Tec de Monterrey Campus Guadalajara, offers student dorms (called ‘Residencias’) inside the campus and they can be rented for either one semester or a year at an acceptable price. There are two ways in which you can use the dorms:
1. Becoming a resident by staying and paying the whole semester.
2. Becoming a host using it just for some nights in which you just pay each night of your staying. If this case, availability depends on the free rooms left by those being residents.
There is a fine if, after being enrolled to Residencias, you decide to cancel the contract. ATTENTION: There are three important regulations that you must know before applying to the Residence Hall:
1. You cannot introduce alcohol or drugs to your bedroom (except for cigarettes, but you cannot smoke inside) or enter the building under the effects of any drugs or a high degree of alcohol. You may get a misbehavior report, and if you get a second of these you may be expelled from the residence hall. Alcohol can be a problem because there aren’t any bars or clubs near the school since the government forbids these types of business at a certain distance from any school.
2. You can’t by any means introduce a person of the opposite sex to your bedroom. Men and women are separated into two buildings and there is always a person guarding the entrance, as well as security cameras inside the elevators and in the hallways.
3. Once you confirm, there are not cancellations.
If you can deal with these rules you can have a comfortable stay at the Residence Hall. If not, we suggest you look for housing outside of campus. To check prices, enrolment process, regulations, and more information, please check out the Residence Hall web page at: http://www.gda.itesm.mx/residencias/
Family program.
Students can immerse in the Mexican lifestyle and language by choosing living with a family. The family program offers:
- Double or single rooms (limited single rooms). Each room has: one or two beds, desk, chair, and linen.
- Gender separated rooms
- Laundry facilities
- Internet
- Three meals from Monday thru Friday. Saturdays and Sundays access to the kitchen.
If interested in the family program, please include the following with the rest of your documents:
- Application form www.gda.itesm.mx/pi/ip/downloads
- Host Family Program down payment is $100 USD*, this covers the administrative fee. The balance due should be paid upon arrival.
* Fee for the spring 2008 semester. The fee is subject to change for future periods.
On your own
Guadalajara is a city of contrasts. It hasbeautiful andmodern areas, as well as poor undeveloped places. This contrast however is mainly divided in two big areas divided by Guadalajara’s Downtown. Specifically by “Calzada Federalismo” Ave. (Check map) The East is the oldest but poorest area of the city, it usually has the highest rates of violence and it has no tourist attractions, furthermore it is far away from almost every university in town. The West area is way much different from the East. It has modern buildings, historical monuments, huge malls, universities, and it is quite a safe zone as well.
To search for a place to live, the newspaper is the best way. You have to check the classified ads (“Avisos de ocasión”) section in the major newspapers, which are:
‘El Informador’ (www.informador.com.mx).
‘Mural’
In order to help you locate a place to live in a nice area of the city, we provide you with a list of neighborhoods in which you can find a nice apartment or house. We recommend you look into this list due to commodities, location, prices, accessibility and security. So try to focus in the ads showing these names in order to make your search easier.
Autónoma
Arcos Vallarta
Camino Real
Chapalita
Ciudad de los niños
Ciudad del Sol
Colinas de San Javier
Colomos Providencia
Country Club
Jardines del Bosque
Jardines Guadalupe
Jardines Universidad
La Calma
La Estancia
Ladrón de Guevara
Lomas del Bosque
Lomas del Valle
Lomas Universidad
Los Cubos
Plaza México
Gran Plaza
Prados Tepeyac
Prados Vallarta
Providencia
Puerta de Hierro
Rinconada Santa Rita
Univa
Valle Real
This is not an exhaustive list, but it shows the most convenient places for you to rent. So in any add you see the names of the neighborhoods above mentioned, you can be sure you are going for a secure and convenient place. Once you locate some options for rent in a nice area, you can start checking prices. For example, a regular apartment with two bedrooms, one bathroom, a kitchen, dining room and living room, totally furnished goes around $5,000 to $7,000 Mexican pesos. These prices may vary according to the area, number of rooms, if it is unfurnished, etc. But those given prices are mostly the range in which you will get a place. It is important to know that every owner asks for a one or two months deposit, which has to be paid by the time the contract is signed. This deposit will be given back at the end of the contract, unless there were damages previously unregistered in the building.
Tec cannot be involved in any kind of terms between the contractor and the contracted. Tec cannot serve as co-signer for the rent contract; it can only give a written proof of the student’s enrolment in the Institute.
Expenses
In Mexico, the cost of living can be generally lower than it is in Europe or the US, although a growing range of items (especially clothing, audio/visual items, technology, software, cameras, and some luxury goods) are less expensive in the US.
