Our TAMU Callaway Dorm Review (+5 Tips/Tricks)

I wanted to share my daughter’s personal living experience and review of The Callaway House in College Station (Texas A&M) with you.  From unbunking the bunk beds and room measurements to the meal plan, cost, and off-campus location, I’ll try to cover all the topics that came up from move-in to move- out.  There were so many things that we forgot about when taking our tour, or didn’t even know of, that I can now offer up as true advice.  Ok, let’s get to it!  Our TAMU Callaway Dorm Review (+5 Tips/Tricks).

There are 2 sets of unbunked bed pictures:

•   Room to the LEFT of the front door (like my daughter’s – main part of post)
•   Room to the RIGHT of the front door (like model – very end of post in Bonus section in red)

 

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Our TAMU Callaway Dorm Review (+5 Tips/Tricks)

Posts Related to College, Dorm, Or Callaway House:

Living at Callaway House TAMU:  Before & After Pics Post – is ready!

• Gold Frames TAMU Wall Art – living room
• White Frames Cocktail Prints – bedroom
• Coffee Bar – dining area
• Dorm Room Headboard Hack – bedroom
• College Dorm Essentials Checklist (for girls)
• Dorm Packing & Moving Tips
• College First Aid Kit

 

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Our TAMU Callaway Dorm Review (+5 Tips/Tricks)

American Campus Communities (ACC):

The Callaway House is a private off-campus dorm that is run by American Campus Communities and owned by the Blackstone company.  

What does this mean?

• This means that Texas A&M University does not own or control this dorm – that’s why it is not on TAMU college property.

American Campus also runs 166 properties (Daily Texan) in other cities & states as well – so each property is unique.

• For example, we toured The Callaway House (and also The Castilian – another ACC property) in Austin, TX – and the rooms are designed a little different.

So, I just wanted to mention that because this post will be about The Callaway House in College Station.

Things about The Callaway House TAMU:

• off-campus dorm
• includes an unlimited meal plan (dining hall on 1st floor)
• 8 different room options (private rooms or shared rooms)
• bathroom inside unit
• kitchenette – with fridge/microwave
• dining area (table and chairs)
• living room area
• furnished units
• laundry facilities on-site
• utilities included (electricity, internet, cable, trash etc.) 
• 5 floors
• has elevators
• pool, exercise room, game room, & movie room
• *have access to Callaway Villas amenities also
• **has parking options (separate payment)
• TAMU bus route – walking distance to get to
• group study rooms
• housekeepers
• 24-hour on-call staff/ courtesy desk
• ***can be TAMU, Blinn Team, or Blinn student
• roommate matching services available
• individual lease agreements
• mostly Freshman live here 
• big on Greek life

*Callaway Villas

• Another affiliate ACC property that you have access to – their pool and workout areas.

**Parking options:

• Reserved parking get a specific, designated spot – in the covered part of the garage.
• Non-reserved parking means you get a place to park in the garage – somewhere – but it is first-come, first-served. 
• Annex parking – parking behind garage on street (I think)
• Moped parking.

***Can Blinn Team & Blinn Students live here?

• Yes.
• My daughter was a TAMU student, and her 3 roommates were Blinn Team – all freshman.
• She did know girls who went to Blinn as well who lived at Callaway.

Ok, let’s get to the goodies!  Our TAMU Callaway Dorm Review (+5 Tips/Tricks).

 

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Our TAMU Callaway Dorm Review (+5 Tips/Tricks)

My daughter rented the 2 Bed/1 Bath SHARED option:

• 2 people live in 1st bedroom (sink inside bedroom)
• 2 people live in 2nd bedroom (sink inside bedroom)
• 4 people share bathroom, kitchenette, dining, and living room.

So how much does it cost to live at Callaway House?

Price/Payments:

The price has gone up this year.

10 Installments:  June 1st – March 1st (was $1,099 – in 2022)

Price now:   $1,499/installment x (10 installments) = $14, 990/ annual installment

We also did “non-reserved” parking option = $600/ annual installment

$14,990 + $600 = $15, 590 total

Here is a floorplan of the 2 Bed/ 1 Bath – SHARED:

source: thecallawayhouseTAMU (2/1 – shared) 

 

Here is the same room with different living options – PRIVATE.

2 Bed/ 1 Bath – PRIVATE:

• 1 person lives in 1st bedroom (sink inside bedroom)
• 1 person lives in 2nd bedroom (sink inside bedroom)
• 2 people share bathroom, kitchenette, dining, and living room.

