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Posted
21 hours ago, CooterBrown said:

I just paid Junior Brown's fall semester bill - tuition, room/board, and fees.  All in, it was $19,900 after her merit aid and scholarships.  The only other expenses were the parking permit which was like $720 for the year and Mrs. Brown probably spent $5,000 on the dorm room.

 

 

2 hours ago, CooterBrown said:


$700 on two sets of sheets and a duvet.
$200 two pillows
$50 sit up pillow
$300 on matching tall night stands (one for roommate)
$300 fridge
$80 microwave
$50 2 sets bath towels
$50 over toilet storage rack
$40 2 3-drawer plastic storage bins
$25 phone/watch/airpods charging station
$115 lounge chair
$60 air purifier
$50 shoe rack
$30 rolling laundry hamper
$140 office chair
$400 at Target a months before move in. No idea what this was.
$550 at Target the night before move in. No idea what this was.
$350 on a 34” curved monitor.
$1500 laptop.
(Those last two were my purchases)

That’s just what I remember.

This tracks. We just moved the daughter into Iowa and fortunately she has a triple (cheaper and bigger). She'd been in touch with her roommates prior to move-in and so we were able to coordinate who bought what, so we didn't have to get the fridge, microwave, futon, and some other stuff. But we bought the coffee maker, ice machine, baker's rack (can't believe that damn thing fit), and other useless crap that girls MUST HAVE in their dorm room.

Then of course the required trips to Target and Walmart.

Still probably spent about $1500 all in not including the computer (which she paid for herself with 529 money) and the usage of a LOT of gift cards. 

I expect the boy to be much cheaper. He'll just take his clothes and computer and that's it. 

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Posted

Yeah, when we moved our son in his freshman year, my wife & I took him to Target the next morning.  My head about popped off at all of the nonsense she was buying him, but ultimately it wasn't nearly as much as we spent on his older sister.

It didn't help that I was just becoming symptomatic for my first bout of covid.  I couldn't figure out why I had a pretty serious headache.  Next day, popped a test.

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Posted
On 8/23/2025 at 10:55 AM, SimonBolivar said:

This thread left me wondering about something. What are some schools that have traditional college experiences (including P4ish football), but are extremely easy to get into (>83%)? There were plenty more than I expected and something for everyone.

Michigan State - 84% acceptance rate

Iowa - 85%

Arizona - 86%

Oregon - 85%

Arizona State - 90%

Iowa State - 89%

Utah - 87%

Colorado State - 90%

Cincinnati - 88%

Kansas - 88%

Kentucky - 92%

Ole Miss - 98% (!!!)

West Virginia - 88%





 

How does Aggie compare there?

2 hours ago, CooterBrown said:


$700 on two sets of sheets and a duvet.

That's how much those things cost??

Posted
16 minutes ago, Vegas64 said:

Yea, I spent $500 on my dorm room at UT and that was many decades ago. Adjust for inflation and I believe it.

We still have, and still use, the forest green comforter I bought for my dorm room at the Wal-Mart that used to be behind Highland Mall (where Burlington Coat Factory is now).  The thing is warm, and was built to last.  Back in those days, you had to scrounge around to find all the stuff you needed for a dorm room, or first small apartment.  Now?  Target has displays set up with "everything you need" that is all color-coordinated and will set you back $2500.

Interestingly, that approach has gone international as well.  We were in two UK department stores this weekend, and they too had similar displays of bedding and such set up (start of the school year is the same wherever you go).  And of course, IKEA is a solid choice wherever you are.  But don't sleep on buying stuff off of students graduating, unloading stuff from their dorm/apartment, etc.  My kiddos each got some items that way.

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Posted

My largest expense when I moved in to a dorm my freshman year was on lumber.  We build an extremely sturdy frame that lifted the bed off the floor with enough room to put the desk underneath.  I don't know if we had to buy bedding, but I know I didn't make my bed the entire first year.

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Posted

I found tons of good stuff set just outside of dumpsters at the end of each semester, though of course the end of the spring semester had the best stuff with people moving back home for the summer.

