@jrgomez224 do NOT pay off campus housing deposit anywhere in B/CS until student has been accepted. There is NO WAY to get out of the lease…you’ll be on the hook to pay for the entire school year.
There is PLENTY of off campus housing, and tons will be subleasing, also.
Biggest advice I would have is reach out to the Department you plan to major in and see if you can set up an appointment with a Counselor or Provost there. Usually they are happy to do so and will have a current student attend and give you a tour. The A&M campus is massive and overwhelming, the regular tour just scratches the surface. Going to where you plan to major (or visit a couple if you aren’t sure which) and seeing where you will take classes and having your kid talk and ask questions is the best thing to get a feel for the right fit. If your kid has the slightest interest in the Corps doing Spend the Night is great, the best part to me is they go to an 8AM Class with a Freshman the next morning and got to see what it was really going to be like.
BTW, I have done this with my boys at A&M and elsewhere. For my eldest he was looking at CS vs Galveston and while the CS Campus was a huge draw the class environment in Galveston and seeing the Maritime Transportation facilities were home for him even though he was impressed by what he saw in CS. My youngest is Engineering all the way and the Engineering stuff is just unreal, though it has been great to compare against other schools. A&M’s Engineering facilities are truly elite though, only a very small number of schools are really in their league. You also will find some very reputable schools that look amazing as a campus but the actual facilities are very meh once you actually go inside the buildings. You also can get a real feel for how they treat you and the general attitude to see if it matches with you.
Ballgames, walking the campus, etc is all great too but very hit or miss as to what you will see compared to meeting with the departments.
Aggieland Saturday is a great time to visit. It’s the campus open house the second Saturday of February each year. If that doesn’t work for your schedule you can make arrangements to visit most anytime. Definitely do a department tour not just a campus tour.
The Texas A&M Hotel and Conference Center on campus is our favorite place to stay. Prices anywhere in BCS vary wildly depending on what is happening. We always make our reservations far in advance and get trip insurance if it is not refundable. We have stayed at several very nice Airbnb’s, the hotel & conference center on campus, and Tru is fine and our backup option when everything else is booked or too expensive.
Check out the gardens on west campus and the bonfire memorial.
I don’t care for the food but Dixie Chicken is a popular fun college dive bar to get cheap food and drinks at and soak up some college atmosphere. Don’t miss the rattlesnake in the large glass enclosure.
We usually eat at the dining hall on campus when we visit. Off campus my favorite restaurants to go to include Napa Flats and BJ Brewhouse.
If staying at the hotel & conference center on campus you can just park in their garage and walk everywhere . If staying elsewhere you will drive and park on campus. Make sure to refer to the tamu visitor parking map online. There is plenty of visitor parking in lots and garages. When parking in a lot make sure to park in a marked visitor space and use the app to pay online. Some lots are unrestricted after 5 and on weekends and you can park in an unmarked space and not pay but some aren’t. The website has more details. There is a bus system and there are bikes and scooters available to rent all around campus.
People are very down to earth and friendly. The local greeting is “howdy”.
Dorms are all pretty old and unimpressive except the one new dorm “hullabaloo” and white creek apartments . None have elevators except hullabaloo and white creek. However my Aggie chose to live in Davis Gary which is an all female, all single rooms, dorm. It was basic but fine. She had a double size bed. One room. No roommate. A sink. Don’t be scared off by the dorms with community bathrooms. They are not busy/crowded. Usually empty. Totally private individual dressing/shower stalls with doors that lock. Laundry rooms in dorms are free. Just bring your own detergent. Do the north side dorm tour and white creek tour.
🏌🏼♂:sun: