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Live at home, or on-campus at college? Help please?
14 years ago
Wow, I write FA journals asking for advice way too often. xD I guess that's because you guys generally give me some good input. So, I have another problem that could use some attention: whether or not I should live on-campus during this upcoming year at college.
I've gone back and forth between excitement and apprehension at the thought of living on-campus. Now I'm just completely torn. I originally planned to live at home and eventually get a vehicle so I could make the daily commute to campus; however, about a month ago, I signed up for on-campus housing after my dad informed me that he wouldn't be giving me his old car OR any money to help with buying a car (despite the fact that he owes me $5,000 according to my grandparents' will). :/ I figured living on-campus would be more convenient due to not having a car, but the costs are staggering -- it's over $28,000 for one year. My scholarship and federal grants will provide me with $14,500 and the Obama Scholars Program will provide an additional $7,200 if I live on-campus. So basically, I'll have $21,700 for on-campus expenses and the other $6,000+ will have to be paid through student loans and work-study.
On the other hand, I still have until July 1st to file a housing exemption and live at home. I wouldn't receive any Obama scholarship money, but I'd still have $14,500 -- and because tuition and books only cost $10,400 total, I'd actually get over $4,000 -BACK- from my scholarship/grant money! But seeing as I don't have a vehicle... I'd have to take the bus to get to/from campus, and that would take almost an hour there and back. Therefore, I'd have to wake up early and I wouldn't get home until after 4:30 PM, making it more difficult to get a part-time job. If I live on-campus, getting a job will be considerably easier through work-study.
So here are my choices:
Live at home -- get $4,000 back from my scholarship/grant money, but have a long commute and less time to contribute toward a possible part-time job.
Live on-campus -- owe $6,000 in student loans, but live within walking distance of my classes and have more time for a job/work-study.
My mom is insisting that I absolutely need to live on-campus so I can apply for work-study and I won't have to take the bus, but my friends keep telling me to live at home because it's stupid to spend all that money just to live closer to my classes. I don't know what to do anymore. -__- HELP?
I've gone back and forth between excitement and apprehension at the thought of living on-campus. Now I'm just completely torn. I originally planned to live at home and eventually get a vehicle so I could make the daily commute to campus; however, about a month ago, I signed up for on-campus housing after my dad informed me that he wouldn't be giving me his old car OR any money to help with buying a car (despite the fact that he owes me $5,000 according to my grandparents' will). :/ I figured living on-campus would be more convenient due to not having a car, but the costs are staggering -- it's over $28,000 for one year. My scholarship and federal grants will provide me with $14,500 and the Obama Scholars Program will provide an additional $7,200 if I live on-campus. So basically, I'll have $21,700 for on-campus expenses and the other $6,000+ will have to be paid through student loans and work-study.
On the other hand, I still have until July 1st to file a housing exemption and live at home. I wouldn't receive any Obama scholarship money, but I'd still have $14,500 -- and because tuition and books only cost $10,400 total, I'd actually get over $4,000 -BACK- from my scholarship/grant money! But seeing as I don't have a vehicle... I'd have to take the bus to get to/from campus, and that would take almost an hour there and back. Therefore, I'd have to wake up early and I wouldn't get home until after 4:30 PM, making it more difficult to get a part-time job. If I live on-campus, getting a job will be considerably easier through work-study.
So here are my choices:
Live at home -- get $4,000 back from my scholarship/grant money, but have a long commute and less time to contribute toward a possible part-time job.
Live on-campus -- owe $6,000 in student loans, but live within walking distance of my classes and have more time for a job/work-study.
My mom is insisting that I absolutely need to live on-campus so I can apply for work-study and I won't have to take the bus, but my friends keep telling me to live at home because it's stupid to spend all that money just to live closer to my classes. I don't know what to do anymore. -__- HELP?
rimming is foreplay after all <3
everything else was pretty much, show up, take notes and learn shit
i switched my major three times..
went from Computer science (mostly ITish), to psychology, to industrial technology (which i really liked)
I was undecided on my major for SO LONG, but I finally settled on Computer Science. Computers, math... I'm good with both and it's a field that will always have jobs available. I'm hoping to take it in a graphic design/video game design direction in the future.