I moved myself into my room at Moore Hill, my parents didn't even consider accompanying me and that was fine.  I spent maybe $25 on sheets and a comforter,  I think I got them at Mervyn's.  They had to be twin extra long, otherwise I would have just stripped the bed at home and taken that stuff to the dorm.  Other than that all I had was a poster my parents gave me as motivation, and a Nagel print on the wall, that I brought from home.  And of course my killer stereo system in the ubiquitous rolling rack with the glass door, and the glass top for the turntable.

Oldsters will remember these well:

Meeting Marty Petersen, Artist of the Iconic “Justification ...

Patrick Nagel Japanese The Book Poster RARE Black Sunglasses Serigraph  Print | eBay

 

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Posted
Just now, utee94 said:

I found tons of good stuff set just outside of dumpsters at the end of each semester, though of course the end of the spring semester had the best stuff with people moving back home for the summer.

I moved myself into my room at Moore Hill, my parents didn't even consider accompanying me and that was fine.  I spent maybe $25 on sheets and a comforter,  I think I got them at Mervyn's.  They had to be twin extra long, otherwise I would have just stripped the bed at home and taken that stuff to the dorm.  Other than that all I had was a poster my parents gave me as motivation, and a Nagel print on the wall, that I brought from home.  And of course my killer stereo system in the ubiquitous rolling rack with the glass door, and the glass top for the turntable.

Oldsters will remember these well:

Meeting Marty Petersen, Artist of the Iconic “Justification ...

Patrick Nagel Japanese The Book Poster RARE Black Sunglasses Serigraph  Print | eBay

 

I classed up my dorm room in Moore Hill with a single decorative item:

birdsframed.jpg

Luckily, I had a buddy who had a family condo he moved into freshman year.  I kept all my guns at his place.  Otherwise, yeah....probably spent $50 on bedding, brought my Apple IIE from home, bought a small used fridge and a microwave, and brought a tiny CRT TV that we bought at a Woolworth's closeout a year or so before.  

I truly can't understand why any girls voluntarily spent time in my dorm room, yet they did.  I must have been much better looking and more charming back in the day.

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Posted
4 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

I classed up my dorm room in Moore Hill with a single decorative item:

birdsframed.jpg

Luckily, I had a buddy who had a family condo he moved into freshman year.  I kept all my guns at his place.  Otherwise, yeah....probably spent $50 on bedding, brought my Apple IIE from home, bought a small used fridge and a microwave, and brought a tiny CRT TV that we bought at a Woolworth's closeout a year or so before.  

I truly can't understand why any girls voluntarily spent time in my dorm room, yet they did.  I must have been much better looking and more charming back in the day.

Oh yeah, I bought a used dorm fridge for $40 from a friend.  My roommate had a microwave and a tiny black and white portable TV that we only ever used to watch The Simpsons and Beverly Hills 90210 on Thursday nights.

So I spent $65 on stuff.  All my own money, I worked summer jobs every year back then.

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Posted
20 hours ago, Saint Tacky said:

 

I did just read that UTD is one of 3 schools in Texas that would take a significant financial hit if the U.S. ever halted or curtailed enrollment of international students (the others being UNT and UTA). It shows how global UTD has become — or how much of its financial model depends on that stream of enrollment — that a huge portion of its graduate and undergraduate population comes from abroad. 

 

Rice should be on that list. They are around 25% international. 

Posted
38 minutes ago, utee94 said:

I moved myself into my room at Moore Hill, 

 

 

 

35 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

I classed up my dorm room in Moore Hill 

 

I was in Moore Hill (3rd floor in the back section) Fall 1989-Spring 1990.  Rumor had it that the room across the hall from me had been Tom Landry's back in the day.

What about you gentlemen?

 

As for decor, I had a poster of a scene similar to this

image.thumb.jpeg.209bd8a45605ed2bd21806724de2d55b.jpeg

and this, but a red one

image.jpeg.cfd9e95869d1bd8ded8b0fab0426f670.jpeg

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Posted
1 hour ago, Jerry Callo said:

My largest expense when I moved in to a dorm my freshman year was on lumber.  We build an extremely sturdy frame that lifted the bed off the floor with enough room to put the desk underneath.  I don't know if we had to buy bedding, but I know I didn't make my bed the entire first year.

