<p>I am a HS senior this year and I have just been informed that some universities don't allow you to have a car. That is very upsetting to me because - 1-I'm a car guy and I love my car 2-I don't like a university messing with my free will. I really hope none of my colleges have this rule because if they do, I would have a very hard time going there. </p>
<p>Here's my list:</p>
<p>UVA
George mason
George washington
University of Maryland
Fordham university
University of Miami
TCU
Baylor
UT Austin
SMU
University of San Diego
Occidental college
UCLA</p>
<p>It’s not that colleges don’t allow you to own a car, it’s that some don’t have enough parking spaces, so don’t offer parking stickers to freshmen (or students in general).</p>
<p>I only know about Fordham; Rose Hill has student parking, where you can get an annual permit or pay per entrance. Lincoln Center students are allowed to park at several surrounding garages or parking lots.</p>
<p>My two Ds have gone to college in metro Boston, where it would do you little good to have a car since you wouldn’t have anywhere to park it. They’ve had subway access to anywhere in the area for $1.70 each way with no gas, maintenance, oil changes, insurance, etc. Plus, most colleges with parking challenges now have contracts with Zipcar or Connect by Hertz which allows a student 18 or over to pick up a car on campus any time with no paperwork by swiping an access card and paying an hourly or daily rate that’s likely to be much cheaper than car ownership.</p>
<p>I know of one private college that technically says freshman cannot have cars. However, everyone writes letters saying they need a car so they can visit their sick grandmother in the nursing home, and they all get approved.</p>
<p>UVA does not allow 1st years to have cars on Grounds. Sorry. There are hundreds, dare I say thousands, of students who love their cars and want to maintain their “free will” and do fine without having a car for a year or two. Plus, a lot of universities are enrolling in Zipcar/car sharing programs.</p>
<p>George Mason allows freshman to have cars, and GW I doubt would allow a freshman to have a car (or any student for that matter, because it is right in the middle of the city). However, parking in the D.C. area is very expensive. I understand the feeling of wanting to have a car, but in D.C. (including UMD), it is unnecessary. The Metro is clean and reliable, and the bus service is very good.</p>
<p>A college campus is the last remnant of traditional, small town life left in America. So suck it up and take advantage of the opportunity to live car-free for at least a year or two. You and your free will can look forward to years and years careering up and down the highway between your little cubicle and the mortgage payment.</p>
<p>If the OP chose a drop-in / drop-out approach to a college experience on the basis of his love for his car, he’d be better off to skip college altogether and just get a job to pay the upkeep expenses on his car.</p>
<p>Blackbullitt:
Print off a copy of your opening post. I’m certain you’ll get a chuckle out of your tone and perspective when you reread it in 10 years.</p>
<p>From Blackbullitt’s posts in other threads, I take it that he/she needs a car to get around to on-going professional commitments in the music/entertainment industry. If that really is the case, then he/she needs to take access to transportation more seriously than the average college student. Living off campus so that there is a place for a vehicle (and possibly extra space for more musical equipment than a typical dorm room would have) probably does make sense.</p>
<p>Parking is scarce at most colleges, so it’s not unusual for school to institute policies limiting which/whether students can bring them to campus. Usually this takes the form of “No Freshman with Cars” type policy. Off-campus/commuter lots tend to be pretty remote as well.</p>
<p>I couldn’t help chuckling over the “messing with my free will” comment. Blackbullitt, you conceded parts of your free will when you chose to attend one of these schools and implicitly accept their regulations and policies (Aren’t required courses and distributions another example of “messing with your free will”?). You are purchasing a product (education from one of the schools on your list), and each of these “vendors” have clearly defined policies on any number of subjects (on-campus housing, minimum GPA, parking, substance abuse, etc). Your opportunity to act on your “free will” comes before you apply when you are assessing if those policies and procedures meet your needs. Welcome to adulthood.</p>