Price is $2,649/installment x (10 installments) = $26, 990/ annual installment (+ parking choice)

Here is a floorplan of the 2 Bed/ 1 Bath – PRIVATE:

Differences:

I wanted to show you the differences in the 2/1 floorplan OPTIONS so that you can see:

• Bed placement/size – this will make a difference when you go from the twin xl bunk bed bedroom – (to unbunking the beds) versus the full xl bed bedroom.
• And pricing:  $14,990 for shared versus $26,990 for private.

So, you can decide what bed placement/size or amount you want to spend for your dorm experience.

 

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Dimensions/Measurements:

Ask to get the form with the Dimensions & Measurements.

This was not offered to us, but of course I asked for measurements, and they do exist!!

This is a life-saver.  It really helped answer a ton of questions and saved us so much time.

• Please bring the noted tools to unbunk your bunk beds (if you choose that room option).
• You will not need bed risers (for the twin beds) – the feet are rectangular (not round or square).
• We tried bed risers, they didn’t work right – so we used them to raise the nightstand.
• Update:  I have had a chance to measure the UNDER bed height when unbunked at highest level – for storage.

***UPDATE:  THE UNDERBED HEIGHT WHEN UNBUNKED – 29″H***

 

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Meal Plan:  

Here is some information from my daughter – but it might not be exact.  I just wanted to give you some ideas on how it works.

• Hours:  8am – 8pm (M-Thurs.)
• Weekends:  8am – 7pm (Fri- Sunday) 
• Closed:  2pm – 4pm (Sat/Sun)
• Meal to Go Bags:  Offered while you’re on campus at lunch time.

Here is a sample of the food options on the Meal Plan.

 

Ok, let’s get to my daughter’s review, tips & tricks!

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My Daughter’s Review, Tips & Tricks

Review Overall: 

Overall, my daughter enjoyed her experience living at The Callaway House. 

She told me that it really just depends on what you’re looking for (on-campus verses off-campus):  

• Being off-campus had it’s challenges – but having the Kitchen/Bathroom/Living & Dining room, made up for it.
• And that once you got used to the bus travel or walking time, it’s not that bad.
• The Callaway House had a little more freedom to it – more like an apartment feel.
• And that it had a really big Greek presence (if you’re looking for that – she was).
• There were times she had to stay on campus most of the day – depending on her schedule, but she used that time to study or hang out with her friends living on-campus.

Here are some of her Pros, Cons, Tips & Tricks

Pros:

• She really liked the Meal plan & food, and that it’s inside the dorm itself 
• Being close to TAMU bus route 
• Having Laundry on every floor
• Study Rooms 
• Liked the Apartment type floorplan
• Having the Front Desk Workers
• Having the Phone (Keyless) Lock System for front doors, Keys for Bedrooms
• Having Parking at Callaway

Cons (Tips & Tricks)

• We did buy the cheapest TAMU Aggie Bucks also (for long days on campus or Starbucks 😉 )
• Sometimes the buses were full (not a Callaway Issue) and took longer to get to class
• Laundry areas got busy or dirty (she recommends using 1st floor laundry)
• Study Rooms fill up quickly on high test weeks – so she had to study on campus sometimes
• Dorm rooms need to be “cleaner” and repaired/remodeled more
• Front Desk Workers – are young college-aged kids

Now, let’s move on to my (parent) review, tips & tricks.

 

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My Review, Tips & Tricks

The main focus on this section will be of Sadie’s bedroom (2 bed/1bath – SHARED) floorplan, because it’s where we faced the most challenges.

And I know that you’re thinking we should have picked up on some of these things when we toured it – (twice LOL) but we didn’t and now we can share our experience with you!

My Review, Tips & Tricks of the Bedroom:

This first tip wasn’t mentioned anywhere in the brochures or on our tours.

TIP #1:  There are 2 different room LAYOUTS within these units.

• Room A & Room B.
• One room has 2 separate closets – staged with the full xl bed.
• One room has 1 walk-in closet – staged with the twin xl bunk beds.

***They might be switched depending if the rooms are located to the left or right of the front door of your unit***.  You’ll notice that the rooms aren’t labeled on the floorplans – BUT they are labeled on the DIMENSIONS sheet above.

• My daughter’s floorplan had rooms to the left, and her room B had the one walk-in closet.

This is not a huge deal – but IS something they need to tell people when signing up – especially girls.

If you’re kid is messy, has a lot of clothes, or is super particular with their personal belongings – they might want the room with their own private closet.

TRICK:  You can request which room you want on the application.

Silver Lining: 

• It is a great way to learn how to work together as roommates and how to compromise – right from the start!

 

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TIP #2:  The room with one closet has different rods/shelves on each side.

