@Flea68 there is a parent page (private) for those that join the Texas Parents Association.
You can find more information about the association here: https://texasparents.org/
Looks like they started sign-up today for incoming freshman parents.
Let me know if you would like any other info.
Welcome & Hook 'em!
One of my twins was accepted early into the RTF program, but the other applied for marketing as her first choice and interior design as her other choice, but was just notified today that she did not get either. So we clicked on the link for our options hoping to get College of Communications and all we got were Liberal Arts options and Undeclared. So she chose undeclared but now I’m wondering if it’s worth the risk of whether or not she’ll get her choice of major next year. (advertising) My twins were both auto accept, as they are in the top 4%.
@dlhamann I am so sorry to hear this, especially since I have junior twin girls and I can see the same thing happening to them next year!
My son was an auto admit (also top 4%) and he also did not get his 1st or 2nd choice majors (he wanted Mechanical Engineering or Electrical Engineering, but got put in Civil). At least he is in engineering, but internally transferring to ME looks tricky and there is a big risk of not getting it. Plus, it’s a lot of pressure because from everything we can find, it looks like you need pretty much a 4.0 to be able to do it. So, I understand your frustration and can only imagine she was probably pretty bummed like my son. He worked so hard to be in the top 6%, so I really did not anticipate him not getting his 1st or 2nd choice. He also has a lot of ECs in things related to ME. He is glad that he is at least already in the engineering school because transferring from outside engineering to ME looks almost impossible. I was really naive, but I will now know better next year for my twins.
I did a search and found this:
https://moody.utexas.edu/prospective/internal-transfer/internal-transfer-eligibility
It looks like transferring into Moody is MUCH easier than transferring into Cockrell, so that seems to be in her favor. My son has been researching old reddit questions of people asking about transferring from one engineering major to another to see if he can learn any tips. Several people have just been really persistent. They go talk to ME professors and admission advisors and anyone they can talk to or bug and pretty much make a nuisance of themselves until they are basically let into their chosen major–I’m teasing and simplifying, of course. I’m sure they also made very high grades too, but sometimes, it helps if they know you are really serious about wanting to be in that program. I’m sure she can probably dig up some old threads of people asking this same question.
If she really wants to go to UT and is willing to work hard, I think transferring to Moody is doable (much more so than if she wanted Computer Science or Engineering or McCombs), but if she has better offers somewhere else and she is not gung ho on UT, she might want to go somewhere she is certain she can study the major she wants. Comes down to which does she want more, UT or Advertising? She can still have both, but there is an element of risk/uncertainty to her major at UT. Can she live with that? My son will probably go to UT and try to transfer to ME despite the risk/uncertainty. UT has always been his #1 and if he had gotten either of his major choices, it would have been a slam dunk, but now he is considering some of his other options–He’s in at Purdue and Illinois (for ME). He is also in at A&M, but he does not want to go there. He is waiting on a few other schools (Michigan–deferred and probably won’t get in at this point, but they haven’t denied him, Cal, UCLA and Duke, all of which are varying degrees of long shots). If he had gotten ME at Texas, I don’t think he would have even considered going to his reach schools (IF he got in), but now he has to really consider Purdue and Illinois given how hard it is to internally transfer in Cockrell.
@Flea68 I finally forced myself to leave the TAMU groups and also had daughter decline her TAMU admission last night. Bummer because I’m class of '94 at TAMU ;). I believe with the $60 membership in the Texas Parents Association there is a Facebook page.
@Boogie818 Dobie looks awesome and such a surprise at the price difference in the private dorms vs. on-campus. My daughter will be in Castilian because of friends there, but I can see her doing Dobie next year, esp. with the apartment feel of their suites.
International applicants when do we expect our decisions? Tomorrow the 6th or Monday the 9th?
Monday the 9th would be my guess
I just received my decision. I am international.
I looked into it (Dobie) several months ago, but the reviews scared me away. Star ratings from several different sites seem very low. Anyone have any thoughts on it?
