<p>We have decided, for a number of reasons, not to give a car to our son next fall when he goes off to school. He will be attending a state university about 6 hours away but there are a couple of other kids from his high school who will be attending so he can always hitch rides to get home. My question is--how many of your kids attend school their freshman year "carless"? And--if they do, how horribly inconvenient is it? He has driven our cars while in high school and has always paid for his own insurance but he has been out of the country this year foreign exchange and has spent all of his money in Europe . We haven't told him this yet and I really am not sure how he will respond. It may not even be a problem but I'm just curious if many kids these days enter college without cars.</p>
<p>My kid has just finished up four years of college and never had a car. He went to a college with a suburban campus. He was easy walking distance to a train which could bring him to a major hub to get himself home. We could have afforded to give him one, but there was never a real reason to have one. It would really have been a luxury. We are just the type of parents who do not think that kids need to have a car at school, unless it is the type of situation where the student has an internship/student teaching, and really needs the car to commute. I can't help but think of all the problems which can arise with a young person driving a car, everything from the car breaking down far away from home to the responsibility of driving a group of kids around after a night of campus partying.</p>
<p>Neither of my two D's had cars on campus the first year. It was not necessary since they were living on-campus, would have been expensive for parking, and would have just provided an opportunity for the car to be broken into, etc. They really didn't need a car since they were kept very busy with their studies (both are in engineering) and they're close enough that we can retrieve them for the breaks. There were a number of students who had cars that mostly just sit in the parking lot - a waste.</p>
<p>One suggestion is to start out with no car and see how it goes. If it seems fairly compelling later that he could really use a car then he can always bring it later. This might make the news easier on him as well.</p>
<p>Thanks--I like your way of thinking.</p>
<p>I agree with momof3sons. My D has no need for a car where she is and doesn't have any friends who went to college with one. Many of them are at northeast urban schools, where a car doesn't make sense in the first place and there's plenty of public transportation, but some are at Carleton, Scripps, etc. Those kids get to the airport with college-run shuttles and for everything else there are stores either on, or within walking distance of, campus.</p>
<p>It matters a lot on the type of school, its location, and its distance from home.</p>
<p>Very few students at my school have cars, but we're in an urban area with good public transportation. Some students who live a few hours out in surrounding states have cars and drive home, but most students take buses, trains, or planes home. The situation will be a lot different at a school in a small college town that's an hour or two from a city and has a lot of students who live within driving distance to the college.</p>
<p>Okay--I feel better--the school is fairly big (KU) but he'll be living in the dorm and I'm sure there is shuttle service on campus. I don't know about public transportation because it is a fairly small town but I'm not worried about him getting home--like I said, there are several kids from our town who will be going to school there and they will all have cars. I guess I can tell him now without feeling guilty. Like I said, he may not even care since he has been without a car this whole year as foreign exchange and has gotten used to figuring oout other ways to get around.</p>
<p>My son is a junior at a state university about an hour from home. Students at this university are forbidden to have cars as freshmen. He has never had a car at college. Transportation home has never been a problem because he is so nearby that a family member can come and pick him up. He did not really have any use for a car the first two years when he lived in the dorms. A car is still not really necessary, but it might be advantageous, now that he is living off-campus, because there are no supermarkets within walking distance of his off-campus apartment (or most of the other off-campus housing near this university). I think he would be able to eat more nutritiously if he had a car, rather than constantly relying on take-out food. But he doesn't want to spend the money for a car even though he has enough money. I anticipate that he may need a car sometimes during his senior year (to travel to job interviews, for example). I may solve this problem by lending him my own car on such occasions, while renting a car for my own use (since it would be difficult and expensive for a 21-year-old to rent a car).</p>