Come on man make your damn bed. 

 

 

 

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Posted (edited)
13 minutes ago, orange dream said:

 

I was in Moore Hill (3rd floor in the back section) Fall 1989-Spring 1990.  Rumor had it that the room across the hall from me had been Tom Landry's back in the day.

What about you gentlemen?

 

As for decor, I had a poster of a scene similar to this

image.thumb.jpeg.209bd8a45605ed2bd21806724de2d55b.jpeg

and this, but a red one

image.jpeg.cfd9e95869d1bd8ded8b0fab0426f670.jpeg

My room was on the fourth floor, which was just the front part of the building, and my room faced that little back alley parking lot rather than 21st Street.

To move this thread back on topic, I doubt either of my kids will be going to UT or staying in Moore Hill.  My 17yo daughter will get in but just doesn't want to go to UT, she really dislikes downtown Austin and the campus area, having had a couple of unsettling run-ins with homeless dudes over the past couple of years in the downtown area.  And my 15yo son is... well... not motivated enough, to get in, I suppose.

 

 

Edited by utee94
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Posted
1 hour ago, utee94 said:

I found tons of good stuff set just outside of dumpsters at the end of each semester, though of course the end of the spring semester had the best stuff with people moving back home for the summer.

I moved myself into my room at Moore Hill, my parents didn't even consider accompanying me and that was fine.  I spent maybe $25 on sheets and a comforter,  I think I got them at Mervyn's.  They had to be twin extra long, otherwise I would have just stripped the bed at home and taken that stuff to the dorm.  Other than that all I had was a poster my parents gave me as motivation, and a Nagel print on the wall, that I brought from home.  And of course my killer stereo system in the ubiquitous rolling rack with the glass door, and the glass top for the turntable.

Oldsters will remember these well:

Meeting Marty Petersen, Artist of the Iconic “Justification ...

Patrick Nagel Japanese The Book Poster RARE Black Sunglasses Serigraph  Print | eBay

 

yeah seriously.  I'm glad I have boys because they have an assload of stuff and they can just pick and choose what they will need from their rooms for a dorm room.  Not to mention most boys are not thinking about matching shit, etc.  

My posters were a variation of these:

Vintage poster – Absolut Perfection – Galerie 1 2 3

Joy Division original atmosphere poster 80's MEGA RARE - CD - Musique

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Posted
2 hours ago, Da Fino said:

Rice should be on that list. They are around 25% international. 

If I had to guess, Rice isn't likely to be as financially strapped if the international student population was sent home.

Posted (edited)
Spoiler

 

Never lived in a dorm while at UT.

West campus apartment was fully furnished except for linens & kitchenware which I and my roomies brought from home. 
Roomie brought a little b&w tv. 
Computers? Lol - I had my slide rule. 
Wall poster? 1964 Playmate….

 

Edited by Armybrat
Posted
3 hours ago, utee94 said:

I found tons of good stuff set just outside of dumpsters at the end of each semester, though of course the end of the spring semester had the best stuff with people moving back home for the summer.

I moved myself into my room at Moore Hill, my parents didn't even consider accompanying me and that was fine.  I spent maybe $25 on sheets and a comforter,  I think I got them at Mervyn's.  They had to be twin extra long, otherwise I would have just stripped the bed at home and taken that stuff to the dorm.  Other than that all I had was a poster my parents gave me as motivation, and a Nagel print on the wall, that I brought from home.  And of course my killer stereo system in the ubiquitous rolling rack with the glass door, and the glass top for the turntable.

Oldsters will remember these well:

Meeting Marty Petersen, Artist of the Iconic “Justification ...

Patrick Nagel Japanese The Book Poster RARE Black Sunglasses Serigraph  Print | eBay

 

You forgot:

image.jpeg.f43c3eb7bac5dbe0dc6385942c8662b2.jpeg

and 

image.jpeg.16d5cda2b068cddfd82b4a82497bd5a9.jpeg

Posted

So, those of you who have kids that didn't get into UT, did your kid get a rejection letter?

