A lot of schools require incoming students to live in university housing. This works pretty well for most people, but I’m curious about exceptions. Is anyone going to a (public) university that requires this and wishing it didn’t? Maybe because of family in the area, health or cultural reasons, pets… I don’t know. People are different.
A student would miss a great deal not living on grounds. Many students make most of their friends in the first year dorms. I’m not sure a student would save that much money living at home and having to buy a reliable car, maintain and insure it, buy gas, pay for parking, etc.
I have a friend who isn’t happy at all about San Jose State’s recent requirement for all freshmen students who live more than 30 miles away to stay on campus. They live 34 miles away. Will cost him $14K for the dorm for the year. Furthermore he works 3 blocks from the campus so his thought was that he could drop off his kid and pick him up just like daycare haha.
To me it’s a pretty good deal actually. $14K a year in San Jose is dirt cheap, considering that rents for a 1 bedroom easily can be $3K+ a month nearby. And the commute is a nightmare, they would be going with traffic the whole way. I think his ulterior motive was to be able to use the carpool lanes for free lol. It’ll be interesting to see what happens to them when the requirement is lifted (after freshman year).
Some school’s have exemptions based on a student’s particular circumstances so worth exploring if living on-campus is an issue.
But if you “just don’t like it” that will not get you an exemption.
If my friend is truthful, the “circumstance” probably will be along the lines of “I didn’t particularly want to pay for a dorm since he didn’t get into a UC”…
Here is SDSU’s housing exemption consideration as one example:
Married/Domestic Partnership and/or with Legally Dependent Children:
Copy of the marriage certificate, domestic partnership agreement and/or child’s birth certificate and proof of child custody are required.
Limited Credit Student:
Students carrying six (6) credit hours or less per semester for the entire academic year may be granted an exemption. If seven (7) credit hours or more per semester are attempted during subsequent semesters or during a subsequent semester during the academic year in which the student received the exemption, the student will be required to live in university housing. Documentation is necessary in each case.
Medical and Disability Circumstances:
Exemption requests for medical or disability reasons must be submitted as early as possible with required documentation to the Student Ability Success Center (SASC) (formerly knon as Student Disability Services office) (SDS). SASC will notify the Office of Housing Administration of their recommendation.
Financial Hardship:
Documentation is required that indicates a reasonable expectation that a school loan submitted by student and/or parent will be denied (e.g., recent bankruptcy filing or bank foreclosure documentation). Events must have taken place in the current tax year.
Age 21 or Older:
Students who are first-time freshmen and are 21 years old or older before the first day of classes may be granted an exemption.
Other:
In a very limited number of cases, where it can be conclusively demonstrated that special circumstances exist which would create a substantial personal hardship. Documentation of the special circumstances will be required. Personal statements are not acceptable documentation.
The SJSU 30 mile rule to be exempt from living in the dorm frosh year is actually defined by the location of the high school one graduated from.
http://www.housing.sjsu.edu/housingaz/freshmanoncampushousing/
For nearby students, the food, utilities, and transportation costs of living with parents are generally lower than living on campus costs, although there can be considerable variation from one situation to another.
Note that not all commuter students use cars to get to school.
At a mostly residential school, living on campus frosh year does have some advantages, if cost is not a problem.
For the SJSU kid, schools will often grant exceptions to their rules if asked. Although have a set time to leave campus daily could backfire. A late class or lab, or evening studybor project group meeting could be challenging.
Friend lives in Millbrae which isn’t on the list. Neither is Burlingame, and both are like 33-35 miles away. But a place like San Ramon which is 40 miles away is exempted. Weird.
Contact ResLife and see if there are exceptions based on your ability to live with family nearby or if you have valid documented medical reasons for not being able to live in the dorm. As noted above “I don’t want to” or having pets is not a valid reason.
And as other have also mentioned there is much to be gained by having an on-campus living expereince.
With so many campuses being over enrolled, waivers are often granted to live off campus. At my daughter’s school, freshman and sophomores are required to live on campus, but about half the sophomores get waivers and a lot of upperclassmen want to live on campus, so it works out just fine. Most of the freshmen live in the ‘freshman village’ and there are a lot of choices for the upperclassmen, from traditional dorms to apartments to apt that are about 5 miles from campus (the Greek Village).
I didn’t like the idea of living in dorms when I was young. Now I wish I’d lived in one longer (just one semester). Life is pretty cushy in the dorm. Something breaks, someone fixes it. Electricity and water arrive without having to pay any bill. Laundry facilities. Friends.
My son’s roommate freshman year lived 10 min from campus. He could have commuted but chose not to because he wanted the dorm experience. There were several from his high school that did the same. The upside is sophomore year they can live off campus (sayng they are commuting from home) at a savings while my son has to stay on campus until junior year. The rule is you must be within 40 miles to commute before junior year.