<p>My daughter will be starting this fall at a university that is a seven-hour drive from home. Cars are permitted for freshmen, but parking is extremely expensive. She will not be bringing a car. There is a charter bus from the campus to our area that operates during the official school breaks, but getting home may be more of a problem if she ever needs to come home at other times since there is no direct public transportation from there to here. She will be living on campus, and the local public transportation is good, so I do not think she will suffer from the lack of a car during the school year. If she moves off-campus later, as most kids at this university do, she, like her brother, is going to have grocery shopping issues, since many of the local off-campus apartments are not within walking distance of a supermarket. A car may be a necessity for her during her senior year since there may be no other way for her to get to job or graduate school interviews.</p>
<p>Mathson will be going to college in Pittsburgh. No car for him. Plan is to drive him there. He can fly home for breaks.</p>
<p>This brings up another point - when selecting off-campus housing to live in if the student will eventually be living off-campus, it's good to consider the practicalities of transport to campus (an obvious one) as well as grocery shopping and some other practicalities. My older D lives off-campus now and does have a car that's used mostly for driving to her apt from campus after late weekend nights in the lab when the campus shuttle isn't operating and she feels uneasy on the city bus at that time. She also uses it to drive home every now and then. Her apt is located next door to the supermarket, bank, and a small shopping center with a few other stores/restaurants so she just walks to the grocery - it's more convenient than driving. For normal school days she doesn't drive to campus since it's well-served by a campus shuttle that actually stops right at her complex (only a couple of miles from campus). If it wasn't for the late weekend nights in the lab she probably wouldn't have a car on campus and it'd join the stable here at home.</p>
<p>I've seen others use buses to go to the grocery so depending on shuttle/bus routes, living off-campus without a car even if not close to a grocery, can be done.</p>
<p>I didn't have a car my first year, and I didn't mind at all. Yes, it would've been nice to have to it to get away to the mountains once in awhile on weekends (i'm at Virginia Tech, and unless you've been living under a rock in the last few weeks, you'd know from the news it's in beautiful SW Virginia =P), but for everyday life I would've never used it. It actually would've been a huge inconvience to use and park it. Plenty of high school friends and peope from my area (northern VA) go here so its always easy to find a ride home (there's also ride boards for students). Although, my parents did allow me to bring it back after 4/16 incident because its going to be sooo helpful in moving out because my dad came down this weekend to pack everything up, and i'm leaving Monday after my last exam, so work is not missed for him.<br>
Also, my parents have a rule: if my GPA isn't above a 3.0, i don't have a car. I have maintained a 3.0 this year, so next year since i'm only 3.5 hours away (and maybe ~2 hours if I go to UVA next year), they'll be letting me take my car back to school. Again, it might be good for grocery runs, especially at UVA, but with university bus systems these days it's hard to ever need a car other than on weekends.</p>
<p>Hm. You hit upon the only thing my H and I can't agree upon. Our two eldest had no problem at suburban northeast campuses for 8 years now, carless. </p>
<p>But we're sending a S to southern California in an OC suburb (Chapman) and it sounds as though he'll be limited to campus for finding work, plus jumping into everyone else's cars.
My H says he should go and try out the first semester carless, because it's so expensive otherwise. I feel that if we've called it wrong, how will we advise a l7-year-old by phone to buy his first car?
I'm for letting him apply his summer wages to the expenses of running a car, or the car itself. H says just put it towards tuition; that I'm underestimating what it costs to run the car/insur etc, and it doesn't make sense to buy a car to get a better-paying job to pay for a car. (S has skills that could get him better hourly wages off-campus).</p>
<p>My son in San Diego had a car when he went to school as a freshman, but left it at home. He sold it after a year because he had no need for it. Even though he's lived off campus for the last couple of years he's just a block or two away, and would be walking anyhow. He has friends with cars for trips to the store, etc. So far my son in Santa Barbara is following the same path, although he hasn't sold his car yet (he's still a freshman.) Both school have a lot going on 7 days a week in the campus area, though. Some colleges don't, and that could make a difference.</p>
<p>I agree it depends on where the school is. My S is taking his car to school. It will not cost him anything park it at the school. And they have a special lot for the kids to move the cars to during the breaks. He will drive it out in August and drive back in spring if he decides to come home. We will fly him home at Christmas so we don't have to worry about ice and snow storms. I honestly don't think he'll use the car that much if at all during the week since it's a small campus and a small town, but he will use it to get to and from skiing on the weekends. In his case it's his car, a gift from his grandma, and he pays for the upkeep although we do pay the insurance. I don't ever think he thought about not taking it and "can a freshman have a car" was one of college visit questions.</p>
<p>p3t:</p>
