p>It’s loads of fun though. I’m about to be a junior and I’m moving into the craziest, most rad co-op of them all, but I know I can handle it academically. After that though…it’s off to a small ICC co-op to chain myself to physics and chemistry for my second degree.</p>
<p>Ask me more and I’ll give you my opinion!
:D</p>
<p>Thanks Sasha for your insight. I am more intrigued I must admit. Can I get any specific opinions on the super coop? Have you had any experiences there?</p>
<p>Would you recommend it? How were the meals? How is the 24 hour kitchen? Woulc you recommend the super coop over a dorm like jester?
How was the party scene and did you make a lot of friends?</p>
<p>I would recommend it. The labor isn’t that bad until around finals time where you’re stuck cleaning dishes after 70 people have eaten when you really would rather study. ;)</p>
<p>The food was awesome. But it depends on who writes the menu (that’s one of the labor jobs) and who is the person in charge of the group cooking dinner for that night. I was lucky when I lived there since the guy I made dinner with knew a lot about food. </p>
<p>The kitchen is nice (might differ between coops). The appliances are like what you’d see in a restaurant. You can go and make food whenever you want but certain things are reserved for cooking for meals and you have to clean up after yourself. </p>
<p>I would probably recommend anything over Jester but that’s just me. It’s very close to campus and I think it’s a lot more easier to make friends in a co-op than in Jester. But I didn’t live in Jester freshman year (my best friend did though) so maybe I’m wrong about that? </p>
<p>We had weekly meetings and mandatory “work days” where everyone in the co-op would help do something to improve the place like painting walls or planting flowers. And we’d have co-op outings and watch movies and play games together and study together…basically what you could do in a dorm with your friends except a lot more personal. You probably won’t see the guy down the hall from you in Jester at breakfast, lunch and dinner everyday AND work 3 hours a week with him and so on and so forth. </p>
<p>As for parties…It’s not crazy or hardcore. We’d have some parties in the kitchen/dining area and sometimes the co-ops would get together and do something big on the bottom of the courtyard. I remember the co-ops that are located in houses having way more parties than us. I’m sure stuff might have been happening in people’s rooms but I was a sophomore so I didn’t really pay much attention to it. </p>
<p>Also the people in the office are super nice and they’ll help you out if you have any problems with rent or whatever. </p>
<p>I would just recommend going to visit one day. </p>
<p>And I have no clue which co-op is the best for underclassmen. The one that I lived in had freshmen to grad students.</p>
<p>I too would recommend any co-op over Jester. :p</p>
<p>Look up the various co-ops and contact their Membership Coordinators so that you can go over for a tour and have dinner with them. There you get a feel of what everybody’s like and whether you think you’d fit there or not.</p>
<p>I would say Taos and Pearl Street are good for underclassmen.
I lived at Pearl Street for a year. Parties do get pretty rockin, but they’re spaced out enough so that it’s not all the time. It depends on what you want and what you’re like!</p>
<p>I’ve deleted quite a few bickering posts. Please refrain from more of them.</p>
<p>WorriedAlways, a suggestion for you would be to do a search on THIS forum before posting questions. You will find answers to a lot of them so that people don’t have to post the same info over over.</p>
<p>I will find out if FAQ stickies on college boards are allowed. One potential problem is that CC can’t guarantee the accuracy of every answer. Also, info could become outdated. I’ll look into it, though.</p>