Hello! I tried to search for the thread but could not find it?
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Thank you so much for this info! Much appreciated.
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@galgirl123 , try it again. It is working nowâŠ
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Yes Dobie.
Some school decisions donât come until April 1st. My senior falls in this category and is not ready to commit to UT yet.
What do parents do in this situation if housing contract comes in March.
Your child will not get a housing contract until after they have committed to attend.
Contracts are sent out usually starting Mar 1 to students who have committed to attend, and who have the early housing application time stamps. They will hold back contracts for people who have not committed. You will not lose your ability to get a room on campus because you donât commit until May 1.
They usually send out batches of contracts on the 1st and 15th, on Mar 15 they will send to the next group of students who are committed to attend and have the next earliest housing application dates, and knowing who in the first batch chose not to sign their contract by their deadline.
On campus housing has the most flexibility if things go down the covid hole. They have allowed kids out of contracts if all classes are online with no penalty, which is not true of any private dorms. You sign a private dorm contract and you will pay.
I would be surprised if it is too late to get an on campus room, but I wouldnât wait another minute before submitting an application. Prob worth a call to see if they are in a typical spot for volume of applications. There is usually a âre-chooseâ day after all room draws where rooms are released that are not needed for living communities, etc, where there is some movement so all hope is not lost to get a decent spot, but you have to pay attention.
I would not count on getting an honors quad room or space without being in an honors program regardless of how early you sent in application. The policy has changed, probably a few times in recent years so best to call or email housing to ask about next year.
Some opinions:
I would be very leery of Dobie and want to see several rooms in person before signing anything, and find current residents to ask questions about elevators, air conditioning, water, bugs and food.
Callaway is privileged partiers heaven. Yes, reports of vomit, empties, and bodily fluids in the elevators and stairwells on the weekends are true. It is the place for pre, post and during parties, has the lightest amount of supervision, and is very heavily greek. It is probably the most fun, if you can roll with all the above and the price tag. Plan for food and booze money on top of what you are paying.
Castilian is definitely a step down and lipstick on a 1970s pig, but not a horrible option.
Hardin is all girls and has had space late the last few years, donât do it if not absolutely certain to be greek.
SRD is an absolute gem, also all girls, best food, old but super clean, could be too late for next year so youâd have to call to see how long the wait list is. Closer to half greek.
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Back in the day SRD is where parents put their girls so they could dictate a curfew and know boys would never be in their rooms. Is it still like that? I assume not, but I always thought it was a weird set up for ADULT children! My SIL lived there all four years. She was very sheltered. They had great food though.
@noready , a wealth of information! Thanks! Just making sure I understand what Iâve read, roommate selection doesnât occur til like June? So, like if a student is committed and signs a contract in that first batch of March 1 contracts---------Could they wait to choose a roommate who isnât deciding to commit until May 1?
Hahae except my brother who went to UT told me they used to sneak into Hardin anyway!
@noready while some of your comments about callaway are correct, it is not a dorm full of all privileged kids. There are some kids that are low income (I forget what they call it in Austin but it has a certain name there), there are ACC kids, there are forty acres kids and other scholarship kids who use their housing stipends to then live there or who instead have extra money to live there in lieu of tuition, it is heavy Greek but not all Greek, if you sign a contract but donât come you can get out of it, they did also provide substantial refunds last year but it took some fighting to get, you are correct there is a lack of supervision but on the other hand security is tight, and the reports you mention of vomit etc you are reading online from old comments and are not accurate. My daughter lived there last year and never once had any of those issues. She is also not privileged and you donât know everyoneâs circumstances so you shouldnât judge. There are other issues with Callaway as it is not perfect and.people need extra money for food because the cafe food sucks and because they have kitchens in their suites.
This year for regular dorms if you didnât come they were the easiest to cancel though due to covid and on that no ready is correct. Callaway lets you cancel but they still are a hassle about it. They also donât fill so you can wait and get a deal.
Honors dorms are really old also. My daughter didnât want to live in the honors dorm primarily for that reason and because she wanted to meet people outside of her program and have more of a mix with general population. Ironically her floor had 6 people in her program anyway! So a lot of honors students choose not to live in the honors dorms.