My sister lived at Dobie in the 1979-1980 and back then it was considered luxurious and was pricier than on campus. She spent the following 2 years at on-campus dorms (Kinsolving and Blanton) and I was on campus for 2 years after that in Jester West. I toured Dobie in the Spring of 2016 after renovations before my older son was going to start at UT. I could not understand how the price could be a bit less for what seemed like so much more - nicer room with a connecting bath with housecleaning and a full meal plan. My son was not interested. Said no one liked to live there. I personally know kids of friends who have lived at the Castilian but no one I personally know has lived at Dobie. For the year my younger son will be a freshman, the price difference is about $5K between the cheapest campus owned housing and Dobie. That is a big difference but this son is not interested either. The reviews are a bit scary and the complaints from when I read them (2016) talked about security concerns, messy areas like stairwells and stuffiness in the rooms and halls. They say the “bones are old” even though the building renovations look good. Seems that there were plumbing and air circulation issues. The on campus dorms other than Duren and San Jac are old too but I guess UT has more money to get issues fixed? I have heard of complaints of no hot water at times for Jester residents but my son never complained about those types of issues. Also food complaints and you have to walk all the way back to the dorm to eat but for the $5K price difference you can buy a lot of meals away from Dobie. People complain about the on campus dorms too and it seems that the only place in very high demand is Calloway House but the $18,570 (cheapest option) makes it out of budget for my son.
@parentof3kidsparentof3kids Thanks for the info. Some of the reviews did scare me also. The one about students stuck in the Elevator and it took a long time until they got out was what stop me from continue to consider Dobie. It seem like it has happened several times. For the first year, I want my son on campus, and near McCombs. For our Housing option, it will be either BPR or Jester. We are leaningctowards Brack since he wanted a quieter area, but close to McCombs, Jester, and Gregory Gym. On all the sites, everything is about 50/50 on reviews of the dorm. Just got to get a feel of what is best for your child and his personality.
Any thoughts on Jester (East or west) or Kinsolving for my friendly OOS psychology D? She’s big on activities and friendships, but also values a little down time from parties.
Oh, I think I recall my sister complaining about slow elevators. What about Moore Hill? We have friends whose sons lived there for 3 years. My son lived at Jester West Community Bath in 2016-2017 and says he recommends that to his younger brother. My younger son has I think narrowed it down to somewhere in Jester or the Honors Quad. I lived on the 3rd floor in Jester West and hardly used the elevator. My older son was much higher up (12th?) but he never complained. He’s not much of a complainer though. I recall walking up to a friend’s room on the 8th floor from the 3rd floor and that was tiring.
I understand. I actually called and talked to them for a long time and took notes. It seems that most of the issues that were mentioned in the reviews were things that were in the process of being renovated. They also assured me that the elevators have been completely replaced, and the menu is updated and improved upon regularly (two concerns I had).
For the price difference, I was willing to give it a shot. I read some reviews about Jester as well and truthfully couldn’t really find anything about it that would convince me it was better. Kinsolving is all girls so that wasn’t even and option and I wasn’t willing to pay for San Jacinto or Duren when they aren’t going to offer even as much as Dobie does.
I’m crossing fingers and hoping for the best. I’m also keeping in mind that when it comes down to it, it is a DORM and is not meant to be the lap of luxury- LOL.
For whatever it’s worth, I read reviews for Castilian too and they were just about as bad as the ones for Jester…
@UT2024 We were at a BHP admit event a couple of weeks ago and the UT rep said that it didn’t make a lot of sense to pick a dorm freshman year based on proximity to McCombs because business majors take so few classes in McCombs their first year. I think BHP only has two classes one the first semester and one the second. For regular mccombs there are no business classes the first semester and there are two the second. That means out of 10 classes, all freshman business students only have two housed at mccombs.
My older son, an engineering major, lived at Jester West his freshman year and one of his classes was actually at the Jester auditorium. Really the campus isn’t that spread out. As a freshman, my furthest trek was from Jester to my calculus class in one of the engineering buildings and that walk took about 10 minutes. This of course was walking from my 3rd floor room at Jester (no elevator involved). If you needed to use an elevator that might add an extra 5 minutes.
[quote=“Boogie818, post:1253, topic:2049530”]
Please keep us informed about Dobie on this thread. If things change, we may consider for next year. The reviews are hard to go by. Every dorm seems to be 50/50 on reviews, so a lot of it is based on the student’s likes.
@Saccomander and?
Did any international applicant receive their decision yet?
Got accepted to McCombs yesterday International student from south korea