• 2 clothes rods/shelves on one side
• 1 clothes rod/shelf on the other side

It’s great that you can hang dresses or long clothes items on the side with 1 rod, but not so good if you want to split the closet into individual sides for each person.

TRICK:  I recommend putting a closet tension rod on the 1 rod/shelf side – so that they can hang more clothes on that side.

Silver Lining:

• They can also share some of the closet space – teamwork again.
• At least there are 4 drawers in the dresser (2 & 2) – YES!!

Model (flipped so that it like our unit)

 

In our Room

 

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TIP #3:  The room with one closet has vanity/sink connected to bedroom.

The 2 different bedrooms also have different vanity/sink placements.

• One bedroom has the vanity/sink at the entrance of the bedroom, with a hallway that goes into the bedroom part.
• The other room (the one closet room) is connected – like my daughter’s.

I thought this open vanity/sink doorway might be a little challenging for the girls – since it feels like part of the bedroom.

TRICK:  I added a blackout curtain with a tension rod to help reduce some of the light and also to add a little privacy to that area.

Silver Lining:

• This privacy curtain definitely helped the girls to respect each other’s different schedules (both school and sleeping times).

Model (flipped so that it like our unit)

 

Here is our unit with the blackout curtain.

 

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TIP #4:  When you unbunk the beds, your room will shrink.

There are no pictures of the twin bunk beds – unbunked, and they don’t show the room like this on the tour.

• And it’s probably because these rooms really aren’t big enough to do them this way – BUT most everyone unbunks the beds.

TRICK:  The girls moved one bed perpendicular.  They had seen some other girls do this, and it worked.

Silver Lining:

• This gave them a little more free space to move around the room in.

NOTE:  We tried to do turn one bed perpendicular on move-in day, and failed LOL!

DOUBLE TRICK:  BOTH desks have to be moved out of the bedroom first in order to move the beds like this.  Then you can bring one or both desks back in (if that’s your preference).

NOTE:  You will NOT need bed risers for these beds (also none fit correctly because the feet are rectangular – not round or square).  The beds are tall when unbunked & raised.

• Update:  I have had a chance to measure the UNDER bed height when unbunked at highest level – for storage.

***UPDATE:  THE UNDERBED HEIGHT WHEN UNBUNKED – 29″H***

TRIPLE TRICK:  We used our bed risers – to lift our nightstand up to bed height when unbunked.

Model (flipped so that it like our unit)

 

Here is our unit with the beds unbunked.

 

Here it is when we moved Sadie in (but then the girls changed it).

The retro wall art post is linked at top of this post.

 

And this isn’t the best picture, but here it is with one bed perpendicular.

 

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TIP #5:  If you move the beds perpendicular, you will most likely lose a desk.

We already had moved the desk that fits under the window, to the living/dining area (even after unbunking the beds on move-in day).  So our girls had given up the desk anyway.

• You might decide to keep both desks, but it would be really snug in here.

TRICK:  Move one desk to the living/dining area to make a coffee bar or to use as an additional drop zone.

Silver Lining:

• This gave them a little more free space to move around the room in – and they studied in their beds instead.

Model (flipped so that it like our unit)

 

Here is our room after the girls turned the bed perpendicular (with removal of 2nd desk).

 

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Beds Unbunked – ROOM to LEFT

I wanted to designate an entire section with the twin bunk beds – unbunked.  These will be from Sadie’s room – the 1 walk-in closet room.  Her Room was to the LEFT of the front door.

(Room to Right at End of Post).

1.   Individual Pictures
2.   Before & After Pictures

Individual Pictures

• Update:  I have had a chance to measure the UNDER bed height when unbunked at highest level – for storage.

***UPDATE:  THE UNDERBED HEIGHT WHEN UNBUNKED – 29″H***

 

 

 

 

 

 

Before & After Pics – Beds Unbunked 

And here they are with the model room (flipped to match), and then when we unbunked them in our actual room. 

 

 

 

 

 

I hope that you found some helpful information that you can use for setting up your own dorm room at The Callaway House.

Please feel free to share some tips here if you or you’re kiddo lived here!  I love us all working together!

• If you’re looking for posts related to Callaway or College/Dorm, scroll up to the very top for all of the links!

Have an Awesome Freshman Year at Texas A&M!!

Love & Hugs 🙂

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EXTRA PICS – Same direction as MODEL

Beds Unbunked – ROOM to RIGHT

1.   Individual Pictures
2.   Before & After Pictures

Individual Pictures – RIGHT

• Update:  I have had a chance to measure the UNDER bed height when unbunked at highest level – for storage.

***UPDATE:  THE UNDERBED HEIGHT WHEN UNBUNKED – 29″H***

 

 

 

 

 

Before & After Pictures – RIGHT