There is a right fit for everyone. In state tuition is very reasonable for students so Castilian, dobie, Callaway etc can be affordable for residents when they compare to a university dorm how much more theyâre paying. For OOS it can be a lot so everyone needs to weigh what works best for their family and decide if their kid wants something the family wonât pay or can afford then the kid should chip in as well.
This year only 50% of students are on campus and the on campus dorms are empty! Socially it has been hard for those kids according to parents on the parent groups. You donât hear the same from Castilian or Callaway although covid did go rampant around Callaway this year so that also isnât a good thing. Not sure how much it went around Castilian.
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Does anyone have any opinions on the San Jacinto dorm? Out of all the dorms on campus, I think thatâs the one I like the most, mostly because of the private bathroom and the location. Iâm not really one for the social scene so Iâd rather not stay at Jester, although being close to Jester in San Jacinto is a good compromise. Iâm waiting to hear back about honors but even if I get in Iâm unsure about the honors quad because the rooms look older and smaller. Any thoughts?
No curfew at SRD, and in normal years there are set male visiting hours. Yes, they still sneak boys in, or have boys that forget to leave. I expect that is much harder this year with covid restrictions.
SMART housing is the housing allocated to low-income people throughout Austin, yes, Callaway offers some SMART spots which are priced above the shared spaces on campus.
Iâm sorry for touching a nerve, @srparent15. Callawayâs least expensive non low-income space is $6.5k per school year more than the least expensive on campus housing. The individual room spaces are $8-11k more. It doesnât make all the residents horrible people, but the kids who can make that choice have financial advantages regardless of how much tuition they pay or how large a scholarship.
The reports of gross elevators/stairs were from my privileged kids, not from old reviews I read somewhere. They did a lot of partying in Callaway and were there on a very regular basis. I wish I thought it was an isolated incident from that one time⊠
@mbt2025, Historically, San Jacinto has filled the fastest, not sure because of pure popularity or because a lot of the space is allocated to athletes. The rooms seemed very nice, the dorm felt really far away from things to me, but I wasnât the one going to classes.
I really like Duren, though it has always seemed very quiet. I remember reading about it being last available in the recent draw, so few agree w me.
@srparent15 has good points about personal preference. Iâm old, Iâd rather have painted walls and hardwood floors than linoleum, so the old rooms are more appealing to me as long as the bathrooms are clean and decent. I also wonder how many kids overestimate how often they will clean their private bathrooms.
@chillycow, Yes, you can wait until June to choose a roommate. Many donât wait that long and link up earlier on facebook or other sites, so there is a balance of waiting too long that the people who want to find them find them before you. If too early, you also run the risk of kids deciding not to come and having to search again.
I agree that with covid rules, on campus housing has been much more restrictive this year. UT is not good with orientation activities, wherever you live. Plan to have to make an effort to meet people whatever you choose. It may absolutely be easier to meet people in the off campus dorms with limited restrictions, way more people to run into and easier to congregate.
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My kidsâ HS in DFW sends scores of kids to UT and their go to places seem to be Callaway and Hardin. Nearly all the kids go Greek and would be full pay at a selective private U. I know multiple parents who put down deposits at Callaway in the summer after junior year to reserve a spot. When they get CAPâd or donât get McCombs or Engr, they head elsewhere and open up a spot.
Sorry, I should know not to respond on here at 6am in the morning. Trust me, if you look at prior posts, I do not think Callaway is the be all to end all and if I had another kid attending, I would probably push for a compromise and go to Castillan and just pay my kid to live there in exchange for the savings. Itâs college and they donât need the Ritz of dorms, as a lot of Callaway is surface nice. No vomit or urine issues, but they donât update signage, it is run by students, food is horrendous, elevators broke during move in, however, it is the smoothest move in you will ever see and you donât have to lift a finger to get your kids stuff up there in the 100 degree heat. Nice pool and exercise room if you use it - mine didnât. Yes! SMART housing is what it is. I recall asking about that for my student.