<p>I really recommend he try the first semester carless so he can get a lay of the land first. Cars are expensive if you add up purchase cost, depreciation (a lot of people forget about this variable), insurance, parking, gas, maintenance, vandalism/theft costs, etc. </p>
<p>Maybe strike a compromise on the summer wages and hold it in reserves for now until you see what the next few years bring. He may find he wants to use it for a car later but he might also want to use it for study-abroad, travel back home, or something else.</p>
<p>For the job, he may want to consider looking for jobs in his field of interest (film/movies??) whether they're paid or not at this point. If he has a car he may get shoehorned into getting a job that pays more but isn't related to his field just to support the car.</p>
<p>Our S was car-less for his entire undergrad at UMichigan. He lived in the dorms his first year, and off-campus within walking distance for the next three. He also spent his first year in law school without a car at UWisconsin. I strongly believe that this required him to become more independent and also kept him out of trouble (partying was generally followed by a brisk walk home). In addition, he did not have any of the hassles of parking, gas, insurance, accidents, tickets, and weather-related musical chairs (moving cars every other day during snow season). He took shuttles or cabs to the airport to fly 2000 miles home. Our D attends a semi-rural midwest LAC and will also go car-less during her time there. She, too, has lived off-campus within walking distance. The college shuttle or a private transport takes kids to the airport, Mall of America, downtown MSP, etc. Neither kid raised the issue of <em>needing</em> a car.</p>
<p>I think having a car is much more common in some parts of country.
While I have owned a car since I was 17, my daughter is almost 25 & doesn't own a car. We also strongly considered schools in areas with good public transportation over schools where a car would be more necessary.
She graduated from college a year ago, and still mainly walks, bikes or uses public transportation in her city, although her roommates both have cars & she occasionally borrows them.</p>
<p>Going to and from was easy- as she can take a train or GreyHound.
I would worry, if it was a rural commute, as I hear of more accidents or just drifting off the road because the driver fell asleep, than I feel comfortable with.</p>
<p>Six hour drive is probably pushing it- but I agree carpooling is very doable, and much safer- than driving alone.( although parents also argue that if they provide the car, they know of its upkeep etc- which is a good point- my D blithely tells me of running out of gas because the odometer/fuel gauge doesn't work- to her it is apparently a big adventure)</p>
<p>I think some of it is also an issue of what type of enviroment your child was raised in and what type of area they are going to school in. In Ca aside from a few areas most people have a car. We are used to our cars and the ease of going where you want when you want. I was an odd person who hated to drive. I went to college for 4 yrs as one of the few who had no car. I biked. I didn't get my first car till 24. Even when I worked in a large city I took the bus to work and just used my car on weekends. I find that my kids and their peers are pretty used to driving.
We are not letting our son take a car to school even though his campus allows it and parking is free. It is a 6 hour drive and public transportation will not be direct. We will drive him in Sept and if he wants to come home for a weekend he will have to find a ride share. (I know that years ago that is how I got to and from campus) With the price of gas today I doubt any college student can afford a car.
In special circumstances a car can be helpful. My oldest had numerous health issues that required meds and dr visits off campus. She found it frustrating trying to do all of that by public transportation. If she had stayed at that school we would probably have relented and gotten her a car.</p>
<p>My son had his car on campus beginning sophomore year. It was easy enough to get home via train and the connections were simple. The primary reason was that his degree was viola performance/music ed. The ed portion required he be off campus for teaching experience for some course requirements, and transportation was his responsibility, not the schools. Additionally, as a performance major the vehicle allowed him to take numerous gigs over a broader geographic area. Plus his sister (no car at school) was also in school an hour north of him. It made my life easier for him to bring her home at Thanksgiving and semester breaks.</p>
<p>D will not have a car in the fall, although her school does allow Freshmen to have them and parking is free. Of course, she doesn't have her license yet, either - LOL! Failed road test once, didn't bother for almost a year, and now is dealing with a newly diagnosed eye condition which has resulted in her not being able to see well out of her right eye. But, thank God for Mass Eye and Ear in Boston - she is going up on Wednesday to receive her new, specially-designed contacts which hopefully will take care of the problem. Once her vision is stabilized, she will have to go back to renew her permit and take a few refresher road lessons, and hopefully will be driving by the summer. Even so, we probably would not allow her to have a car during her first year. School runs a free shuttle to the train station that goes into Penn Station and then she can take Amtrak right to Providence, a 15-minute drive from home!</p>