<p>My parents have made me an enticing offer (not that Bama and a full ride aren’t enticing enough on their own!) of a pretty nice car if I receive the NMF scholarship. Frankly, I don’t want my younger brother and sister anywhere near my ride–do many freshmen take cars down to Tuscaloosa?</p>
<p>I plan on it. It’s a long drive from SoFlo, but I gots to have my car y’know.</p>
<p>i would say that most people have cars, and the parking is pretty convenient.</p>
<p>I don’t know what the ratio is, but probably around half of the students have cars on campus. Many kids don’t have cars because they’re OOS or their families just don’t think that they need one on campus. </p>
<p>And, some kids have siblings on campus and they’ll share one car because a car isn’t needed very often.</p>
<p>*It’s a long drive from SoFlo, but I gots to have my car y’know. *</p>
<p>And, it’s easier to bring more stuff that way. :)</p>
<p>It seems that many frosh don’t have cars, but as the students become upperclassmen, more have cars for internship and other reasons.</p>
<p>My D plans on bringing her car she has driven in high school(not a nice new one though, lol). </p>
<p>Since she plans on living off campus as a freshman, she will have a commuter parking permit. She has a New Beetle and we are already exploring temp bike racks for rear, so she can park and then jump on the bike for the day, and then bike back to the car and throw the bike back on the rack.</p>
<p>We have a policy that none of our children take a car their freshman year. For two of them it didn’t matter, one was at Columbia NYC and didn’t need one, the other at Loyola Chicago and as part of the tuition package he gets an “L” pass. The other 2 had to “figure it out”. My DH thinks that this is part of the college experience and I have to tell you I think they have learned a lot and it has been a positive thing. For our DD at Bama it was an inconvenience but never a problem. Her boyfriend or her sorority sisters were always there to lend a ride when needed.
DD is now a sophomore and she does have a car this year even though she only lives .8 from campus. Parking is not free and this years parking pass was $250. She is able to park by the Rec and the baseball fields. Most days she parks on the street by the Trunk for free. She is moving from her apt into the sorority house at semester. Parking will be interesting for her since the lots she can park in are not anywhere near her house. I know some lots have been over sold so I would say that parking can be challenging sometimes.</p>
<p>Many families have a policy of kids not taking cars frosh year. For some, they’re concerned that the car will be a distraction or that their child won’t be mature enough to say “no” if someone asks to borrow it. </p>
<p>For other families, they may not have an extra car for each of their driving kids, so when one goes to college, the “kids’ car” stays home so that the other kid drivers can still use it for high school needs.</p>
<p>My S is a freshman and we did not allow him to take a car because he is rushing this semester. He hasn’t missed it a bit. He stays really busy all the time and has no desire to come home (Sigh). He does have friends with cars though. Guess it depends on how often you want to go home, you may need it.</p>
<p>None of our kids had cars freshman year, so it was easier to go with that. But that has been good and bad with rush. On one hand S isn’t driving around, but he often leaves the House late and it’s a long walk back to Ridgecrest S. He often gets rides from one of the brothers though. Plus all the attire he had to buy meant many trips to the store. Plus he’s been sick and had to be driven to health center & doctors thanks to his nice RM.
Next year is tbd. It is the driving 18 hours back& forth that concerns me. If we could drive it down and leave it for the year that would be one thing. But it would be a long holiday break without a car.</p>
<p>If you take a car, can you leave it at the school during breaks (when the dorms close)?</p>
<p>My D refers to her car as “my baby” and whether her car is allowed (or can be easiily parked) on campus is one of her major considerations for a school. If she ends up at Bama, I’m certain that “her baby” will accompany her. I don’t get it, since I didn’t own a car until I was 28 and couldn’t be bothered with the hassles of one on a college campus, but to each her own.</p>
<p>We have the same issues as Idinct. The sorority activities of DD have necessitated lots of rides from friends. And even so, she is walking miles back and forth to Ridgecrest South. Plus, it came up that her honors seminar involved somehow having to find a way to an elementary school in Northport once a week. Seems to be working out due to the generosity of those with cars.</p>
<p>We are planning to buy her a car, either next semester or at the end of the school year. But then there is the problem of driving it 15 hours to come home. I imagine she will leave the car and fly home most of the time. We’ll make it up as we go I suppose.</p>
<p>I would call Bama Parking and Transportation to find out if it’s ok to leave a car over Holiday break. I imagine it is, especially if you let them know…but check to be sure. </p>
<p>Remember, there are Zip Cars that can be rented if an occasional car is needed on campus. Some find it cheaper to go on reduced insurance (for kids who are away from school) and the money that is saved is larger than the occasional use of a Zip Car. Frankly, since a parking permit is about $250 per year, that also pays for a few Zip Car rentals…especially if you share the Zip Car cost with another…</p>