<p>So I'm going to be attending Harvard in the fall and I'm pretty excited for that. The problem is that my parents are essentially signing the checks for tuition, room, and board, and leaving everything else up to me. That means that books, toothpaste, random purchases, etc are coming out of my pockets. So the question I have for anyone who's currently at Harvard, is what is the bare minimum I can get by with spending for my first year? I ask because I would really love to go have some fun this summer, but I don't want to take too much time out of work/ spend too much money. I'm thinking of getting a job once I get there, but probably not until second semester. (maybe bar tending... ?)
Any advice would be really helpful.</p>
<p>Books can be very expensive. My S had textbooks that cost well over $100 each. In other courses, he had several texts, each costing over $30. Not all were available used. For two semesters, I'd allocate at least $500 for books.
If you like to stay up late like a lot of college students, you'll find yourself hungry by 11pm as dinner is any time between 5:30 and 7pm. So plan realistically for snacks. You will probably need to purchase or rent things for your room such as a fridge/microwave combo. Don't forget a laptop if you don't already have one.</p>
<p>I wonder if things might be easier if I requested more roommates?<br>
If I live in a double, that's one microwave, one fridge, etc. for two people. If I live with more roommates, those costs are divided among more people. Also, it's a little more likely that one of my roommates will bring his own appliances. Any thoughts?</p>