UT Dallas

[Rorororosy]

The gayberhood is the 75219. Its the best place I've ever lived. I loved it, it was safe, and there were so many things that were close, if you like to run its a walk away from Katy trail and getting to uptown is a 5 min uber ride away! 

http://www.trulia.com/rental/3170851515-2727-Shelby-Ave-M-Dallas-TX-75219#photo-16

 

I just posted this listing which is amazing, my best friend owned a town home here and you get a covered parking! Just stay off the strip late at night it gets dicey but I mean its all gay bars....lol its a party. I loved it! 

Oh and its a 5 min drive to Callier

[CBG321]

16 minutes ago, Rorororosy said:

The gayberhood is the 75219. Its the best place I've ever lived. I loved it, it was safe, and there were so many things that were close, if you like to run its a walk away from Katy trail and getting to uptown is a 5 min uber ride away! 

http://www.trulia.com/rental/3170851515-2727-Shelby-Ave-M-Dallas-TX-75219#photo-16

 

I just posted this listing which is amazing, my best friend owned a town home here and you get a covered parking! Just stay off the strip late at night it gets dicey but I mean its all gay bars....lol its a party. I loved it! 

Oh and its a 5 min drive to Callier

By stay off the strip does that mean don't hang out at night or don't go walking alone type of thing?  I'm assuming it will be clear what the strip is once I see it lol?  5 mins is a great commute!  Thanks for the information!  I've heard mixed reviews about Oak Cliff or is it Oak Lawn confusing to have such similar names for out of towners?  I was told one of them was "scary/sketchy" any input? or as you said just stay off the strip at night?

[delete-account]

On March 7, 2016 at 1:24 PM, racoomelon said:

Can someone expand on housing options? I'm looking at Zillow right now and it looks like housing is pretty pricey. I don't know the area, so I don't want to look into a cheap apartment only to find out that I chose the most dangerous side of town to live in. 

A ton of girls live in the Village, so it's highly recommended. They have several complexes but are all under one management company, so prices range depending on whether or not you want gated, 1/2 bedroom, pets, etc.  It's about halfway in-between Richardson and Callier Dallas, so when you have a Richardson practicum it's easy to get to. I also know several who live off of Maple Ave, which is really close to Callier Dallas. My best advice is to come and visit Dallas if you can and choose an apartment based off of that. I made the mistake of finding a place I thought was good, cheap, and nice enough, and I got broken into after a couple months and had to move. I'm now paying double (literally) but I KNOW I'm safe and I'm much closer to Callier Dallas. Also check out Dallas PD's website - they have a feature where you can search address ranges and see what crime is in that area. 

[delete-account]

On March 4, 2016 at 9:57 AM, racoomelon said:

Just to chime in on this, do you have any information about assistantships/funding?

I can only speak for my experience, but it was all done through financial aid. There are very few, if any, assistantships available and I think they're competitive? This would be a better question for Dr. Stillman to answer. Funding was the make-or-break factor for me, and financial aid came through with grants and loans and work study. If you qualify for work study, you are pretty much guaranteed a job, but not the full hours it takes to earn all of the money (20 hrs). There are also emails sent out ALL the time about babysitting opportunities and that's how I make most of my money. It's manageable to babysit or work part time - I know a couple girls bartend on the side - and manage your coursework and practicums. 

[delete-account]

On March 1, 2016 at 0:54 PM, BamaBelle said:

@Schatzie15 thanks for sharing! Your posts about Dallas have really helped me to fall in love with the program. One thing I'm concerned about with the size of the program is the closeness of the students. The grad students at my current program seem like a family, and I'd like to have something similar in my graduate program. Is this possible at Dallas?

One of the things I love about UTD is that every couple weeks, I make a new friend. That's one of the advantages of being in a large program! You definitely get to know the people you're in practicum with, and your first semester you'll likely have all the same core classes as the other first semester students. If you're willing to put the effort into making a close group of friends, you'll definitely find people who want that too! 

