The University of Texas at Austin

I don’t really know where to begin… Living in college at UT over the past 4 months has probably been the greatest experience of my life so far. The university itself is amazing, its spread over 40 acres right in the heart of austin. It’s basically a college town so nearly all students live within a 5km radius of the uni. Below is an aerial photo of the university facing North.

In terms of actually attending the uni I’ve found the assessments and exams considerably easier compared to  UTS. They also have a massive range of subjects for business and communication majors – I was able to study 1 of my cores and all 3 of my electives.

There is always something happening around campus any day of the week. Usually in between (and often during) classes we sit around the pool. There are 2 main university pools; one pool for swimming laps and the other is a recreational pool with a volleyball net and basketball hoops around the edges. Below is a picture of the recreational pool (you can see the UT stadium behind it). 

Unfortunately my exchange semester was in spring so there were no football games played in the stadium, however we did get to see the UT team train which was still cool.

If you are thinking of coming here definitely try to live on West campus, as West campus is where the bulk of student night life happens. I know for most students night life is a major factor in choosing their exchange university. The nightlife scene at UT is like nothing i have ever experienced… It feels like it’s straight out of an American college movie. There is a huge fraternity/sorority presence at UT (there are around 30 fraternities and 15 sororities in total) and every weekend there will be huge frat parties. 

Also, thursday nights are student nights where everyone floods downtown 6th street and drinks are ridiculously cheap. 6th street is famous for its rowdy night life – It is a road which gets closed off and is full of students with around 30 bars on each side of the road. Below is a photo of one of the popular student bars

The only downside I have found living over here would be the food. There aren’t that many healthy places to eat and everything seems to be fried with massive servings. You will have to look extra hard to find a healthy spot to eat.

A few things you must do in Austin Texas would be Reds shooting range, Cain & Abels on tuesdays for $1 beers, South by South West festival and visit Barton Springs.

– Tristan Broughton