I need suggestions for the dorms. We have never been to the campus, totally clueless. Prefer community bath because son doesn’t want to clean the bathroom 
He will be an engineering major, so location near engineering classes will be preferable. Thanks!
My kids, both engineering students, lived in McFadden, Lechner and Hullaballo, modular dorms with private bathrooms. Their private bathrooms are cleaned for the students once a week.
Mine lives in Mosher. He has a roommate and they share a bath with two other guys. The baths are cleaned every week for the students here as well. If price is no object, Hullabaloo is popular choice. Close to sabisa dining hall. The modular dorms are popular as well. Son stayed in McFadden for his NSC and liked the layout and size of room. Near Sabisa dining hall. The engineering LLC is in Moser but engineering students do not have to live there. Mosher is in the commons, as there are 4 dorms (Mosher, Aston, Dunn, Kruger) that share a common building if you will. All of that is being remodeled and will be open in the fall and should be really nice. It will have its own dining hall and convenience store. http://www.thebatt.com/news/commons-renovation-promises-modern-student-living-experience/article_7bd4bb90-04d7-11e5-bfe2-c3c912e8a27a.html
Your Aggie’s freshman classes will be all over the place, so where they live, doesn’t really matter. Most move off campus after freshman year, though you can request to stay on campus for the next year by responding your desire/intentions in the spring email sent out by housing.
Make sure to apply for housing as soon as possible (within 30 days of admissions) So much has changed in the housing process from last year. Have a couple of choices in mind in case your first choice is full by your assigned selection date/time. Also consider location. Right by the front door or elevator seems nice on paper but know that it is very noisy there as well vs more at the end of hall or center of hall, if doors on both ends.
@Thelma2 I don’t mean to barge in on this thread but wanted to ask about Mosher and the Engineering LLC. My son will be attending next fall and if he doesn’t decide to join the Corps has requested Mosher as his 1st choice for housing. Do you have any comments on the Engineering LLC? Did you son utilize it? Was it helpful? Overall does he like Mosher?
Hi TxSker
Mosher is a dorm It’s small but doable. The LLC he did not utilize the tutoring here and thus, has not benefited from it, as there are Supplemental Instruction sessions, friend groups and tutoring companies. I can see how it would be beneficial though. I will tell you that a lot of kids had A’s going into the third Math 151 exam and thought it would be as easy as the first two, only to be blind sided. Do not get comfortable that you’re doing great. It can change drastically in the few days there are between the 3rd exam and the final exam (12 days).
One neat thing about Mosher and maybe all LLC’s do it, but they had an engineering mentor for freshmen. So many kids have so much to adjust to, or are lonely, etc and the mentors can really help if they seek them out. I know two kids who really benefited from the mentor and I am sure there were others. Neither thought they would ever need it. The mentors send a letter in summer, to everyone in Mosher (one per floor) introducing themselves and giving you their contact info.
The woes:
- Access to meals. With the Commons building under construction, it is a long way to MSC and Sabisa from Moser. He discovered Chick fil A gives away food at the end of the day. The default mealplan he went in with was adequate.That said, we subsided grocery store runs for food for dorm. He manages his micro and macro nutrients and needs to eat in the morning. It is just way out of the way and time consuming to go to Sabisa in the AM before class. He also likes to hit the gym early, around 6, go back to shower and eat, then go to class. He will go in afternoon and dinner.The new dining hall will be open next fall in the commons so you won’t have to worry with that.
- Do NOT rent the fridge through that campus thingy. Waste of money. I rented it for the two boys and it has no space in it for two people. They deliver it but I paid $50 for them to clean it and another $50 to come pick it up at end of semester. If you opt to clean it and it's not, they will charge you to clean it. I am sure I paid for nothing as the one we got was disgusting on move in day. Absolutely gross. I emailed the company with pics and they ignored the emails. You can have two fridges in the room but outlet space is a premium, especially if you also have a microwave. Buy the largest one allowed.
- The rooms are not spacious but it depends on what you bring as well. Beds must be lifted all the way up so you can sit under it. You will need a pool foam noodle, split it down the middle and zip tie it to the metal bed frame. There is no side board to protect your forehead from the metal and stitches could be in order if you are not careful. Son's bed rail that keeps you from falling off of the vaulted bunk was broken on move in day and after 3 requests, he still does not have one so he gave up. He's afraid he will roll off. He's 6' 2" 205 in a twin bed 62 inches off of the floor and apparently, has almost fallen out a time or two. I should call reslife myself but I haven't. He sleeps a lot in his bean bag on the floor.