[Rorororosy]

13 hours ago, CBG321 said:

By stay off the strip does that mean don't hang out at night or don't go walking alone type of thing?  I'm assuming it will be clear what the strip is once I see it lol?  5 mins is a great commute!  Thanks for the information!  I've heard mixed reviews about Oak Cliff or is it Oak Lawn confusing to have such similar names for out of towners?  I was told one of them was "scary/sketchy" any input? or as you said just stay off the strip at night?

I lived in oak lawn its not scary, actually bishop arts district is booming right now! Its a great little area. Oaklawn is the gayberhood, and "the strip" is the strip of gay bars that is off of cedar springs. Its awesome. The neighborhood is safe, as long as you don't venture too far off, Its a 5 min walk to katy trail which is the best running area, its beautiful. Close to kylde warren park, its close to uptown if you want to go out. You can pretty much uber anywhere form 75219 area. Even north park is about 15 minutes by car from here. Its 5 min to callier center and dallas is safe, you should be smart. Obviously in any city you can't go running at 3 am. I think that just is the fact of being a woman, but as far as walking your dog and just crime in general, no its safe. You might find a boa of feathers outside on day, that has happened, the gays are awesome! Uptown can be a bit loud, there a bunch of bars and all the SMU kids come to party and it gets out of control. you can't even get out of there sometimes its sooo packed. Its nice to be far away enough to drive but close where its like 5 min. 

[CBG321]

11 hours ago, Rorororosy said:

I lived in oak lawn its not scary, actually bishop arts district is booming right now! Its a great little area. Oaklawn is the gayberhood, and "the strip" is the strip of gay bars that is off of cedar springs. Its awesome. The neighborhood is safe, as long as you don't venture too far off, Its a 5 min walk to katy trail which is the best running area, its beautiful. Close to kylde warren park, its close to uptown if you want to go out. You can pretty much uber anywhere form 75219 area. Even north park is about 15 minutes by car from here. Its 5 min to callier center and dallas is safe, you should be smart. Obviously in any city you can't go running at 3 am. I think that just is the fact of being a woman, but as far as walking your dog and just crime in general, no its safe. You might find a boa of feathers outside on day, that has happened, the gays are awesome! Uptown can be a bit loud, there a bunch of bars and all the SMU kids come to party and it gets out of control. you can't even get out of there sometimes its sooo packed. Its nice to be far away enough to drive but close where its like 5 min. 

Thank you for the information!

[BamaBelle]

Emailed Dr. Stillman and will be visiting Wednesday or Thursday of next week. I'm very excited to see the facilities in person and learn more about the program!

[Kanga]

19 minutes ago, BamaBelle said:

Emailed Dr. Stillman and will be visiting Wednesday or Thursday of next week. I'm very excited to see the facilities in person and learn more about the program!

Wish you could wait a week! We'll be there late on the 24th/25th.

[BamaBelle]

Just now, Kanga said:

Wish you could wait a week! We'll be there late on the 24th/25th.

Aw man  Next week is my spring break so it's really the only time I could get there

[hopefulspeechie16]

Can anyone comment on the weather in Dallas? I'm from the North East so I'm pretty used to bad weather haha.

[BamaBelle]

54 minutes ago, hopefulspeechie16 said:

Can anyone comment on the weather in Dallas? I'm from the North East so I'm pretty used to bad weather haha.

I'm here visiting right now and it's been mid 70s-lower 80s all week. When we visited at Christmas, it was in the 40s. They usually get one freeze a year. 

[KLSLP]

1 hour ago, hopefulspeechie16 said:

Can anyone comment on the weather in Dallas? I'm from the North East so I'm pretty used to bad weather haha.

