@CorpusChristi Who knows, I may end up meeting your daughter in the honors quad! It’s a small world sometimes. 
@NotSoPatient Ah, so they did away with the roommate match? That makes me a bit more nervous, but I guess I’ll deal with it when the time comes.
@EngPII I’ll look at the FB pages! Thanks.
I’m interested in Dobie, is that considered on or off campus? Heard anything good about that dorm? Also, I’m gluten free, do they offer any GF options? I need to take a tour but might as well get some info before touring!
I lived at Jester West/3rd floor community bath over 30 years ago and my son (freshman - engineering) currently lives at Jester West/11th floor. I insisted he have a community bath since connecting baths have to be cleaned by the residents and the community baths are professionally cleaned twice a day. He knew his roommate from church but they hardly see one another since my son said they are hardly in the room. I was concerned with the long elevator waits on such a high floor but he has never complained about that or about the noise. He would live at Jester again but will be living in an off campus condo with 3 other friends who were looking for a 4th roommate. I thought it was crazy that they had to sign a lease in October 2016 for a lease that begins in August 2017. My freshman son didn’t care much about what dorm he was in and didn’t care to tour them before he ranked his choices. I toured the honors quad with my 2 younger kids and my older sister who lived at Dobie, Blanton and Kinsolving her years at UT. We also toured Jester and Dobie in the Spring before my son started at UT. In my day, Dobie and Castilian were popular and expensive. When pricing them for my son, I was surprised that both Dobie and Castilian were maybe slighter cheaper than community bath on campus dorms once you consider they have all you can eat meal plans. I guess Dobie and Castilian have some bad reviews about security, broken a/c, no hot water, poor ventilation, although they both recently have been through multi-million dollar renovations. A friend whose son lives at the Castilian told me parents can even eat free when they are visiting. I ate at Jester for lunch with my son and the food was so much better than it was back in my day. My friend whose son now lives at Castilian says they sometimes run out of hot water for showers. I have a daughter who is now saying she wants to go to A & M like her dad but if she ended up at UT, I’d want her to live at SRD.
@flowerchild01, my is at Dobie. He’s an older transfer student. It is off campus but just across the street so the location is excellent. Its an old building and there some issues with maintenance. Can’t vouch for the cafeteria food because he won’t use it. If they promise you a $500 credit card for signing up get it in writing from a manager. We are still waiting for ours, four months later. The location was the main thing for him. If you are a freshman i would stay in an actual dorm.
(currently a senior) I lived in Jester West for 2 years with community baths. The bathrooms were cleaned 3x a day, and I rarely had the issue of waiting to use a stall. First year, I roomed with a classmate from high school then second year I had potluck.
The dorm hall RAs throw events once a while to build community among residents. I remember having random conversations with whomever at the front desk. It was really convenient to access food in less than 5 minutes (JCL a la carte style, J2 buffet). The basement had a computer lab which I used whenever I needed to print something.
Jester West and East are more of a “social” title than “party” title dorm. I’ve met people who only stayed in their dorm rooms or only go inside to sleep. I feel like there’s greater chances of getting campus reports from Jester because it had a higher student population (12+ floors) versus other dormitories (2-3 floors).
My DD just got accepted to plan II, and I am wondering if she waits until she hears from a few reach schools at the end of March, and accepts around April 1, will she still have a good chance to get into an Honors dorm, based on anyone’s experience?
If you submitted the $50 fee for housing before maybe the end of December, she might still get it if she placed that as her first choice. The $50 fee is non-refundable and acts as a priority bookmark for housing choices based on first come first serve.
@CorpusChristi , I would highly recommend that you submit her housing app now (if you haven’t already) and pay the $50. You will absolutely kick yourself if you don’t, and miss out on the Honors Quad. Conrats on Plan II.