<p>As the question states, which dorm were you in when you were a freshman? Did you like it? Would you have chosen to stay somewhere else if you could go back and make a different choice? Which dorm do you think is best for freshmen to stay in? As of now my preferences are:
1. Honors quad (if I'm accepted to honors)
2. San Jacinto
3. Jester
Do you think those are good dorms for a freshman who wants to be social and meet new people but also want to study and maintain good grades?</p>
<p>I have the same question too. My preferences are either San Jacinto or Jester.</p>
<p>Jester, the only time i was in my room was to sleep. I dont want to pay for a private bath and “nicer” room - even though I have a renovated one (same price), if im not going to use it. You only use the community bathroom in the morning and at night, maybe once or twice during the day IF you are in your room all day, so that isn’t a big deal - for me at least.</p>
<p>If you are going to stay in your room all day, then get San Jac. I just dont see the benefit in paying $2,000 more for a private bathroom. Plus Jester is closer to food, classes, and you do not have to climb this really annoying hill every day by San Jac</p>
<p>If you are female, a nice place to live is Kinsolving! I am living there right now for my freshman year and it is nice. I have a community bathroom and it is not dirty at all. Mine is very clean. The rooms are spacious even if both my roommate and I pull out beds out all the way. The first floor has a bunk bed while the other floors have separate beds. I like the pull-out beds because they are like sofa beds. Not all rooms have towel racks. So far, only my room has towel racks. Also, you do not have to worry about bringing a door size mirror because one comes with the room. I have four mirrors that came with my room. There is plenty of storage area: three drawers under the bed, a big built-in bookshelf by the desk, two big bulletin boards, a good size cabinet, this area above the closets, and a decent size closet. Kinsolving also has academic communities for natural science and engineering students. Academic communities are also in Jester and they are good to go to if you need help in your intro classes. There is a computer lab. Also there is the 2 1/2 floor that is good for studying, hanging out, cooking, and exercising. There is a sun deck for exercise or sunbathing. If you run out of places to study in Kinsolving, you can always study in the lounges in the residence hall areas. There are two lounges on every floor. There are also two laundry rooms per floor (but they double as the trash room too, which doesn’t make sense to me…). Also, there is Kin’s Market which is nice, as well as the dining hall. Kinsolving has the best dining hall on campus. Littlefield Patio Cafe is really good too but overpriced, so that is why I try to eat at Kinsolving as much as possible. Kinsolving always has nice food, while at J2, the food looks like glop. Jester City Limits is overpriced but good, but if you want to save money and live in Jester, you’re stuck with eating at J2 which is not very appetizing in my opinion. The RAs are nice and they always have programs every week that are fun to attend. Last week was Stress-Free Week which included Spa Day and Chocolate Day. Usually every month, there is a cultural dinner and those are fun to attend because they decorate the dining hall and serve special food. There is so much stuff about Kinsolving to talk about! I love this place and I plan on living there next year as well.</p>
<p>And yes, this is definitely a good place to make friends and make good grades too! The girls that tend to live at Kinsolving are Communication, Natural Science, and Engineering majors because those buildings are closest to Kinsolving. I made friends with quite a few girls on my floor and now we are like best friends! The floors are also quiet and not noisy at all. My friend lives in Jester and she comes over to Kinsolving all the time and she said it’s a lot quieter here.</p>
<p>Wow smartone92, Kinsolving sounds really nice…but I’m not a girl lol. I’m still stuck between Jester and San Jacinto.</p>
<p>I’d go with San Jac hands down, but you most likely will not get San Jac due to preference to upperclassman and the great demand for San Jac</p>
<p>I stayed in Moore-Hill my first year and loved it. Jester food areas, both Gregory and Rec gyms, the stadium, and PCL are nearby. Its a really social dorm so you get to know a lot of people if you make some effort to meet anyone in the lobby/game room area. And its still really quiet if you’re not that social. I live in Duren now and although I like the private bathroom and having elevators, those are the only real benefits. And I guess living near west campus is nice. But if I weren’t here, I would definitely choose Moore-Hill again.</p>
<p>I live in Blanton right now and I love it! Going in, I was afraid that I was going to be far away from events and that people would be anti-social in the quad. Neither those are true. </p>
<p>For the first issue, you will quickly learn that the campus isn’t as gigantic as it seems at first- if you really want to get to the Jester area, cut through the business school and you’ll make it there in less than ten minutes at a stately walk. Actually, I think that that the Honors quad is better situated than are the dorms around Jester in terms of social events- you are right next to the drag, and a short walk away from west campus. Also, the honors quad is across the street from Kinsolving- which is extremely convenient.</p>
<p>Which leads me into the second issue. People in the honors quad do tend to group around the honors programs but there is tons of overlap- My three best friends here are all from different honors programs. People really want to make friends. Friends are not going to fall into your lap but if you’re open to meeting other people, you will be fine. </p>
<p>And a few last things: The rooms are on the small side in Blanton, but it makes for hilarity if you have a bunch of people trying to do things in one room. Blanton was recently renovated and looks pretty nice. 
And, there is a computer lab in the quad that lets you print for 6cents a page.</p>
<p>Can someone explain to me why a lot of people think Jester is awful?</p>
<p>It smells like crap.
