Texas Tech University Top Questions

.

.

There are different options for living on campus, there are the traditional dorms, the suites, and the apartments. There usually are common areas, kitchens and laundry rooms on most floors.

There are many choices for dorm living. There are female-only, male-only, apartment-style, and floors designated to specific interests and majors. They are communal bathrooms (yuk!), but are kept very clean by the lovely custodial staff. The rooms have two built-in beds, a sink, two desks, two dressers, and two closets. It is cramped, so you get to know your roommate REALLY well.

Dorm life at Tech is very different based on which dorm you live in. I was fortunate enough to live in one of the nicer dorms. In mine, the rooms were pretty decently sized with move-able furniture and walk-in closets. There were other girls dorms similar to mine, but with hard-wood floors. There were many other dorms which were also decently sized, with walk-in closets, which did not have move-able furniture, but did have a lot more storage space. Of course then there were also the lower end dorms, which were very small, had cinder-block walls, very little storage space, and built-in furniture. As long as you sign up for a dorm early and do your research into which dorms are the better ones, it's very easy to avoid the sadder dorms.

The dorms at Texas Tech seem to vary from residence hall to residence hall but during orientation each student has the opportunity to stay in the dorms over the weekend and can try it out for themselves. Most of the dorms are fairly small with two beds that extend from opposite walls. There is usually a desk or work center extending from the wall opposite the door, under the window, where students can arrange their school supplies or put a TV or small refrigerator. At the foot of each bed is usually a tall narrow dresser for storage and next to that is a small closet. Many students find that their clothes just won't fit in the closet and dresser so many opt to get some plastic storage bins that can slide under their beds. There is also small vanity mirror and a sink right next to the door but the full bathrooms are outside of the rooms in the hall's designated community bathroom and shower areas. Some of the other dorms on campus, reserved for upper classmen are laid out more like an apartment. They are still fairly small but do provide students with the option to have more than one roommate and to have a significant amount of more space. Two new residence halls are in the process of being built this year as the University is steadily increasing enrollment. The dorms aren't for everyone, especially if you've never had a sibling or any kind of experience sharing such a personal space as your bedroom. Also, because it adds such a significant amount to tuition, many students seek off-campus living the moment they are eligible. There are many apartment complexes close to campus and some even provide buses for their residents to get to campus. Some of the campus buses also pass many of the various apartment complexes which is great because it saves students money on gas from driving back and forth from campus and they don't have to purchase a parking pass.

The dorms at Texas Tech seem to vary from residence hall to residence hall

Some dorms are awesome, and some dorms are really crappy! I've been to the Band and Orchestra Camp over the summer at Texas Tech twice, and I've gotten to stay in Stangel/Murdough and Chitwood/Weymouth. Stangel and Chitwood are the girl sides. Stangel is not bad. I liked it there. Footage wise, it is pretty small. There are two beds on either side of the room, attached to the wall. There are dressers below the beds and the beds pull out from the wall a little. They are daybed style-like. A desk for each side is attached to the head end of the bed, which then looks out of a window. On the foot end of the bed is a dresser, and next to the dresser is the closet, which has a little slide door that bends up to open and stretches out to close and latch shut. On one side of the room is a sink attached to the wall, and a mirror (that opens) above it. There is no counter space. In between the two beds, there is about five feet of space. It is pretty cramped, depending on how much things each roommate has. There are also shelves for folders/binders/ etc. above the desk. And a chair comes with the desk. That is basically it for Stangel. Chitwood is the same, as well as a couple other dorms. Chitwood is known to many as "Sh**wood" because most of the time the water, A/C, or something else is having problems. Whether it's the toilets flooding, flow of air is stopped up because someone put blankets over their vents, or the elevators are acting possessed, the place is a little old, to say the least! The Murray dorms are set up like a town home, I believe. I'm not sure. One of my friends just moved in there and she lives with three other girls. They supposedly have an upstairs as well as a kitchen! That came as a surprise to me as I found this out only about a month ago! Horn/Knapp is where I live this year and it is greatness! The rooms are bigger by a lot. I have room to stretch out and walk around in my room. My roommate and I have a microwave and fridge, movable and adjustable beds and desks. Our sink has counterspace and a mirror that opens. There are also a pair of cabinets below the sink for extra storage. The closets are basically walk-ins, if you don't have too many things crawling all over the floor space. Horn/Knapp is an all girls dorm. I do enjoy it more than I thought I would! I can walk around, to and from the shower, without having to worry about dudes everywhere (most of the time). But's it's really nice, and everyone who comes is so envious of the space and the entire facility. Horn/Knapp also has a buffet style kitechen that is the closest to homemade I get to on campus!! It's delicious and it's also the cheapest place to eat on campus. Overall, Tech has great dorms!! I've been to other colleges and seen the dorms and Tech proves to be the cleanest and best put together.