Food and housing is usually not really expensive, but wages and salaries tend to be lower in Mexico than in other countries, and big-ticket 'luxury' goods like cars, jewelry, designer fashion and so on can be the same price and in some circumstances, more expensive than you would pay back home.
Sales taxes apply to all products and services; the rate is 15% of the price of the product. This tax is called I.V.A.(Impuesto al Valor Agregado). As a difference to other countries, you don’t have to worry about calculating the total tax for the product you are buying since most prices you see in stores already have the I.V.A. included (unless it says they have not).
Bus routes
There are plenty of bus routes in Guadalajara, and the best way to know them is to ask for directions. The routes, which will take you to school, are route 629-B which runs through Av. Vallarta (starting from ‘Federalismo’ Avenue); and route 631 which runs through the northern part of Av. Patria, Av. Avila Camacho, and Zapopan.
The cost of almost all bus routes is a standard one (except for a very few routes that have a higher cost like route Cardenal or Turquesa). This cost remains the same regardless the distance you travel in the bus, unlike Mexico city in which you pay proportionally to the distance you need to travel.
If you have a student id you can get a 50% discount on local bus routes, however, this is a prepaid system. To take advantage of the discount you need to buy tickets called ‘Transvales’, each ticket equals a bus trip and costs half the standard bus cost. Instead of paying cash when boarding the bus, you’ll give a ‘Transvale’ ticket and show your student id. Please keep in mind that you always need to show your student id when using a ‘Transvale’, this is to ensure only students can take advantage of the discount as a support to the Mexican education system. You’ll also need to have a valid student id when buying the tickets.
Note: You can buy a little guide with most of bus routes in any magazine kiosk. It’s clled ‘Rutas”. It is not expensive and it is very helpful when trying to find the best route.
The TEC de Monterrey, Guadalajara is located on the northwestern outskirts of the city, beyond the Inner Circle. There are two bus routes that come to the campus: 629-B and 631. The bus fare ranges from $4.50 to $10.00 pesos and it has to be paid directly to the bus driver each time you board.
The first time you come to the campus, we strongly recommend you to take a taxi. Taxi fares are quite reasonable and all taxis must drive with a taximeter. You can take the bus on your way back to get familiar with the bus route.
Our campus is located at Av. General Ramón Corona No 2514. Col. Nuevo México, Zapopan, Jalisco. You will be able to see the campus residence hall building from a distance.
Bus Route 631 significant stops:(Download Map here)
Route 631 passes through the “Escuela Normal”, the Country Club., Avila Camacho, “Plaza Patria”. The ISSSTE hospital, Zapopan, Valle Real and the ITESM.
Bus Route 629-B significant stops:
Route 629-B passes through the “Parque Revolución”, the Rectory of the U. de G., the Expiatory Temple. The Centro Magno, and the ITESM. The zones that it passes through are: Colonia Americana, Colonia Moderna, Colonia Ladrón de Guevara, Colonia Arcos Vallarta, Colonia Camino Real, Colonia Jardines Vallarta, Colonia Ciudad Granja, Colonia el Bajío and San Juan de Ocotán.
Both routes pass approximately every 5 - 8 minutes, They start at 5:20 am and end at 9:30 pm.
Extra curricular activities:
As a registered student you have the right to enroll in any sport or cultural class without a registration fee; nevertheless, some of them may require special equipment that you must aquire.
Sport Activities
Sport Facilities:
Olympic Pool: 50 m. long, 1.25 m. deep
Gym: Bikes, walkers, Olympic bars, weights, ellipses, etc. The students are provided with personal training that includes an exercising routing and nutrition and health advice
Basketball courts
Football fields
Softball/Baseball fields
Tennis courts
Aerobics classroom: guided routines of step, power ball, circuit, fat burner, strengths and flexibility, etc.
Volleyball courts (concrete and grass).
Running track (400m. long)
Cultural Activities
Cultural Department. Develops more fulfilled students through the artistic expression. It provides diverse activities that satisfy the interests of the students. It has Multiple Use Classrooms (SUM):
SUM1: Orchestra, Mariachi, Drums, and Percussions
SUM2: Flamenco, Jazz, Capoeira, Folkloric Dance, etc.
Rehearsal room: Large room with wooden floors and mirror walls, ballet bars, audio equipment, cordless microphones, lockers, DVD player, videocamera, and plasma screens
Av. General Ramón Corona #2514. Col. Nuevo México 45201. Zapopan, Jalisco. México.
Phone number: (33) 36 69 30 00 ext. 5800 Fax number: +52 33 3669 3083 e-mail: pi.gda@servicios.itesm.mx http://www.gda.itesm.mx/pi
