Questions for UT Austin students/former students (Round Rock, Alvin: real estate, apartments)

[Bentley wings]

I'm currently a student at a junior college down in Alvin, Tx. I'm seriously considering UT Austin to transfer to along with Texas A&M.

Questions-

1. What is the traffic like around campus during the semester?

2. Is it usually very hard to find parking spots?

3. How are the professors?

4. Anyone on here gone to the Mccombs school of business?

Ill have more questions in soon.

Thanks!

[CptnRn]

My comments below:

Originally Posted by Bentley wings

I'm currently a student at a junior college down in Alvin, Tx. I'm seriously considering UT Austin to transfer to along with Texas A&M.

Questions-

1. What is the traffic like around campus during the semester? Heavy, you should try to live close by and ride a bike.

2. Is it usually very hard to find parking spots? Yes! Try to avoid commuting by automobile to the campus, either live close and use a bicycle or find a place to live along one of the UT student bus routes, which is free. Shuttles | Parking & Transportation Services (PTS) | The University of Texas at Austin

3. How are the professors? Depends on the college. Generally most of them are pretty good and interested in teaching.

4. Anyone on here gone to the Mccombs school of business? Only took one real estate class there but it is one of the most highly rated business schools in the US.

Ill have more questions in soon.

Thanks!

[TXEX06]

You will need a GPA atleast of 3.8 to transfer to McCombs. If you don't then you could apply to another school (College of Liberal Arts) at UT and keep your GPA high and possibly change majors and transfer over to McCombs.

[centralaustinite]

Yes, you will need stellar grades to transfer!

If you have a car, you may want to live a bit farther from UT (Far West, off Riverside, and other areas served by UT shuttle service, the shuttle is free), there is essentially NO student parking at UT. You can buy a C permit but the spots are very limited, fill quickly, and are hard to find. You don't want to search for a place to park everyday. Either live close by and bike or walk or live on a shuttle line. Look carefully at CaptRN's post, the link to UT shuttle service and routes is there.

[Bentley wings]

Really appreciate all the input! Thank you all very much!

The transportation is kind of a blow to my confidence. I have severe anxiety about doings things Ive never done. But I know there will be many more obstacles even beyond college where I will have to overcome anxiety.

One poster mentioned living a little further out. I had this idea. I have an uncle who lives in Round Rock (or it may be hutto, will have to clarify that, haven't talked to him much) and another uncle that lives in Lakeway. Would it be realistic to consider living with either of them while going to UT? I'm trying to look at ways to save money as I've been told the apartments around Austin are a little overpriced.

My next 2-3 semesters at JC will have to be all A's from now on. This past semester I got 2 A's and B but it needs to be A's.

[centralaustinite]

NO! Living in Round Rock or Lakeway or Hutto would make your university experience MUCH harder! You would have to deal with traffic, parking (no place to park near UT), weather (long LONG walks from any public parking spot to UT), AND would have trouble taking advantage of what UT offers (access to the library, labs, study groups, etc).

Live on a shuttle route! Get a roommate if you need to save money. Believe me, riding a shuttle directly to campus is the low-stress, low anxiety way to go. Driving and trying to find parking (could take an hour, could be far away, could cost $) and THEN walking to class, is a sure way to drop out (less likely to go to campus when it rains or is super hot, very easy to be late to class, worried about coming in late, you decide not to go, can't meet up with your study group because you are late because you were looking for parking, etc.)

[Westerner92]

Agreed, don't live anywhere where you'd have to drive. If the traffic doesn't drive you mad, the parking on campus will. The C lots require you to get on a shuttle, and the parking garages run upwards of $600/year to park, and often have waitlists of over a year. The cheapest places to live that are along a shuttle route are East Riverside and Far West Blvd.

[Austin97]

Ill add that austin eye, dell and mann are the three big ones. I sort of recall that one of them was not supposed to be as good (dont think it was austin eye)

[Austinite101]

Live as close to campus as possible. DO NOT drive. Walking distance would be most beneficial. Public transit makes things easier as well.

I can't discourage you enough, absolutely do not live in the suburbs and attempt to be a full-time student. It will make things exceptionally difficult for you.

[BigDGeek]

I see not much has changed since I graduated from UT-Austin in the late 1990s. I lived on campus for two years, just west of campus for one year (on Rio Grande), then between Riverside and Oltorf my last year. Taking the shuttle kind of sucked, but it was free and I usually wasn't late to class. If I was, everyone else on the bus was too because we were all stuck in the same traffic jam on the 35 bridge. If you live in Riverside or Far West, do yourself a favor and don't sign up for 8am classes.

And I am going to echo everything that everyone else has said. It was true when I was a student 20-odd years ago, probably much more true now. I didn't know anyone who lived in the suburbs. Madness! Everyone lived in student ghettos. Nobody drove. I didn't even have a car my first two years, since there was nowhere to park it anyway.