<p>For all those who are attending or hoping to attend UT next year (freshman or not), where do you plan on living and why? Also, what have you heard about the place you plan to live (ex: the majority of people who live there, party scene, safety, etc.) I want to apply early for housing so that I can get the type of room that I want, but I can't decide where to live and hearing what some of you guys are doing and why might help me decide. </p>
<p>My top three choices right now are 2400 Nueces, Callaway House/the Penthouse at Callaway House (top two floors), and the Castilian. All of them are off-campus housing because of the fact that I personally prefer suite-style dorms which pretty much ruled out all on-campus housing. I can't narrow it down anymore because I can't decide whether or not if I'd rather be able to get a meal plan or be willing to make my own food and I don't know that type of people that live in any of my three choices.</p>
<p><em>STAY AWAY FROM THE CASTILIAN/CALLAWAY</em> The food sucks at both of these residencies, and if you choose the castilian, the building is decrepit. The plumping, A/C, Heating, none of it ever works. I STRONGLY recommend that you either live on campus or get an apartment.</p>
<p>The Callaway and Castilian are owned by the same company, ACC. If you have to pick between the two choose the Callaway, as long as you’re willing to buy your own food.</p>
<p>The Castilian claims that they are spending like 7 Million dollars in renovations, I live their now and I can assure you not to be excited nor impressed about this.</p>
<p>Do NOT live at the Castilian - trust me. Callaway is way too overpriced, and I think it’s pretty much full for next year.
I highly recommend Dobie. I currently live in a Corner Suite at Dobie, and I absolutely love it. The Castilian/Callaway are kind of a long walk to campus, Dobie is basically on campus, so the location is great. The food isn’t too bad either, and the rates are pretty good. You should get a meal plan as a freshman, because you probably won’t have time to make your own food. Dobie has unlimited meal plans along with other options.
There are a wide variety of people at Dobie.
Dobie isn’t as “social” as some of the other dorms, (it’s pretty quiet most of the time), but they have events every few weeks that are usually pretty fun. The RA’s are really cool too. Plus, there is a mart/mall on the bottom floors, so you literally do not have to step outside at all if it’s too cold that day (that was me during finals week, lol). </p>
<p>I live at Dobie but I frequently go to parties…pretty much multiple times every weekend. Most parties happen off campus, far West. </p>
<p>Let me know if you have more questions. And if you do end up living there, it would be awesome if you put me down as a referral - we both get gift cards that way :)</p>
<p>I’ve already signed my lease for the Callaway House next year. I did a lot of research and I chose the Callaway because the pices are honestly pretty fair, considering the place is brand new and the rooms are very nice and so is the entire facilities. I toured the Callaway a couple months ago and was sold. It’s honestly extremely nice and only a little bit more price wise. The 7th floor gym and pool are outstanding and I’m super excited for next year. If you have any questions about the Callaway, I may be able to help. :)</p>
<p>Unless you are joining a greek organization which will guarantee you some sort of social life, I suggest you live on an on-campus dorm for the first year. Many of your social circles are formed freshman year as the dorms are mostly populated by freshmen who will actually try to get to know you. Dorms have lounges where people can meet and hang out. You will rarely find this in west campus as most of the people are old enough to drink, have cars, etc.</p>
<p>To the person who says that the food at Callaway sucks, I disagree. Their food is pretty tasty. I lived in the Castilian last year and live at Callaway this year. The food at the Castilian is disgusting and I NEVER ate there. Their service was awful and I had a lot of issues with the air conditioning. </p>
<p>Callaway is so much better and is basically the dorm to live at this year. The Penthouse is full so if you have not heard from them, then you most likely didn’t get a room there. When I resigned for the Penthouse, there was only around 5-6 slots left and this was in October. Callaway is great but most people there are looking into getting into a sorority/fraternity so keep in mind that you will probably be surrounded by a lot of people who party a lot.</p>
<p>Does anyone have opinions on the community at honors dorming? I’m not sure if I should stay there or some place else like jester/san jac. I really like the location of the honors dorm, the only thing that’s throwing me off is the community bath issue and not being sure about the community of people in general. </p>
<p>aximer - my son is a freshman in honors engineering currently living in Blanton, one of the four honors dorms, and it has been great. If you are in engineering, it is very close to most of your classes, the dorms are quiet and clean, and I think they do have a nice sense of community. He is planning on living in the honors dorms again next year. If you do not have your housing application in yet, do it immediately - I think UT goes by the date of the applications to assign housing. Have heard some nightmare stories about Jester from the other parents this year, but people seem to like San Jacinto.</p>
<p>^ Haha at “nightmare stories”… Looks like someone’s kid got thrown into the real world from the sheltered life. Also, San Jac and Duren are the most expensive dorms if I remember correctly, so it’s natural that they are nicer. UT’s precious athletes are usually housed in San Jac</p>
<p>Hey I live at Dobie Center right now and I really enjoy it. They offer the same type of style that you’re looking for -suite. I live in a corner suite plus and it’s super convenient that I can go into the living room when my roommate is talking to his girlfriend or something. One thing I would say is that the food gets pretty boring after a while but all of my friends are bored with the food at their halls too. I like that it’s like right on campus on a hot spot, near the drag (Guadalupe St.) Also, they’re under new management this semester and they’re making a lot of cool new changes so I expect that next year it’ll be better. One way that I was able to find housing was by going to Freshman Support’s housing site–they’ve got videos on properties and more reviews Good Luck!</p>
<p>I’m a transfer student at UT and I currently live at Dobie. Dobie does have it’s perks like being across the street from campus, but still needs some work. Dobie only has fluorescent lighting in their rooms, which makes things very dark. If you are effected by lighting easily DO NOT live here. They also only have A/C year around with no heating available even if it’s 30 degrees outside. I sleep in sweatshirts at night because it can become like an ice box. Their roommate matching system is entirely a joke. My top priority was to have a roommate that was basically a clean freak… I live with a borderline hoarder. Please consider these things before signing a lease with Dobie. In my opinion, it is not worth the overpriced amount to be dealing with these kinds of issues.</p>
<p>I live in a co-op (specifically with ICC) and I love it. Rent is relatively cheap when compared to other options close to campus (I’m only about a two or three blocks away from campus), I don’t have to buy groceries, I get meals five days a week and on the days I don’t I can always cook something for myself if I am hungry, I always have somebody to hang out with since I live with 14 other people, it feels like a home, we have kick-ass parties (and I’m still doing good in school when it comes to grades), I have a lot of space (even more so because nobody signed for the other half of my double so I have a double room all to myself), and I’m near the social scene of west campus. Honestly I don’t see why anybody wouldn’t want to live in a co-op unless you just don’t like parties at all and don’t think you’d be able to manage yourself. </p>
<p>Collegehoues is pretty much the same but they are more like small communities (they have 100 people I believe) whereas ICC is smaller and feels more like a home. You have like three to four hours of work a week you have to do but it’s all stuff you would normally do on your own anyway so you barely even notice it.</p>
<p>i was admitted a week ago and I’ve been trying to figure out where would be the best place for me to live. I have a couple friends who go there and they said sign up for callaway so i did a couple weeks ago and they said if i don’t get it then i should go to towers. I plan on having a good time and pledging as well. Pricing also isn’t rlly an issue. Any suggestions?</p>