Oh yes… a great Christmas or Hanukkah or graduation gift idea: a large supplemental screen/monitor they can attach to their laptop. They are pretty affordable, esp. with all the holiday sales going on. The bigger, higher-heighted monitor allows the kids to look UP at a monitor (and camera if the monitor has an integrated camera for Zooming), while having their keyboard at the right height (elbow or just below). The kids even in non-2020 college years will spend gobs of time in front of their computers and the supplemental monitor, while not needed, will be welcomed as a true comfort object for them. One more great gift item: a wireless mouse.
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You can buy laptop from anywhere. But most best deal is during back to school time (July), you get the lowest price and latest Intel CPU generation (e.g. 11th gen Intel should be cheap next summer) Later gen Intel usually more power saving.
Do not buy software (Office, Visual Studio…)as UT has most education version which cost close to nothing.
Engineering (both UT and A&M) prefer i7 and discrete GPU. So Asus Zenbook i7 with Nvidia non-gaming GPU such as MX250 would be around $800, so as similar spec Dell Inspiron. Going higher grade will be with gaming GPU such as GTX or RTX but those will cost $1400+
Zenbook and XPS are popular because they are light with metal casing. 14" model is very popular for class use. 15" may be too big or heavy for most laptop bag. Not that Lenovo is bad but you need to look for a series that has metal and solid hinges and most students damage their laptop at the hinge. Lenovo and HP have some high spec models that uses cheap plastic casing and hinge that may not last 4 years of abuse.
The desk at the dorm can have a 27" 2K-4K monitor for the laptop to connect, if going for high frequency and better for eyes, then make sure both laptop and monitor have display port (DP) instead of the standard HDMI.
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Has anyone gotten their “Gone to Texas” banner yet? I’m anxious to get a picture for our official acceptance Facebook post! 
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My son is OOS admitted to McCombs. He submitted a 4 page expanded resume. He spent a long time on it.
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My son received his packet with the banner last week. Hook 'em!
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The banner arrived today! Saw the acceptance on the portal Thursday, December 10th a little after 5 pm, email the next day around 2 pm, and the packet arrived on Saturday, December 19th.
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@ChillyCow , thank you for reminding us about the package. I went to the mailbox and my son’s package was there.
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My daughter was admitted to McCombs and she submitted a 6 page expanded resume.
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Anyone think by next Fall the pandemic will be “kind of” over (no more on line classes)?
I am seriously considering off campus living now. Main concern is the crowded dining halls and slow Wi-Fi in dorms.
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Seeing all the talk about laptops, just reminded me that most McCombs professors do not allow students to bring (well, use) laptops during their classes, so in most cases, the laptop will be only used in the dorm or for homework/projects and they will be writing notes in good old fashioned long hand.
Does anyone know how the housing contracts work in terms of timelines to sign and being held responsible for paying the whole year? Like, if contracts come out in March and we sign, does that mean we are on the hook and can’t cancel without having to pay for the whole year? I want my son to have a good chance at his preferred dorm but I’m also wondering if classes will still be online this fall. If online, he may just stay at home and save the money. It seems that most of them are online this Spring. I can’t imagine them opening up everything full throttle for fall but maybe I’m wrong. I also can’t imagine them letting students out of full year dorm contracts just because there are online classes still. Anybody know how this year worked?
When does financial aid or scholarship information come out? DD has been accepted to her major and is from OOS. While she got the email, nothing has come in letter mail yet.
I think financial aid comes end of March or first week of April.
My Mech E student is using the Mac Book Pro he’s had since probably his Jr year of HS. there was some drama when he first started with getting it to work for engineering but he seems to be fine now. He’ll probably need a new computer next Christmas.
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There really aren’t many merit scholarships at UT. There is no “automatic merit” based on grades and test scores such as many of the schools offer. Most, but not all, of the aid is need based.
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We did it in 2019 so take as a grain of salt since it was pre-pandemic. From what I remember you had up until maybe July 1 or July 15 to cancel. You might lose a few hundred dollars but not be responsible for paying the whole year. Definitely read the contract, though. Things may have shifted.
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@chillycow Not all classes are online now, so I would expect by next fall even fewer will be online if any.
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If you’re from OOS don’t expect any merit. In later years her school may offer some scholarships that she can apply for, or if she has a great GPA she may qualify for some, but otherwise, unless a Forty Acres scholar, it’s rare to get any merit OOS.
As for financial aid, if I recall you don’t hear anything until way later in the process. It’ll show up on the utdirect account and I think it’s like March or April. I don’t recall anything for financial aid coming in the mail, I think it’s all online through the student cash account.
Also if your daughter is interested in a sorority be prepared for that sticky shock. Additionally, many clubs have a cost as well, although those are nominal, maybe like $50/semester. Between that and the entertainment/meals out, apartment rental costs in later year, Austin is one expensive college town! 
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When do I get a free t-shirt/ banner package??
I am auto-admit but still waiting to be accepted into my major.
Do I have to accept admission first?
@user_3230447, I don’t know anything about a free tshirt but my son got his packet about 9 days after being admitted (he was non auto). It had the banner and 3 stickers. He has not accepted admission yet so the banner goes out to all admitted students.