CHIEF Jr. was a week and a half, in at UTD before he got an acceptance letter to UT-Austin. Of course we already had sunk the cost into UTD, so there wasn't any way we were gonna pull him out. I didn't get to read the letter, so not sure if it was for that fall semester, or that he could enroll in the spring. He missed the top ten of his class by like seven people, but had a stellar SAT score.

His professors at UTD, in engineering, and math were all foreign. I think everyone in the Russian professors class failed, as his English was very subpar.It tanked his first semesters GPA enough that he would not be able to transfer, and that was all she wrote.

CHIEF

Posted
2 hours ago, orange dream said:

 

I was in Moore Hill (3rd floor in the back section) Fall 1989-Spring 1990.  Rumor had it that the room across the hall from me had been Tom Landry's back in the day.

What about you gentlemen?

 

As for decor, I had a poster of a scene similar to this

image.thumb.jpeg.209bd8a45605ed2bd21806724de2d55b.jpeg

and this, but a red one

image.jpeg.cfd9e95869d1bd8ded8b0fab0426f670.jpeg

Moore-Hill was built in 1955.  Tom Landry graduated in 1949.

Posted

 

54 minutes ago, CHIEF said:

His professors at UTD, in engineering, and math were all foreign.

CHIEF

My son tells me this is not unique to UTD and is more the rule than the exception in STEM courses these days.

Posted (edited)
36 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said:

If every student in a class fails, then the school needs to step in.

My honors PHY303K class had a test average of like 26.  The professor, a hippie looking dude fresh from the Max Planck Institut fur Plasmaphizik, did not announce a curve and expressed disappointment at the low scores.  A guy on my floor at Castilian was the curve-buster at 33.  We were all sweating what would happen.  I made a gentleman's B.

Based on that, I wanted to get the hell out of the honors section of 303L, but hell week was the first week of class.  So, I went to Dean Margaret Baker's office looking rather unkempt and probably pretty stinky to try to beg my way out of it, she told me I was a big boy and had made a B in 303K and to quit cryin or she'd give me something to really cry about (slight hyperbole there, but she was tough).

So, I did have Austin Gleeson as a professor, but electricity and magnetism still often befuddles me and I'm not sure I learned shit.

That same semester, I had a statics prof that was Polish and said "perpendicle" instead of perpendicular.  Made a C there and the following mechanics of materials, which wouldn't seem to bode well for an ME, but I guess they gave me a good foundation, because 3.7 was my lowest semester GPA in upper division.

Edited by TwiceHorn
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Posted

My heat transfer class was the same way.  Every test (conduction, convection, radiation) had a class average of ~ 35.  But, the prof curved.  He just wanted students to know how little they knew.  A 55 was probably a high A.

Posted
7 minutes ago, Vegas64 said:

 

My son tells me this is not unique to UTD and is more the rule than the exception in STEM courses these days.

There's foreign and foreign. UT ME had several foreign professors, like Phillip Varghese, that spoke better English than a lot of native-born Americans.  Of the current crop of foreign profs in the ME Department, that's the type there mostly are.

Posted (edited)

TWICE- don't you practice law?  That's an interesting course of study to get there, if so.

Those sound like my youngest son's courses right now and some of the stories he has shared.  No law in front of him though.  He likes the astro part of astro-physicist.  No idea where that came from.

 

Edited by Iceman
Posted
Just now, Iceman said:

TWICE- don't you practice law?  That's an interesting course of study to get there, if so.

Those sound like my youngest sons courses right now and some of the stories he has shared.  No law in front of him though.  He likes the astro part of astro-physicist.  No idea where that came from.

 

Patent law.  Technical undergrad required in most cases.

Although I enjoyed the engineering education quite a lot and putting math and technical explanations behind observable mechanical behavior really amused me, I sincerely doubted my abilities as a design engineer because I felt creativity was not my strong suit.    I went to law school to be a patent lawyer, although I spent a good bit of law school thinking I wanted to do something else, and finally circled back.

Unlike a lot of engineers, I was pretty even on my math/English SAT and achievement test scores, actually always slightly higher in English.

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