[Univ. of Texas] Dorm Suggestions

Avoid Jester at all costs. I repeat, stay the **** away from Jester.

San Jacinto - prime location off 21st (within 5 min walking distance from rec centers/gyms, mess halls, libraries), directly across street from the football stadium, newer facility, grill/cafe on the 1st floor.

Duren - better location for engineering majors (closer to Dean Keaton, which is the primary street in that section of campus), also a newer facility, somewhat isolated and distant from the heart of campus, no food court in the dorm.

If he's considering Greek Life or is in to that scene, University Towers off 24th, no doubt. It's not affiliated with the university (therefore very tolerant of drinking). They have a security team headed by this badass Russian dude named Rizak, and they're very laid back and let you carry on with your business as you please. I lived there my freshman year, and had an absolute blast. There's a grill on the 1st floor, balconies on every unit, a gym, and a swimming pool in the courtyard.

 

If he's in the Engineering Honors program, he can also check out the Honors dorms on Whitis at Dean Keaton, which is also close to the Engineering buildings. It's also next to Kinsolving, which is where he might eat a lot of the time.

Whitis Court is another place you can check out, although I think you might have to join a specific FIG group to get in there.

 

I'm about to finish my first year at UT, and I lived in dorms too, so I'll offer some insight.

There are the big two, fancy-pants dorms with larger rooms, thermostats in each room, and private bathrooms/showers in each room - they are called San Jacinto and Duren.

However, they also run about $1200 more per year, and unless you put your deposit in SUPER early (August - November of the previous year), then you're not getting in most likely.

San Jacinto is decently located. It's right next to the Recreational Sports center for your basketball and workout needs, a couple of minutes away from the main gym (Gregory Gym), and there's a cafeteria at the base of the building that's pretty good. Also, a ton of athletes live there.

Duren is a ways away from the heart of campus, but it's right on Guadalupe street (where all the restaurants and stores are, the places all the students go) and the closest dorm to west campus (where all the fraternities, apartments, and parties are).

Then there's Roberts, Prather, and one other dorm thats right next to Jester.
Roberts and Prather are basically like Jester-lites. They have community bath and showers, and I don't think they have sinks in the rooms.

Jester - the most famous one. Largest dorm in US. Has a rapport of being smelly and cramped, but it's really not that bad. Really sociable though from what I hear, unlike San Jac and Duren. Right next to Gregory Gym, the PCL (main library) and business school.

I live in Moore-Hill, which is the smallest dorm at UT. We are widely regarded as the most sociable dorm (I seriously know just about everyone that lives on my floor and most everyone on the other three floors). Rooms are decent, but it has a community bathroom.

Since he's a freshman, his major won't really matter for class locations. He's gonna be taking a lot of intro to science classes and math classes, and those are all really close (5-10 minute walk) to all of his classes.

If you have any more questions, let me know, and I'll try to answer them.

 

I dont necessarily agree with this at all. I never lived there but my best friend did so I hung out there a ton (including spending several nights there) and I didnt mind the atmosphere. Yes, if you have the money to pay for better dorms you should do it but that's not true for everyone. The fact that there are a lot of people around was pretty enjoyable and I liked it a lot.

The only downside is climbing up that damn hill everyday to get anywhere. I suppose you can wait for the 40 acres bus but its usually not worth it. But yes San Jac is a nice dorm with a lot of good stuff. Also nice for going to football games since the stadium is literally across the street. And even if you dont go to a football game it's pretty cool hearing the crowd yell from outside.

I like San Jac better. In terms of quality of rooms and facilities they are more or less equal but you're in the wrong corner of campus on this one. Food isnt a big deal since Kinsolving is really close (and Kinsolving food is flat out better than the Jester cafeteria). I suppose it is closer to the engineering buildings since they are around dean keaton but aside from that you aren't near anything important. And considering your freshman classes wont always be in the engineering stuff you'll be walking all over the place.

I know they redid Towers at some point but that place always had an awful reputation when I was there. That said you lived there so I'll trust you on that. Private dorms will be noticeably more expensive while being further away in terms of distance (outside of Dobie).

My honest opinion is that most university dorms are fine. Yes they generally blow (outside of Duren and San Jac) in comparison to other universities but you get used to it. I never had a problem adapting but if money wasnt an issue I'd pick San Jacinto every time. Aside from walking up that hill everyday, it beats Duren on location while having great quality.

PS - I miss college.

 

Jester isn't that bad, I never lived there but I've never had any friends complain about being in Jester. It's in my opinion the best located dorm at UT.

Overall the dorm experience is largely the same no matter which one you choose.

The honors dorms from what I hear are pretty antisocial but that was just from one person.

