<p>It really is campus-specific. My D is in college in the Boston area and would have nowhere to keep a car if she had one. The subway is great for her. But I work at a campus in a small town in Georgia that has no public transportation. It's tough on kids here who don't have cars - they have to beg rides any time they need to go to a grocery store or Wal-Mart.</p>
<p>My son has been driving around his friends for years. He's looking forward to being "car-free" next year. I think there's so much going on freshman year that taking care of a car is a piece of work that most don't need.</p>
<p>My son at Duke has no car. More than half the kids there have no car. They also have 30 plus eating venues, fantastic facilities and killer cultural arts and sports any day of the week provided by our paying his tuition. I personally think that our children (speaking for myself) are somewhat entitled and have had a lot of privileges although they also never had anything much re video games or the latest electronic gadgets either. In our town, my son comparatively had many blessings re travel and culture and support and supplies and lessons in classical music and many sports. Our sons did not work hard for spending money until they were 16 and they have never had allowances. I think there are a hundred ways to raise kids who have values and a work ethic and a balanced sense of materialism. In our case, we use the "gosh, no kidding I really do need a car moment" as that passage to teaching need vs want and necessity vs luxury and later for assuming more responsibility for paying the gas, insurance and monthly payment bills. My son had the nerve to suggest that he "needed" an SUV for instance, and we are going to let him buy what he can actually afford and recognize what things cost, and let his image match his pocketbook. I am not suggesting values can't be accomplished a hundred equally good ways. Some students work harder for their own spending money sooner than my kids have and it is fine with me if other kids deserve cars earlier. Personally, I want my son to be ready to pay bills, get repairs made and I want him to sweat out filling the tank of gas and have to factor in such things as cost of gas when he makes plans. He has just turned a corner and landed his first job that pays well. I feel a better parental attitude towards his real need for a car coming round the bend.<br>
On the negative side, deprivation in the realm of no car has put him "behind" his peers in driving skills and this is a down side. Many of his friends are far more experienced drivers by now and drive themselves far distances. I think there is something to be said for that independence and I hope he will be road ready pretty soon, too.</p>
<p>S just finished his freshman year carless,but will return next year with a car.He will live on campus again next year but we have discovered his U doesnt have very good shuttle service,and although the U is in an urban area(downtown state capitol) he has needed rides very often to do basic things,even go to a movie,or the Verizon store when he had phone problems. Theres no public transportation in this city,nor transport to the airports,and the school runs no shuttles there (cabs are available).
He has a car to use, and will pay for a parking pass.He will drive it down in the Fall with his Dad,will drive up for the month break in Dec and drive it up again in the Spring,or drive it to wherever hes going to do a practicum that summer.
We did think the campus would be more accessible to other locales/services.He was lucky most of his friends/dom mates had cars.</p>
<p>Not having a car at a school the size of KU shouldn't be a problem for someone on campus and with friends who can share rides home at vacations. My S didn't take his truck to A&M the first 2 years just because parking was a hassle and transit was good. Only time we wished he had a car - he needed to come home the weekend before finals to take the then GF to her prom.... Take it one semester at a time.</p>
<p>S does not have a car. Yes, he wants one, but he definitely does not need one. There is good public transportation, good campus transportation, parking on campus can be very difficult, and he takes a bus home, or has gotten rides on breaks. </p>
<p>I agree with Maize&Blue:
[quote]
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).
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Frankly, since son is 6 hours from home, I slept much better knowing that he does not have a car.</p>
<p>My daughter (college senior) didn't have a car at college until this fall. She needed one for student teaching. She's at college 16 hours away and has come to think of anyone on the east coast as "nearby" and she often got rides home with friend from CT. Our son is at a college 6 hours away and just finished up his first year. He did have a car. Like shoebox10, he's also in SW Virginia, but his college, Roanoke, has plenty of rooms for cars. Parking is $25 a year. If he wasn't a good driver, if the school wasn't in it's ruralish location, if he was a party guy, we would not have allowed it, but it's worked out just fine. I do like that gpa rule!</p>
<p>A number of colleges do not permit frosh to have cars on campus. And regardless of whether her sch has a similar prohib, D will not have a car next year - - at least in part b/c I believe she should spend the first year getting the lay of the land but also b/c it seems a bit extrav (and just not something we NYers do!). </p>
<p>D's BF, however, recently purchased a car (second sem of soph year). Unlike D, he's from a rural/suburban community and has been driving since he was 17 (even drove to hs); he felt the need for wheels immed and far more acutely than she would have.</p>
<p>My ds will not be taking a car for his freshman year this fall either. He will be living in the dorms and can walk where he needs to go. I look back and remember my freshman year -- lots of us were drinking and it was much better that we walked home from parties. Also if someone did have a car, they would pile in a group and go somewhere off campus, or they would loan their cars to someone who needed one. Walking everywhere is great exercise - it will help keep off the freshman 15. Plus our car insurance rates will go down becuase DS will only be considered a part time driver. So it's a no brainer for us to have him not take the car.</p>
