Would any of y’all be interested in some sort of group chat/text (not sure if we could do it on here) for those who took the Team Blinn option and are waiting/hoping/praying this works out? In case it does, might be good to have a group to discuss housing discoveries / potential roommates / etc?
If interested, maybe shoot me a PM with your e-mail address and I’ll put together a group e-mail in the next couple of days? If anyone wants to avoid the “blowing my anonymity” part, I get it. Just trying to prepare for what is (hopefully) a busy run in the coming days.
@Lavalocks19 i would definitely avoid Cambridge Hall, near Greek Row. Website looks great- and maybe it has improved - but it has been a questionable train wreck for several years. If it is indeed reopening in the fall, I’d give it a year…to see how the reputation is.
Callaway is a fantastic location, offers meals, and is considered a ‘private dorm’. Reputation is Very Much that of ‘Animal House’. Lots of privileged kids gone wild (not all, of course! But MANY), and also many straight Blinn kids just playing ‘wannabe Aggie’. Because they can’t discriminate who lives there, not everyone is a student, or even student age. Lots of complaints by parents, for excessive noise 24/7, pot smell (that’s every complex) and management doesn’t fix things swiftly.
Parkwest is located ON A&M property, so they can keep tenants to A&M/Blinn/RELLiS students only.
Brookshire Bros on site, multiple bus stops. Biggest complaints are always parking (lack of visitor spots) and heavy pot smell (a.k.a. Park Weed). Even the dorms will have pot smell issues…it is everywhere.
I’d look at ParkWest or Northgate high rises. For freshman, living any father away from campus isn’t ideal. Never pick a place to live that isn’t on the A&M bus route!
My freshman nephew (opportunity major) is in 12 North behind the Chicken. Small place but has two rooms, bathroom, kitchen and living area. No complaints.
Another step nephew went potluck in Calloway Villas and all three roommates were straight Blinn and at least one left at the end of the fall.
My kid lived at Callaway during the 2022 and 2023 year… They cleaned up the mold after a class action lawsuit was threatened and after that it turned out to be fine… I think the partying storyline is overblown… My kids roommates were in Mays, and engineering…. it was mostly Texas A&M students…. Although anyone can sign a lease, there was not a single non-freshman, college student that lived there… think it is mostly sold out at this point just another perspective, and it may have been very different this year
@Piknight we know a freshman who lives there currently…and it’s a nightmare. A Blinn roomie who basically has her boyfriend living in their room…and management turns a blind eye. Constant noise on the hall. A pipe burst in the attic and flooded their room (and others) recently. Male workers used their bathroom and left behind a nasty potty, Callaway didn’t even notify the occupants of the flood…until they came back to find it themselves.
It does stay full, and most likely is close to full (if not full) by now. I do hear Callaway Villas not as wild.
That stinks for those kids… There were a few issues here and there, two years ago, but for the most part, it was fine… My kid spent a lot of time on the roommate matching tool they had…….many people in kids flo also lived there…… former hs classmate lived in the dorm at A&M and ended up with a kid that was into heavy, heavy drugs that they couldn’t get taken care of……. I am glad my kid spent a lot of time finding the right roommates… as a sidenote, it has gotten massively expensive for next year compared to the 2022 2023 school year…… they got bought by a private equity company that is trying to squeeze every penny out of profit, so I would also be concerned about food quality… By the end of the year it seems like it was nothing but cheap pork products ha ha
Oh wow, can’t imagine it getting even MORE expensive!! …by after spring break, it’ll be a lot of cheap, ‘clean out the freezer’ food.
And yes, on campus or off, roommates can be a total crap shoot! The drug problem is a very real issue…and that’s EVERY school. It’s truly frightening.
My Aggie took ‘pot luck’ with her freshman Hulla roomie. They ‘met’ via a GroupMe, and had lots in common. 5 years later…they’re still super close friends. We have never taken that for granted.
I have been following this thread since my daughter got the three options. She chose Team Blinn only. She has a friend that has already been accepted, and she was hoping to room with her in a dorm. I’ve noticed the responses about housing. They are not accepting anymore housing applications…is that right?
FWIW - My daughter is at Callaway House this year. It is definitely a scene and has had lots of issues (flooding, maintenance, safety…) but my daughter has made dozens of dear friends and had a blast. If a kid is social and looking for a true off campus dorm - not an apartment - Callaway House fits the bill.
My niece will live there next year, even though she is a bit more sheltered than my daughter. She likes it because you get your own room and she will be surrounded by kids who will rush and do FLOs.
By contrast, my son (who is a HS junior) has stayed there a few times and decided it is too wild for him - so if he gets in to TAMU, he won’t live there.
Point is - Callaway House is not for every kid, but it is a great fit for some kids.
We are in the same boat. His friend was autoadmit since he’s top 10%… not sure how that’s gonna work in terms of being able to room together or if they’ll be able to?
@JessAg97 students on Temp List and Wait List can’t go thru dorm selection, or ‘match’ with a roomie.
Unless they open up some spots for TEAM (which I’ve never seen them do), everything I’ve read shows Housing is currently at Temp List.
IF a Temp List student gets pulled up (off Temp List) prior to dorm selection starting, then they could ‘match’ with a roomie already in the dorm queue.
Not sure if still the case but by ‘26 son was on temp housing list and was able to go through the roommate match process and selected his friend that paid his deposit in January. The waitlist kiddos were not able to participate until moved to temp. This was all in the spring of ‘22.
@STexasAg hmm, perhaps they changed it? In the past, Temp List has not been able to match with a roomie.
That would definitely be a great question for Temp List kids to ask Res Life.
I really appreciate all of your insight into all things TAMU! My son was accepted into Mays back in October and is trying to decide between TAMU and Clemson. He is my 4th son to go through the college application process but the first to apply to TAMU and your advice to apply early was great and definitely helped him with his acceptance as we are Maryland residents. Can you tell me a little more about how prevalent the weed problem is in on campus housing? Is there any enforcement if kids are caught? I have an older son that transferred out of his university after his 1st semester freshman year and one of the big reasons was the constant weed smell in the dorm. He hated it and I hope to avoid that with this son.
My son is also wondering about on-line classes in Mays. He understands ECON is online, is that the only one? Also, is it hard to get registered into the business classes because they are at capacity? He is a little concerned with just how big everything is but he really loved the campus and vibe when he toured and is leaning towards TAMU.
…by after spring break, it’ll be a lot of cheap, ‘clean out the freezer’ food.