Its really obnoxiously loud at night (imagine 2000 kids at night plus all the commotion downstairs with Wendy’s/JCL/JCM
Some of the rooms are sub-par/small</p>
<p>The list goes on endlessly.</p>
<p>so out of San Jac, Jester, Kinsolving, and Moore-Hill, which is best?</p>
<p>Honestly, Jester REALLY isn’t that bad. I lived in Duren my freshman year, and even though I loved it, I found myself wanting to be at Jester because all of my friends were there and it was super close to everything on campus. If you’re a huge fan of UT athletics, it’s great to live in the Jester area because you’re close to Gregory (for v-ball games), the Frank Erwin Center (b-ball games), and other sports complexes.</p>
<p>Jester honestly doesn’t smell that bad, it’s super social, and it’s not as loud as people make it out to be. A lot of people that live in Jester actually like it. As far as noise goes, a lot of times it just depends on your floor. I’ve been to floors where it was dead quiet, and floors that were a little more noisy. Also, Jester Center is completely separate from the actual residential areas, so you’re not going to hear any noise from Wendy’s/JCL/JCM at all from your room.</p>
<p>If you want a nicer room, Jester East has renovated floors and new appliances/furniture/carpet/wood floors/everything.</p>
<p>Speaking of small room sizes, which dorms have the best room layout (not necessarily the biggest, but the best and most comfortable layout)? Oh, and I visited UT last winter, and the student tour guide took us to a dorm that had a lecture hall on the first floor, but I forgot what that dorm was. Is it Jester?</p>
<p>Yes that is Jester</p>
<p>some of jester’s floors do have a smell to them but overall it’s a great dorm. you’re bound to have fun and there are tons of people to meet. At first, the room seems to be small and and the halls seem loud but you get used to it pretty quickly. Most people are only in their rooms in the morning and at night, as stated above, and there’s enough room to store everything you have and still have friends over. I’ve never heard anyone wish that they could have lived somewhere else. On the contrary, I’ve had many friends, including myself, question why Jester has such a bad reputation.
Compared to Duren, the lobby in Jester may seem loud but I find the commotion to be warm and lively rather than annoying. You’re in college now, after all. I found the extremely short distance to J2/JCL/Wendy’s/Jesta Pizza to be more of a convenience than a problem.</p>
<p>Some people may have had bad experiences but so far mine has been great.</p>
<p>I’m a freshman and currently live in Jester. It’s really not as bad as some people make it out to be. Some of the floors have an odd smell to them and are a bit loud, but I guess I got lucky. My floor smells normal and is relatively quiet. Living in Jester is also pretty convenient as J2, JCL, JCM, Jesta Pizza, Wendy’s, PCL, and Gregory Gym are all extremely close. Most of the rooms have sinks, and community bathrooms aren’t that bad. I’ve lived in far worse. I’m moving out next year though. I can’t stand having a roommate and living on-campus is too expensive, so I’m getting an apartment with my friends and getting my own private room.</p>
<p>I lived in Jester and I actually really liked it. I have a lot of friends in Jester so I think it’s pretty fun. I also have a lot of friends on the other side of campus and in West Campus and getting to them doesn’t seem that bad to me really. The walk to Kinsolving and Duren is tiresome at first, but once you find a route it’s not that bad. I have a connecting bath and I really love it, so I can’t speak much on the community bath situation. My room is also pretty spacious and the closet doesn’t seem that bad. There’s a good amount of storage space and I actually don’t think it smells at all on my floor or on the bottom floor (but maybe because I’m used to it.)
I also really like Jester because it’s close to a lot of things (gym, stadium, close walk to guad and tower) and all my classes. I’m in the business school though, so most of my classes are situated around Jester (expecially during the Spring this year.)
Overall so far I’ve enjoyed living in Jester and I would recommend it to other Freshmen if they don’t mind it being pretty busy most of the time.</p>
<p>I’m staying in Prather for my first year and it’s quite nice. It’s between Jester and San Jacinto. I stayed with a girl I had met on the housing profiler and she turned out to be a DISASTER. Prather wasn’t my first choice, but I’m glad I roomed there. It’s a coed, four floor, small dorm. The RA’s are very lax and everyone is generally nice. The only downside is the community bathrooms. They’re quite small. However, the rooms are very roomy. We bunked our beds and have TONS of space. It has an old school dorm kind of feel, but my room is very cozy and reminds me of home. (: I really like San Jac, but Prather is definitely a great little dorm, it’s also very quiet and not home to just freshmen.
Jester is just really loud, all the time and the rooms I’ve been in are quite small…I’m not sure how anyone does that! It’s great for meeting people and it’s where everything is, but I’m quite happy with Prather.</p>
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<p>I don’t think “iambored10” knows what he/she is talking about.</p>
<p>Anyway, I don’t like Jester, and I hope I don’t live there next year.
See I never get this whole “social” advantage people are always gabbing about. From the ppl I’ve met this year, most of them do live in Jester, so it’s fun going to their dorms and stuff. But I’ve never just made friends standing/sitting around Jester lol. Also, I don’t know most people on my floor. In fact, I think I see someone new on my floor like every week lol. And my friends on my floor I met OUTSIDE of Jester, and we just happened to find out we were on the same floor haha. And yes my floor smells funny.</p>
<p>The rooms are NOT spacious. Not cramped, but I wouldn’t go as far to call them spacious. </p>
<p>I think the food sucks. I mean I knew it was going to be cafeteria food, but severly overpriced cafeteria food?? 
J2 is gross lol Best part is that Wendy’s is like always open, but that’s also bad because I eat Wendy’s ALL the time</p>
<p>IMO, THE only advantage of Jester living is that it’s in a good spot on campus. Next to the gym and PCL and right on the intersection of 21st and Speedway.</p>
<p>Sometimes I find it a little hard to believe that people actually like living in Jester but meh to each her own.</p>