I have heard great things about Duren. I think location matters to where most classes are, however many freshman classes can be all over the place. Mine had some at Blanton, and one really far away, and some at McCombs. I also think one at Jester. If youâre living on campus, a dorm is a dorm. I agree about kids not cleaning private bathrooms, so unless youâre having a maid, or you know your kid is going to clean it, I wouldnât bother. I had one kid that had the private bath w/ the cleaning service at Callaway and that was fine, and I had another live in a disgusting old dorm with a communal bathroom and guess what? She survived and it was fine too. It also had gender neutral bathrooms which were the preferred ones especially on weekends, when the other bathrooms were disgusting. But, now at that school where they are doing a phenomenal covid job and in person, kids in dorms are very lonely, so that is something to consider for next year.
Callaway has not filled for at least 2 years and offers big discounts in August. That annoyed the heck out of me because they make a big push as if theyâre sold out when theyâre not. If your kid goes greek, sorority or fraternity living will be much cheaper soph/junior year than dorm. That is a nice bonus.
At any school, you need to make an effort to meet people with or without the orientation activities and if Covid is still around and things are like this, join clubs right away! There are a lot of kids on reddit that just post that theyâre looking for someone to eat a meal with, study with, take a walk with or things they have in common with. Obviously be safe, and careful but you need to put yourself out there to meet people because if things are like this, the dorms are very empty this year with hardly any kids per floor.
What happens if we pay $300 in March for UT housing contract and then D ends up taking all online classes (if covid still continues) and decides to stay home ?
I know, they let students cancel contract without cancellation fee but how about the $300 advance payment ? Will they give a refund or is it lost? Any idea?
My friend who this happened to last year got a full refund including the advance fee/down payment whatever you want to call it
Can someone give this first gen high school senior some advice 
currently looking at dorm options and submitted my housing app oct 10 and commited in december. I qualify for honors dorms but I want the nicest dorm for the best price. Im currently debating between Carothers/Andrews or jester east renovated. Im social and want to meet people outside of honors so jester east sounds appealing, but I also plan on doing pre-health and honors dorms sound good for quiet studying. The deal breaker for me is which rooms are nicer/bigger. Any advice/ suggestions? Also considered Castilian if they offer smart housing, but preference is off campus housing.
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@gingerpuppy2020 I wrote this on another post but, it may answer some of your questions.
Not a student but, my DS was in Carothers for 2 years and made life-long friends (moved to an apt. for 3 & 4th year) and although they are in grad school all across the country they all still talk/Zoom at least once a week.
Iâll try to remember some of the pros & cons for Carothers:
Good-
Sinks in the room
Thermostat setting in the room
Community bath- cleaned by staff twice a day & never a problem getting in for a shower, etc.
Lobby for studying/ piano
Basement- lots of game nights & fun.
Elevator- donât have to use stairs all the time
Bad-
Super super small closet space shared by both.
Need to walk across the street to Kins for food.
Also- beds canât be lofted but we used risers to add more storage space under the bed. *** bedâs can be lofted in Andrews- giving you more room ***
Plus- for some reason the even # rooms- facing the street are a little bigger than the odd #- facing the courtyard!
Hope this helps in some way.
Congrats & Hook 'em!
btw- which honors program? If it is Deans or HSS- Mark should be your advisor & he is the ABSOLUTE best!
Thank you! I got into deans!!! great input
My son was in Andrews last year and is an RA in Blanton this year. He will be an RA in the quad again next year but doesnât have his assignment yet. I know he says the Carothers rooms are the biggest and he really missed his sink in Blanton. But I think that both his rooms have been pretty nice. My daughter who may be UT25 worries about the accessibility of the quad, as she has a condition that can cause her pain and often requires surgeriesâŠbut we all agree on the views and location, especially if youâre CNS. And there are plenty of opportunities to meet nonhonors students.
Castillian is off campus and is pretty social. Donât know about SMART housing, but Callaway has it but is very social and if you donât want to go greek it may not be for you, unless you donât care that most people in there are in greek. There are a lot of honors students that live in Callaway and finding a quiet study place is not a problem at all. My daughter is in one and she found plenty of time, places and people to study with.