I can tell you for some of you fellas it's been awhile since your college days. Since I'm still a student on campus, I'll tell you about all the dorms I've lived in and visited and their condition as of right now. Herget- Lived there my freshman year. It is absolute CRAP! Avoid it like the plague. I was stuck in a four student room and it was a big room, but very dusty and dirty. Hall baths were not very clean. Since it is the Residential College, a bunch of freshmen lived there and it got very crazy at times, people pulling fire alarms and such. Not a good environment. McVoy- This is where I'm living right now for summer school. It's okay, but the rooms are small and it's been awhile since the building was maintenanced, so a lot of stuff is broken. The bathrooms are small and very limited, so you often have to wait for a shower stall to open in the morning. It's not the lap of luxury, but livable. The LaVilles- Mostly okay, but you are still dealing with hall baths. You have your own AC unit though, so you can control the temp, and the rooms are big enough to give you a lot of open space if you bunk the beds. The Patio is where all the freaks hang out, so you don't want to hang out there. Like most of the old dorms, it's very dusty at times. The Horseshoe Dorms- Probably the best non-apartment dorms on campus. It's very quiet there, so you can study. I've lived in Garig the last two years and the small dorm atmosphere is much better than the high rises. I lived on the bottom floor last year, which has carpet, so we had it made, WHEN THE AC WORKED! See, like most of the old dorms, stuff breaks more often in the Horseshoe than in other places. Overall, very good though. Plus, you are within convenient walking distance of the Union and the cafeteria. The Pentagon- These dorms have been improved greatly over the last few years, but they are still nothing to brag about. The rooms are TINY and the built in cabinets they put in to replace dressers only take away from the limited space. Bunk beds are a MUST. They just got AC and thermal windows installed two years ago, so now they are much more livable. Bathrooms are nasty, though. Kirby Smith- Light years better than it was five years ago. They spent a lot of money to renovate the place, and it shows. Nice, shiny new floors and walls, a huge gameroom, and an electronics room with a DVD player and big screen TV make it nicer, in addition to a big new computer lab. Rooms are small but not too bad. The elevators are newer, faster, cleaner, and now have security cameras in them, so expect to get caught if you mistakenly think the elevator is a bathroom. Still pretty wild though, considering you have 14 floors of Frosh boys living in it. East and West Campus Apartments- THE HOLY GRAIL! I'm moving in WCA this fall. Full kitchen, washer and dryer, and private rooms. Carpet too. A very nice place to live if you can swing it. You just have to wait three years like I did to get in one. Hope my experience is helpful to others considering living on campus. IMO, it beats living in an apartment hands down, IF you get in a decent dorm. Besides, I couldn't afford apartment rent anyway, so it's not like I have a lot of choice. But it's okay. And convenient.
The best place to study os the Catholic Student Center. It's quiet, they serve free meals one day a week, and there are always cute girls there.
The on campus aprtent suck. It is a total rip off. Wanted to chime that in too. Give me the Highland Basement any day. The best hall in the best Dorm.
Actually, if you break down cost in terms of rent per month, ECA and WCA are a heck of a lot cheaper than comparable apartments with the same amenities, and being on campus is a huge advantage. Yes, they are a bit small, but they beat efficiency apartments hands down. Think about it. A two person apartment in WCA is about $2500 a semester. That breaks down to about $500 per month. $500 a month will barely get you out of the Tigerland roach motels. Decent apartments in this town are out-of-this-world expensive. Tell you the truth, most regular dorms are not that bad. I am just ready for a change though. It's an amazing power trip having a kitchen and living room. It will help my social life considerably.
What does El Cid cost these days? I lived there 1997-99, 1 bedroom apartment for under $400. Short walk from campus.
El Cid is $385 a month for a one bedroom. I know this because a friend of mine lives there and he borrowed the rent money from me a couple of months ago.
Walked past El Cid many times I lived at Embassy Apts from 97-99 (Plantation Trace 95-96) and one of my friends lived in some apartments on the other side of El Cid so I walked by there many times. Also, there were some late night beer runs to the Circle K, a few actually on foot because we didn't think we should be driving (even about the distance of a football field). I wish that Arby's would've been there a little sooner.
A room at Sterling or The Commons run about 350-415 depending on the number of bedrooms. Both of those are a good bit nicer than over in Tiger Land and if your roommate skips out on rent you dont have to cover his part due to individual leases. It is very walkable to the TIger Land bars and on game days, its a good walk but I have done it many times. There is a good bit of partying at both of these places. I swear the other night the spanish girls above me where having a super fiesta or something.
I lived in Kirby Smith for one semester in the early 80's. It wasn't that bad then but it seems to have gotten worse over the years. The one nice thing about KS back then was that it was one of the few air conditioned dorms on campus. I'd try to switch to one of the dorms closer to the union and get an apartment as soon as you can. As for studying, go to Coffee Call or some other coffee shop. It was just the right mix of noise/quiet to keep me going late at night.
I live in The Embassy now which is practically on campus. My rent is 325 a month, and I have never spent mor than 150 on utilitis. ECA is the biggest rip off ever. It is 2500 bucks, you don't know your roomates. You can't have parties. You have quiet hours. The walls are paper thin. The place is a hole. Also the 2500 only pays for 2 weeks in august sept oct nov and 2 weeks in Dec. Thats only 4 months. For what its worth Embassy is the way to go.