I grew up in the Dallas area, and as a general rule, it's hot, sunny summers (95-100 degree highs) and cool, cloudier winters (lows in the 40s).  It's very rarely truly cold.  Humidity is not anywhere near as bad as Houston, but it's humid enough that lows in the summers can be in the mid-to-upper-80s. Spring and fall are have some glorious days (not a cloud in the sky and 75 degrees), but they can also be unpredictable.  There will be a perfect t-shirt and jeans day and then 24 hours later, a random ice storm will roll in and shut everything down because no one knows what to do with freezing precipitation.  For me, the heat was uncomfortable (my dad hates air conditioning, so that didn't help), but tornado warnings were the only thing that really scared me.  Basements are uncommon, almost unheard of, so there's nowhere truly safe to go!  But overall: unless you absolutely despise heat or adore winter, it's not bad!

[Rorororosy]

12 hours ago, zrzka said:

I grew up in the Dallas area, and as a general rule, it's hot, sunny summers (95-100 degree highs) and cool, cloudier winters (lows in the 40s).  It's very rarely truly cold.  Humidity is not anywhere near as bad as Houston, but it's humid enough that lows in the summers can be in the mid-to-upper-80s. Spring and fall are have some glorious days (not a cloud in the sky and 75 degrees), but they can also be unpredictable.  There will be a perfect t-shirt and jeans day and then 24 hours later, a random ice storm will roll in and shut everything down because no one knows what to do with freezing precipitation.  For me, the heat was uncomfortable (my dad hates air conditioning, so that didn't help), but tornado warnings were the only thing that really scared me.  Basements are uncommon, almost unheard of, so there's nowhere truly safe to go!  But overall: unless you absolutely despise heat or adore winter, it's not bad!

Thats on the money, and sometimes we get like 108 and its hell. Otherwise its very mild weather, our weather can be sporadic tho, example today its hailing, yesterday was beautiful, overall dallas is awesome 

[hopefulspeechie16]

On March 17, 2016 at 10:08 PM, zrzka said:

I grew up in the Dallas area, and as a general rule, it's hot, sunny summers (95-100 degree highs) and cool, cloudier winters (lows in the 40s).  It's very rarely truly cold.  Humidity is not anywhere near as bad as Houston, but it's humid enough that lows in the summers can be in the mid-to-upper-80s. Spring and fall are have some glorious days (not a cloud in the sky and 75 degrees), but they can also be unpredictable.  There will be a perfect t-shirt and jeans day and then 24 hours later, a random ice storm will roll in and shut everything down because no one knows what to do with freezing precipitation.  For me, the heat was uncomfortable (my dad hates air conditioning, so that didn't help), but tornado warnings were the only thing that really scared me.  Basements are uncommon, almost unheard of, so there's nowhere truly safe to go!  But overall: unless you absolutely despise heat or adore winter, it's not bad!

 

12 hours ago, Rorororosy said:

Thats on the money, and sometimes we get like 108 and its hell. Otherwise its very mild weather, our weather can be sporadic tho, example today its hailing, yesterday was beautiful, overall dallas is awesome 

Thank you guys. I googled Dallas and all these forums were telling me that it's flat, has freakish weather, and is boring. I guess I'll have to see for myself.

[Rorororosy]

BORING??? Dallas NEVER! lol Its not as green as some states but we are trying! We do a lot of festivals and there is always something going on and our food is actually amazing! Can you tell I am from there?

@hopefulspeechie16

[gradgirl2016]

Hello guys! Congratulations to you all!

I will be attending UTD for my Masters this fall too. I'm an international applicant and am looking for a room mate too

Waiting to see you all soon!

[gradgirl2016]

On 3/9/2016 at 9:07 AM, Schatzie15 said:

One of the things I love about UTD is that every couple weeks, I make a new friend. That's one of the advantages of being in a large program! You definitely get to know the people you're in practicum with, and your first semester you'll likely have all the same core classes as the other first semester students. If you're willing to put the effort into making a close group of friends, you'll definitely find people who want that too! 

Hey @Schatzie15 ! I just got accepted into the program a few days ago and I'm trying to learn more about it. 