english and things like that are more my strong suit.... actually now that i think about it pretty much anything but math is my strong suit XD
well math and spelling... i did extremely well with composition but i can't spell to save my life XD
Regarding the job, the situations you proposed sound kind of silly -- have no debt and have a harder time getting a random part-time job, or be in debt and make it easier to get a random part-time job. Obviously I'd go with not being in debt, job or not; unless you sell all your free time to wherever you work, odds are you won't get rid of your debt via part-time work at minimum wage. If you're concerned about work experience, focus on internships for that; I doubt anyone will hire you for an engineering job because you worked at McDonald's :P
While it is convenient to live on-campus because you can get to your classes quicker and go home easily between classes, it's generally cheaper to commute. Plus, and I don't think you've brought this up, you gamble with your roommates when you sign up for a dorm, because unless you can request specific roommates, you risk living with people you'll hate. Case and point: After my first roommate got kicked out of my dorm for drinking too much, I got another roommate who was overall a nice person, but was a bit anal about stupid stuff, went to bed and woke up way too early, sloppily ate cereal and giggled at CSI on his laptop in the morning, and ground his teeth and moaned in his sleep. He was the motivation for me to find an apartment for this upcoming academic year.
That said, if you think it'd be worthwhile to take in that extra cost and take the roommate gamble for the sake of convenience, a random part-time job, dorm experience, and getting away from your family (by the sound of it, your parents wanted to get away from you >_>), dorms aren't necessarily a bad option. Just make sure you know *everything* that'll be involved (take nothing for granted).
I wouldn't be able to go home between classes, I live 8 miles away. x3 I don't have a vehicle and the bus certainly won't take me there and back in the time I have between classes. But the bus is definitely cheaper -- they offer a 50% student discount, and the bus route that runs right by my apartment takes me straight to Phoenix's lightrail, which is $150 for a yearly pass and it heads straight to the campus. That's much better than buying a car and insurance, not to mention student loans!
I'm not the most outgoing person, and though I'm sure I'd adjust to dorm life eventually, having a roommate would annoy me. :/ Especially considering I wouldn't know the person beforehand (only one of my friends got into the honors college along with me), and like you said, it's basically a roulette -- you could get someone who shares a lot of your interests, or someone who makes you want to bash their skull in with a baseball bat while they sleep. >__> With my luck, I'd probably end up getting a stuck-up jock, which is the exact type of person that I absolutely loathe. Of course I could end up with a good roommate, but... even having one would annoy me.
So yeah, I think the benefits of living at home outweight the benefits of living on-campus. It's mainly the lengthy commute that annoys me. I'd have to wake up earlier and I'd get home later than I did during high school! -__- But I don't think it's worth spending so much money just to live closer to my classes.
In response to debt conversation: I had to get $21k in private loans and $5.5k in federal loans last year. That was so high because I was going for 4 quarters instead of 3, so my scholarships were spread really thin. This year, I'll be living off-campus, so between dorms and an apartment I'll be saving $6k per year. If my scholarships remain the same (I won't find out what I've got until mid-July), I'll only need $5.5k in federal loans and $6k in private loans.
What style of bus is it? If it's not too cramped, you could do something productive on the ride, like reading assignments, homework, or planning for a project. You wouldn't even have the option of doing that were you driving yourself instead of taking a bus!
My experience: 2 year community college, transferred to a 4 year. Far less debt overall and while I was at my JC, I worked part time. I came to my 4 year with ZERO debt. Currently I live off campus and commute 10 miles via bus to the school. It's cheaper than driving becuase my school offers a free bus pass to University students! The ride is about...25 - 40 minutes long too.
D:
I think you should do whatever requires less loans. Your parents house maybe an hour from campus but that's better than being 100 or more miles away where you're forced to live there and take on all those loans.
Or
You could live on campus for a year and see how you like it. If it's not what you're looking for you could always move back in with your parents and try that route. It's not like if you chose one path the other is going to permanently close right?
I see (general 4+ year)college as little more than a money-eating continuation of school that breeds unthinking tools who will jump through any hoop anyone asks them to, unless you're planning to spend the next 10 years there to become a doctor of some kind. Among many, many, reasons, yet another side-reason related to this journal that I chose not to deal with it is because the idea of campus life seems utterly stupid to me. Pay more than you would for rent in a large house to live in a tiny spam-can sized room WITH other people who are total strangers and about a million rules? No thank you. =P
But that's my thing, to each their own. :)