Living in Austin
This page is dedicated to those who recently arrived to the city of Austin.
Places to move in
The University offers Residence Halls (popularly called dorms) which include food service at a reasonable price. The university also offers apartments, which are reserved for families, graduate students, and undergraduates with at least 30 hours credit and in good standing with the University. For more information: http://www.utexas.edu/student/housing/
Other important option is an apartment complex. What you pay in monthly apartment rent depends in large part on where you want to live. There is fluctuation within any area due to the age of the property, size of the units, and number of amenities. But in general, the closer in to the central downtown business district and the further out (especially to the north and west), the fancier the homes and the higher the apartment rental rates. When you rent your apartment is important to check if the bus route is close to your desire new home. Most of the UT routes goes to the south east of Austin, in an area called Riverside after a main avenue that crosses the area. Most of the Apartment Complex in this region includes furniture and washer and drier in unit. If you want to move in with your family while studying probably Far West is the best option, which is more family oriented.
If you are coming for one or two semester, you want to meet a lot of people and improve your English while having a lot of fun... Check out the co-ops: http://www.collegehouses.coop/ Unlike dorms or apartments owned by the university or a landlord, the students control the way in which co-ops operate. As such, cooperatives provide a style of living that easily facilitates the needs of their members: residential, academic and recreational.
Transportation
For a new student in town is very important to get familiar with the shuttle routes, and as a UT student, all the routes are free of charge while showing the driver your ID (when asked). The Dilo routes are free for everybody as well as all the UT routes. For more information about the schedules and routes visit : http://www.utexas.edu/parking/transportation/shuttle/index.html
International Office
The International office is your first contact with the University. Is extremally important to pass by and let them informed that you are in town. They
have been moved to Wooldridge Hall (WOH) , 600 W. 24th St. (two blocks west of Guadalupe on 24 th ). If you are planning to to travel abroad USA, Make sure your documents are valid and you have a recent travel signature on your I-20.
Driver License:
The Texas driver handbook is located online at: http://www.txdps.state.tx.us/ftp/forms/DLhandbook.pdf. You should have a Social Security Number prior of applying for your driver license (but
is not required for individuals applying for an Identification Certificate). Check out this page to see their locations at Austin : http://www.txdps.state.tx.us/administration/driver_licensing_control/rolodex/searchresults.asp
Airplane tickets
Check out these websites. You can find some pretty cheap tickets there. A few guidelines when looking for cheap international flights: look very early (at least a few months before your departure date), be flexible with your dates, and avoid peak travel dates (July, August, a few days around Christmas).
http://www.studentuniverse.com
http://www.travelzoo.com
This page is currently under construction. If you need more information, please contact us at:
vesa@uts.cc.utexas.edu |