Are work-study positions available to international students? And are assistantships available for Masters students?

I'm hoping you can help  Thank you!

[gradgirl2016]

On 3/17/2016 at 7:14 AM, BamaBelle said:

I'm here visiting right now and it's been mid 70s-lower 80s all week. When we visited at Christmas, it was in the 40s. They usually get one freeze a year. 

Hello @BamaBelle! I'm an international application so unfortunately, there's no way I can come visit the university and the people there.

Please share your experience with me. I'd love to know more about the program and everything there

Thanks!

[BamaBelle]

On 3/18/2016 at 0:51 PM, gradgirl2016 said:

Hello @BamaBelle! I'm an international application so unfortunately, there's no way I can come visit the university and the people there.

Please share your experience with me. I'd love to know more about the program and everything there

Thanks!

Hey! So Dallas was on spring break, so I didn't get to see much of it in action. I got to meet with Dr. Stillman one-on-one. He was very kind and helpful with all my questions. The facilities are the nicest I've seen. The building has a lot of great resources, including several group therapy rooms, both for kids and adults. Group therapy seems to be a main focus for the program. They are also building a new autism center on the main campus. I didn't get to see that, but Dr. Stillman has just come from the first walkthrough and he said it was really nice. Since it's on main campus, we wouldn't necessarily be spending much time there, but we would have opportunities to have practicums there. 

Both Dr. Stillman and the grad student who showed me around said that they've managed to make the program pretty low-stress, which is quite different than the other programs I've seen. (At Mizzou, students told me it's not uncommon to have 12+ hour days!) I was told that most students there are able to maintain part time jobs, which isn't always the case at other programs. They only offer assistantships to PhD students, but they are able to offer a lot of support through work study and most students pretty much get to choose who they work with.

There are only six core classes required for the program, and the rest are electives, so there are a lot of opportunities to explore the field and to really focus in on your interests. The core classes will be in auditorium classrooms, since there will be about 90 students in the fall, but then electives will be in smaller rooms, sometimes even in conference rooms. Even in the big classes, the professors are engaging. The student I talked to told me that she's gotten her first choice practicum for both semesters. There are also so many different practicum opportunities around Dallas. It really seems like they do a good job of making this huge program feel small. 

I really loved the program, and right now, it's by far my top choice. If I can figure out the money, I will most likely be attending in the fall! If you have any more specific questions, let me know.

[EESpeechie]

1 hour ago, BamaBelle said:

 

That sounds amazing! I won't get to meet with Dr. Stillman when I visit next week because he has meetings and a collequium the day I go  

So you liked the feel of UT Dallas more than Mizzou? Does the large size of the program scare you? I'm a bit terrified of it lol

Also, did you check out any apartments near by? My mom and I are trying to compose a list of apartments to look at when we go out. 

Thanks! 

[BamaBelle]

2 hours ago, EESpeechie said:

That sounds amazing! I won't get to meet with Dr. Stillman when I visit next week because he has meetings and a collequium the day I go  

So you liked the feel of UT Dallas more than Mizzou? Does the large size of the program scare you? I'm a bit terrified of it lol

Also, did you check out any apartments near by? My mom and I are trying to compose a list of apartments to look at when we go out. 

Thanks! 

Yeah I did. Mizzou seems like a good program but everything they have is pretty outdated, and the clinic is really small. All the students I talked to at Mizzou love it though. The size is a little intimidating, but I feel better after visiting. It seems like they've got a good support system, and there will always be someone around to answer questions or help. For me, the auditorium they have doesn't feel much bigger than my undergrad classes, so I don't think it would be too hard to adjust to that, and only the 6 core classes are really that big. They said some of the more popular electives might be in the auditoriums too, but then you might have another elective with 7 students. Ultimately I think the size of the program is mostly beneficial. It means they have more resources and support from the university. 

