Arrival Information

Howdy, Freshmen Aggies !

International Student Services (ISS) would like to welcome our newest Aggie Freshmen to Texas A&M! We are here to help make your transition to college as simple, and successful, as possible. We encourage you to visit ISS with any comments, concerns or needs you may have. ISS is located in Bizzell Hall East on the first floor. Click here to some exciting opportunities geared toward new students that we would like to share with you.
Texas A&M University has a large and beautiful campus in the towns of Bryan and College Station (located between Dallas, Houston and Austin). College Station and nearby city, Bryan, have a total population of approximately 100,000.

The climate is moderate. Winter (Dec.- Feb.), has some freezing temperatures, (average 45 F, 7.5 C) and the Summer (June - Sept.) is hot and humid (95 F, 35 1 C). You can check the Current Weather at College Station, Texas online.

Campus dress is casual, including jeans, short pants, and T-shirts. Some women also wear casual dresses.

Some useful links about Bryan, College Station and Houston are below:
RECREATION:

Brazos Valley African American Museum
Brazos Valley Museum of Natural History
The Children's Museum of the Brazos Valley
George Bush Presidential Library and Museum
Washington on the Brazos (Birthplace of Texas)

Students moving in to College Station can take a flight directly to College Station Easterwood Airport (CLL) or to nearby airports in Houston (100 mi), Austin (120 mi) or Dallas (210 mi). Students arriving at airports other than CLL should arrange additional transportation to College Station. Available options are described below:
  • Call a taxi: Using the local yellow pages, you can find a taxi to take you to your final destination. Be aware that taking a taxi from Houston directly to Bryan/College Station could cost over $100.
  • Purchase a flight from IAH (Houston) or DFW (Dallas) to CLL: This may cost around $100 if purchased ahead. You may want to check out websites such as http://expedia.com or http://travelocity.com.
  • Reserve the Ground Shuttle from Houston:
  • Take Greyhound Bus: Students taking the bus to Bryan should be aware that they will need to take a taxi from the airport to the Greyhound bus station (which could cost about $40). Students should also be aware that Greyhound bus stations are generally located in parts of U.S. cities that can be unsafe even during the day.
  • Use Campus Connector: This break shuttle service provides transportation to and from College Station, Dallas, Austin, Houston, and San Antonio. The shuttle only travels on specific dates for each University break period.
Have you heard about our new social network for ridesharing? This partnership, led by Texas A&M in association with the Aggie Green Fund, Environmental Issues Committee and Zimride, lets students quickly and easily search for open seats or post rides of their own to share the costs of commuting: http://www.zimride.com/tamu.
  • If you arrive to the Bryan/College Station area and are still in search of housing, then make sure to put the International Student Conference (ISC) and Resource Fair on your calendar! At the ISC Resource Fair, representatives from multiple off-campus housing accommodations will be present to meet with you, tell you about their properties and answer your questions. To sign up for this event, please visit the  International Student Conference webpage for more details.
  • The Department of Residence Life offers temporary summer housing for Texas A&M students as a part of the Aggie Hostel program. Aggie Hostel is designed for students needing housing before or after attending Fish Camp, international students needing temporary housing upon arriving in the U.S., or students in town for other academic-related reasons during the summer. Aggie Hostel is an on-campus, short-term housing option for students that will arrive on campus prior to the start of the Fall term. There is a maximum stay of two-nights.  For more information, visit the ResLife website at http://reslife.tamu.edu/guests/hostel/.
  • Adult, Graduate, and Off Campus Student Services (AGOSS) is the on-campus office that specializes in helping students find temporary and permanent housing upon their arrival to the Bryan/College Station area. AGOSS’ Temporary or Short Term Housing webpage provides information about short term stay apartment options, short term stay residential options, extended stay hotels, area hotels, and other hotel resources.
  • The Bryan/College Station Convention and Visitors Bureau maintains a List of Area Hotels in the Bryan/College Station communities.
  • Student Organizations: Some student organizations offer temporary housing to incoming international students. Please contact the student organizations to learn more about the options they are offering.
  • Please refer to the Housing page for information on long term housing in the Bryan/College Station area.

 
Bus and taxi services are available in Bryan/College Station. There is also a Texas A&M bus system, which runs approximately every 8-10 minutes when classes are in session taking students to campus from many off-campus apartment complexes. The Texas A&M bus system also passes many grocery and department stores on its various routes. Purchasing a car may cost $5,000-$40,000 and a bicycle may cost from $30-$500. The campus can be reached from anywhere in town on a bicycle. Automobile owners are required to purchase liability insurance in the state of Texas at a cost of approximately $600 per year.

Some useful links are below: Have you heard about our new social network for ridesharing? This partnership, led by Texas A&M in association with the Aggie Green Fund, Environmental Issues Committee and Zimride, lets students quickly and easily search for open seats or post rides of their own to share the costs of commuting: http://www.zimride.com/tamu.
To view long term housing options, visit the ISS Housing page here.

For information about temporary accommodations upon your arrival to the Bryan/College Station area, please refer to the Transportation and Temporary Accommodation upon Arrival section of this webpage.
To learn more about dining in campus, visit the Dine on Campus website here.

Prospective Students Arrival Information