<p>None of the 7 of us had cars when we were in college or grad school, with the exception of my brother who needed it for his last few years of med school so he could get to the various hospitals & clinics he needed to get to. My cousins and my S have all been car-less the whole time they've been in undergrad. My niece did get a car when she chose to attend law school at in-state flagship U & live at home. At this point, I do not intend to buy our S a car UNLESS he absolutely requires it for an internship or job; he's finishing his freshman year at USC.</p>
<p>I didn't have a car in college, either, and there was this wonderful retured professor, who drove kids wherever they wanted - he had a regular route M-F, so we used him if we needed anything. If not, we drove bikes or waqked. I took a car my senior year since I would be doing studnet teaching, and didn't want to do so in the town school (small town) because the HS kids would show up on campus once in a while and I didn't want to bump into them there.) D didn't have car for 2 years, and won't the next 2, either. There is public transportation, but it can be inconvenient, especially if you are lugging a case of water, etc., from the store, but she is 3000 miles away, and for the few times she would really need the car, it isn't worth it. BTW, her school this year started a program where the kids can "rent" a college car at a reasonable hourly rate. She did this to pick up friends from the airport a couple times, so if and when it is a necessity, she has one available, but since she has to pay for it, she hasn't done so except those 2 times.</p>
<p>Freshman son does not have a car--campus does not allow for freshman to have cars until second semester of freshman year with good grade standing, etc. We are over 11 hours away and it is a smaller college town. So far, he has not needed a car nor had the time to drive anywhere. Our biggest concerns about his having a car have been the liability with regard to other students, distance from parking lot (he is a freshman!) to dorm is not worth having a car, and driving experience in snow and ice during the winter. By the time he is a senior we may consider it. But, as I mentioned, he does not have the time to be driving anywhere. Just wish there were a gro. store within better walking distance of the campus!</p>
<p>it all depends on the situation. If I read correctly ALL the other kids from your town will have cars (not a nice feeling to be excluded).
As I am an international student I having my own car is a MUST because I could not manage otherwise (balancing school and a job carless and in a new area can be stressful and time consuming)...
but then again, it depends from person to person and perhaps your son won't even mind... :)</p>
<p>USC is also talking about having hourly car rentals available to students--we'll see if that happens. For now, S is able to get around just fine as he needs.</p>
<p>My parents force me to keep my car on campus. They say it's because they don't want it sitting around next to the driveway all year (it'd be horribly inconvenient for them), and because they like me to come home about once a month (they're about an hour from the school) but they don't want to actually drive up here and get me - also horribly inconvenient for them. So I keep the car here, in the city, parked several blocks away, and I never drive it and I check on it every once and a while to make sure it hasn't been broken into again. The second time it was broken into, they let me leave it at home for about 2 months...huge relief for me, but it started to annoy them so they made me bring it back again. There's really no reason to have a car here.</p>
<p>I would wonder about this idea that since there's going to be people from the OP's hometown with cars at school, the OP's son can just simply get a ride with one of them, whenever, and would never need a car. I lived near a girl in high school who had a similar attitude...why should she bother to get a car when she lives near people like me who can drive her everywhere? I still wish I'd had the nerve to tell her that I wasn't her damn personal taxi service. It's a bit rude to expect people you're not good friends with to drive you places just because you both happen to be going there at vaguely the same time.</p>
<p>UCLA has an hourly rental through Flexcar which might be a good option for some. It looks like their rates are about $8 per hour. The problem is that one must be 21 to join the program.</p>
<p>Burglaries, parking, tickets, towing, insurance, repairs, being obligated to drive others are just a few of the downsides thaving a car. My S has not asked for a car & I think it's actually a relief for him not to have one more thing to hassle with, as Blahdeblah above clearly described. </p>
<p>In Honolulu, you can get a ticket for an abandonned vehicle which will cost $187 per day that your car is on the street & hasn't been moved for 24 hours or more. It can be towed as well, which will cost an additional few hundred in cash to reclaim.</p>
<p>BlahdeBlah........
why don't you just sell your car? It sounds like it is a big burden for both you and your parents. Save the $ and buy another car when you need it. The cost and worry of break-ins might make it worth considering.</p>
<p>Our D left her car here in So Cal as she is in Boston. It is great to have it just in case one of our other cars in for service.........but mostly because her economical Toyota Camry gets much better gas milage than my ol' BMW or H's SUV (yeah........I know....but he has to haul lumber, etc.). So I drive D's car.</p>
<p>I would agree that it would be good to consider selling your car, since neither you nor your folks really seem to enjoy having it around. Maybe wait until the end of summer so you can have use of the car for this summer & then just sell it & buy or rent one when it is needed.</p>
<p>University of Maryland has a Flex Car program too and I think you can join at 18 - I was on campus last week and saw the cars in front of the student union.</p>