I looked at a couple apartments in Oak Lawn that were nice and not too expensive. Also looked at one in Irving that I liked a lot. And then the Residence at Midtown. Those were the best ones I looked at, but I will definitely need to do some more investigating. I might be in the market for a roommate if I end up at Dallas, because it's so much more expensive than I'm used to. 

[gradgirl2016]

19 hours ago, BamaBelle said:

Hey! So Dallas was on spring break, so I didn't get to see much of it in action. I got to meet with Dr. Stillman one-on-one. He was very kind and helpful with all my questions. The facilities are the nicest I've seen. The building has a lot of great resources, including several group therapy rooms, both for kids and adults. Group therapy seems to be a main focus for the program. They are also building a new autism center on the main campus. I didn't get to see that, but Dr. Stillman has just come from the first walkthrough and he said it was really nice. Since it's on main campus, we wouldn't necessarily be spending much time there, but we would have opportunities to have practicums there. 

Both Dr. Stillman and the grad student who showed me around said that they've managed to make the program pretty low-stress, which is quite different than the other programs I've seen. (At Mizzou, students told me it's not uncommon to have 12+ hour days!) I was told that most students there are able to maintain part time jobs, which isn't always the case at other programs. They only offer assistantships to PhD students, but they are able to offer a lot of support through work study and most students pretty much get to choose who they work with.

There are only six core classes required for the program, and the rest are electives, so there are a lot of opportunities to explore the field and to really focus in on your interests. The core classes will be in auditorium classrooms, since there will be about 90 students in the fall, but then electives will be in smaller rooms, sometimes even in conference rooms. Even in the big classes, the professors are engaging. The student I talked to told me that she's gotten her first choice practicum for both semesters. There are also so many different practicum opportunities around Dallas. It really seems like they do a good job of making this huge program feel small. 

I really loved the program, and right now, it's by far my top choice. If I can figure out the money, I will most likely be attending in the fall! If you have any more specific questions, let me know.

Hello @Bamabelle, the program sounds great! I spoke to Dr. Stillman via email and he sounds very kind too.

Could you tell me something more about the places to live that you looked at? Which places did you like? What is the rent like?

Thank you for all the information in advance  Hope to see you there this Fall! If you land up choosing UT Dallas, I'd be looking for a roommate.. So, let me know if you are interested!

Edited March 20, 2016 by gradgirl2016

[EESpeechie]

16 hours ago, BamaBelle said:

Yeah I did. Mizzou seems like a good program but everything they have is pretty outdated, and the clinic is really small. All the students I talked to at Mizzou love it though. The size is a little intimidating, but I feel better after visiting. It seems like they've got a good support system, and there will always be someone around to answer questions or help. For me, the auditorium they have doesn't feel much bigger than my undergrad classes, so I don't think it would be too hard to adjust to that, and only the 6 core classes are really that big. They said some of the more popular electives might be in the auditoriums too, but then you might have another elective with 7 students. Ultimately I think the size of the program is mostly beneficial. It means they have more resources and support from the university. 

I looked at a couple apartments in Oak Lawn that were nice and not too expensive. Also looked at one in Irving that I liked a lot. And then the Residence at Midtown. Those were the best ones I looked at, but I will definitely need to do some more investigating. I might be in the market for a roommate if I end up at Dallas, because it's so much more expensive than I'm used to. 

Thanks for all the info! If I wind up there, I will for sure need roommates as well. I think we're going to check out the apartments at the Villages and some in Oak Lawn as well. 

[CBG321]

I'm still deciding but love the information on Dallas it is most likely going to be my choice.  I was also accepted to University of Kansas so I need to take a good look at them first since I already think I ruled out my other acceptance.  

I keep coming back to Dallas' program though it is so unique and has a lot of opportunities.  Only thing holding me back is  the location I think, I know there will be stuff to do but I will miss having mountains and actual hikes with elevation etc etc.  But that's kind of the point of going new places to experience something different so gonna make the most of it.