 

I stayed at Jester my first year and I was paired with a random roommate. Regarding Jester, it's honestly not bad at all. My experience there was a great one. I was on a co-ed floor (that was definitely nice ). Made tons of friends. Maybe the "dirty and dingy" comments come from the fact that Jester's not as new as the other dorms. But it's pretty cool nonetheless. I think I was able to specify that I did NOT want community showers, so that's something else that your bro would need to look into. It's either that or 2 connected rooms that share a bathroom.

Now regarding the roommate situation - and this is still tied in to Jester - if your brother doesn't know someone he can be paired with, then it's just a matter of chance whether he gets paired with someone normal or someone weird. I lucked out and just got a normal white guy who farted in his sleep. But every now and then you hear stories of people being hooked up with weirdos/slobs.

Anyway, good luck to your bro!

 

Well, I guess I stayed in the one dorm no one wants to stay in, Simkins Hall(recently renamed Creekside Hall since William Simkins had ties to the KKK).

Simkins(Creekside) is all male and completely away from all other dorms, so it probably is not very popular. I also stayed in Jester, and it was OK, but I didn't like having to use the elevator to get to my upper floor room all the time. I would prefer to be in a dorm where using the stairs is a reasonable option.

 

Lived at Towers back in 2001....had a blast...but its pretty old (unless they redid it since then) and definitely more expensive than the ones on campus...

I would avoid jester though.

 

Does he have a tiny giraffe?

Spoiler

 

The Engineering Honors program is flat out easy to get into. All you do is apply and you're in it.

As for dorms, if he gets into Honors, the Honors dorms are great. Blanton is the freshman dorm and has community bathrooms. It's the worst of the three, but being the freshman dorm, more people are sociable there. Andrews and Carothers are the nicer Honors dorms. They have sinks in them. They tend to be a little quieter than Blanton, though.

The location of the Honors dorms is great for any Natural Science, Engineer, or Math major as most of his classes will be up and down 24th street. The sections for these majors are roughly bisected by a North/South line using the clocktower.

I enjoyed my two years in the Honors dorms. Kinsolving food is better than Jester cafeteria, and the location was closer to all my classrooms. Freshman year on Blanton was definitely an experience.

 

I lived in Jester for a year, and absolutely loved it.

A lot of it was probably because a bunch of my friends lived on the same floor as me, but I couldn't imagine living all the way across campus in Duren or something. Most activities aimed at underclassmen usually happen in or around Jester. The PCL and Gregory gym are right next door. In fact, most of the people I knew living in Duren, Simkins, and Kinsolving spent most of their time in or near Jester anyways.

Two bad things:
1. It's kind of far from the Engineering building, but there's always FA buses, and your bro will probably only take 1 or 2 engineering classes as a freshman anyways.

2. Fire drills are a major pain if he ends up living on one of the upper floors.

So yea, I'd recommend Jester. If you're looking for a newer place, I'd go for San Jac or Dobie.

Also, he should've turned in his housing contract a long time ago... I doubt he's gonna have a choice anymore.

 

If you willing to drop some dough, try asking for a Corner Suite in Dobie (private). Four people, two rooms, two bathrooms, huge living room, and not as expensive as you may think. I'd reccommend 2nd floor so you don't have to deal with elevators.

Great location right off campus too.

 

That's exactly what I did, except I was on the 21st floor - the view from up there (facing northwest) more than made up for the elevator wait. It is considered an off-campus dorm though, so if money is an issue, the on-campus dorms work fine - try to get into San Jac, if possible.

 

Spot on. I lived in Jester West my first year at UT (98-99) and had so much damn fun. Lots of drunk debauchery going on there and I'm still friends with a bunch of the people from my floor. If you're not a partier, you might consider one of the quieter dorms like Moore Hill, Prather, or Brackenridge.

Jester's location is money since that's where you'll be spending most of your time with Gregory and the PCL right there. I didn't mind the walk down Speedway to ENS/RLM/etc. unless it was raining outside.

 

San Jac is the nicest along with Duren; Duren is so far from everything though so I heard it's somewhat boring.

Jester is obviously the loudest but last week when I went, they made alot of new renovations to the lobby and the floors. I would recommend Jester purely based on the fact that he will meet a ton of people, which is pretty damn important for your college career.

Other then that, Dobie is also a nice option. Considered "off campus" but it's literally right there. I stayed there and it's not that loud (if you get lower/mid floors) and there's significant amount of parties (usually in the upper floors)

 

I went to A&M, but I spent tons of time in Austin visiting friends and whatnot. I know nothing about the dorm situation, but reading through this thread really makes me miss college.

 

i would stay away from the honors engineering dorms...the best part of dorms are having co-ed wings of the building. I'd rather those wings be filled with actual hot chicks.