And the windows don’t open in that situation.
Yes, I get it. We live in Austin.
Do you have to buy real estate property to get in state residency or are there any other ways to do so? any contacts who can help?
We bought a property but there are other ways to do it. The residency office is really helpful and will go over what is required and ways to go about it and you can see if each of those are possible. For any of them you have to do them (or own a property in your name) for 12 months prior. Then there are a lot of documents you need to provide as proof etc. Some literally own the property for a year then dump it. Ours is rented out and we get a good ROI so we keep it. Feel free to pm me with more specific info or questions.
1 Like
Thank you. This is helpful. Do you mean residency office in UT Austin can help with how to establish residency or what is needed?
Unless you are in state UT Austin is not a target for anyone. Not sure about last year but two years ago their out of state acceptance rate was 8%.
2 Likes
Yes, the link is below. They can advise you on what you can do to attain residency and how to go about it. They’re very helpful. It’s a huge cost savings as our tuition last year was $42k and this year it is about $13k but would’ve been $44k.
2 Likes
Thank you so much.
Guys, I have a question… I’m an incoming international freshman this year, and will be majoring in economics. I was accepted into some schools, but the three that I’m mainly considering are UT Austin, UVA and UCSD. I know that academically they are pretty much at the same level, but I’d like to know, considering this is the UT Austin thread, what aspects of UT you think are better than UVA and UCSD. Thanks!
Wow-Congrats! They are all excellent universities with world-wide recognition. I’m pretty familiar with UCSD due to family there, and my stepsister is also an alum. UCSD is an aesthetically stunning campus perched on the cliffs that overlook the Pacific Ocean. It’s in the posh beach town of LaJolla that has some of the most expensive real estate in this country. Because of its beautiful coastline, people dream of living here if they could only afford it! The cost of living here is very high, so if you are on a tight budget, this is a tough place to live. It’s better to have a car, but UCSD has a good campus bus system as well as free buses for students that go to downtown San Diego which is a big city. There’s also a nice train called the Coaster that hugs the coastline and drops off at every nice beach and posh beach town as well as a couple of stops downtown and close to the airport. The train is limited to San Diego County only. One academic aspect that makes UCSD unique is that you don’t even declare a major until end of Soph. year. Instead, every student is assigned to one of 7 “theme colleges” that are all based around humanities themes of social justice, philosophy, societal impact, etc. (NOT College of Engineering, College of Science, so on). This is very different than the educational approach of other large state universities in the US whereby you are accepted into a specific major and then you follow the 4-yr degree plan for that major. Although students give very positive reviews of this approach, my hunch is due to the front-loading of humanities courses, if you are not a strong writer or not that interested in discussing societal, social justice issues, or political agenda of the day, it could be a rough start for you. It would be critical to also squeeze in Math classes into your schedule too if you plan to declare a STEM major at end of Soph. year. Obviously, there’s no shortage of recreation for students. There’s a steep staircase from campus down the cliff to access the beach, tons of nightlife options in the city, and students even cross the border into a grimy part of Mexico called Tijuana where it’s legal to drink alcohol at 18 (instead of 21 in the US). Check your international visa rules about border crossing though. Overall, the UC (Univ of CA) system is well-regarded for its high caliber research and educ. Don’t overlook unique opps like seminars at the Salk Institute next door (world-renowned for its scientific research). Southern CA is also the most cosmopolitan place with large % of Asian and Hispanic people as well as all nationalities. Side note - even though the cities look pretty close on a map, San Diego is a different metro area from Los Angeles, so there’s no easy commute. It can take 2.5 to 3 hours to drive to LA with the extremely heavy traffic and no subways/trains there. Obviously, you would take some trips to LA to see all the touristy stuff though. Oh – if Covid gets out of control again, the CA university classes may not be in-person this fall.
My husband graduated from UVA, worked at a government job in Washington DC for many years, and then attended UT Austin for grad school when he needed a career change. He says UVA is strictly a college town–large university in an affordable small town. It’s not in a city, and there’s no big city nearby. Charlottesville is by far the least cosmopolitan place of the 3 universities and frankly lacks the “cool” factor of San Diego or Austin, but everyone’s ideal for college varies. UVA just like all large universities has enough ethnic diversity on campus though. Lots of students come from mid/upper income suburban families and are all really smart. You can live student-life here in a nice college town, frequent the college bars, and study with smart students without the busy-ness of big-city life and distraction of a hundred extra activities you could be doing instead of studying. UVA is highly-ranked for its faculty research as well. When asked, my husband said if he could go back in time and had to choose between UVA and UT for undergrad (assuming same tuition), he would definitely choose UT Austin due to better opportunities…for everything! His perspective comes more from the fact that a large majority of UVA grads (not going to law or med school, etc.) will work in DC in government jobs (which he didn’t like). He thinks it would have been better to be in Austin and get more exposure to a variety of industries, companies, and job opportunities, not necessarily to work at them during his college years, but rather via seminars, lecture series, projects, etc. to learn more about different industries, science research, emerging technologies, start-up entrepreneurship projects, and have easier access to visit a variety of company open-house recruiting events in the city, make contacts with hiring companies, and/or just see if some field of study sparked more of a passion. (Your perspective can be a bit different though bc you are trying to choose the right university as an international student, not trying to find a permanent job in the US.) Of course, he says the outdoor-nature recreation and live-music and arts/culture scene in Austin is a definite bonus too. Also, UT now runs several entrepreneurship/innovation institutes (something that makes UT unique along with the Austin start-up community), so there’s more to explore/learn about today including in the science-medical field via bio-medical and bio tech startups.
Click on my previous posts (within last 2 weeks) where I’ve written about all the good things about UT and Austin. It’s a cosmopolitan city with a cost of living that is much cheaper than CA. It’s a bit pricier to live right by campus or downtown, but there’s good, affordable student apartment areas off campus on regular bus routes (full of students once classes are back in person). Outdoor-nature parks in Austin and all of the nightlife areas are easy to get to since downtown is right next to campus. There are good reasons why Austin is considered the “Live-music capital of the world”, why lots of companies have moved here, why the venture capital and start-up communities have blossomed, and why Austin wants to retain its artsy vibe. Coincidence that I had some connection to the 3 universities you are considering. Truly all 3 are excellent choices-good luck!
Your husband’s information might be a bit dated. Charlottesville is not inexpensive these days.
Hi srparent15. I just sent you a pm. 
Tell me about it. On our way to the airport I couldn’t believe some of the prices of real estate they were asking. I forgot to ask the girl showing us around how much apartments cost, and we know the COA is right up there with an Ivy League, but woah wasn’t expecting the real estate to be so high. It’s also a bigger town than I anticipated with a lot of flights in and out each day, but due to Covid less non-stop flights than beforehand.
We’re in Austin and I have a sophomore at UT now and one that’s already graduated from UT. My husband and I joke about how it’s more to HOUSE them at UT than it is to educate them. Funny, not funny.
3 Likes
For in state, definitely. For OOS definitely not.
2 Likes
Anyone have a kid attending UTSA cap? Is there a group set up yet on instagram, etc?
Have you heard back? I hope this works out for you!
Yes
8 Likes
We are also OOS and in the process of doing paperwork for domicile qualifications
Hi, has anyone heard back about their hosuing application yet? I submitted mine after I got accepted but never received an email or anything about it, so I’m wondering if that’s normal or if I should contact someone about it. Also, when is the deadline to accept your offer of admission? I thought May 1st but I’m not completely sure.