- the only room on the wall, after your desk and dresser are under the bed, is about 36", because your big bookcase is on the floor with the more shallow one on top. For him, he has a 16"x58" ikea Kallax tower 4cubbie unit with 2 cloth drawers for storage and shelf space http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/00275848/#/40275846. Then he has the useless combo fridge we put on a cart we got on sale at the container store http://www.containerstore.com/s/platinum-elfa-mesh-compact-fridge-cart/d?productId=10017394&q=fridge%20cart, then the big bookcase with the little bookcase on top and that is it. Then you run into the wall for the closet. In his closet, I bought two storage bin dwarers at container store (also on sale) http://www.containerstore.com/s/large-tint-stackable-drawer/d?productId=10006900&q=stackable%20drawersand that gives more storage. Between the various kinds of shoes, gym clothes, big coat, sweaters, clothes for 110 degrees and 40 degrees, plus his travel duffel bag and dirty clothes, it is amazing how much you need to put someplace in that little closet, but it works.
As I said, outlet space is a premium. There are only 3 outlets (6 plugs) in the room and appliances must be in the wall plugs. With the combo fridge/microwave, it’s cord is funny shaped and the power strip plug barely fits. Mosher is getting an HVAC and electrical upgrade that began over Christmas break, will resume over spring break and finish over the summer so you may have it better. http://www.mlncompany.com/project/texas-mosher-hall/ Everything else you plug in, you can use a power strip, like for you laptop charger, desk lamp, phone charger, and printer.
The baths are cleaned every week and it has not been an issue sharing with 3 others.
As far as living in Mosher, I’d say he has met more friends he hangs with through ENGR 111 and the groups they put you in and other classes than through those he has met at the dorm. But everyone’s experiences are different.
I live in Mosher now, and Thelma pretty much summed up everything about Mosher. Although many people do not take advantage of the peer tutors, they definitely do help. My personal pros and cons
Pros: Everyone is obviously in engineering, and it was definitely a lot easier to find people taking the same classes as me, unlike other friends that lived in Moses or Walton. I actually did not find Mosher’s dorms to be small, as Ive been inside about 4 other dorm buildings, Mosher definitely had a lot more room than others. It’s a dorm, so it’s not going to be particularly big to begin with, but compared to others, it’s spacious.
Cons: With the exception of Engr classes and maybe Chemistry, every other building is going to be a walk. I think this is more of a south side problem, rather than a Mosher problem, but still, the physics building and math buildings are basically on the other side of campus.
Is it worth the price? Probably not.
Are the students in Mosher friendly and overall provide a good atmosphere? I would say so.
I would still choose to stay in Mosher if I had to pick again, just because I feel as if starting out your first semester here, having other students who you can relate to, and actually continue to interact with because of similar classes definitely helps.
Would you recommend staying in Whitecreek Apartments for a freshman Engineering student? Pros?Cons? Thanks in advance.
@Glee I wouldn’t recommend staying there unless you get a scholarship that gives you money for staying there (I think they still have that?) or unless money isn’t a concern.
Pros: They are really nice, and very similar to living off-campus
You have your own food plan there I believe.
Cons: You have to take a bus to get to campus
You can’t wake up as late because of the bus
I don’t live there but this is just what ive heard from friends. I’d recommend looking up more info.
@TamuEngineer Thanks for the reply. Your posts have been very helpful. I won’t have a car and I was told that taking a bus is a tradition at TAMU. So it would be OK. Not sure if that’s true.
@Glee no problem! Hope you find a spot that you enjoy, and it’s all part of the learning experience. The buses are okay, just don’t plan on using them during the weekends unless you like waiting much longer than usual (despite what the website says). Also invest in a bike, because they have saved me lots of time. Can’t always take a bus and walking sometimes takes too long.
My son lives in White Creek and he loves it! He’s not an early riser by any means and has only missed the bus a couple of times, lol. They are pretty frequent so if you miss one, another is coming along pretty quickly. He likes having his own room and bathroom but he does complain that it’s too far from the Sbisa. Because of that, he rarely eats there. Hope this helps.
My daughter will be in the Engineering academy at Blinn Bryan. Would you advise on campus housing or off campus? Any suggestions on which ones are good?
It was fortunate that my kid was admitted to engineering honor yesterday. Do you have any insights on residential hall options: Mosher, Lechner, and McFadden? Is there any disadvantage in living in Lechner or McFadden honor halls as a freshmen engineering student? We are a little concerned about academic challenge in his first year engineering classes. Thus, we want to learn if Mosher can be a better choice to follow up and catch up the engineering classes with peers in comparison to Lechner or McFadden hall. Thank you in advance.