<p>I'm a high school senior this year and am looking to apply to a few liberal arts colleges pretty far away from home (I live in Auburn, AL and am probably going to apply to Smith, Wellesley, and Oberlin). The problem with these colleges is that freshman aren't allowed to have a car on campus (as opposed to the bigger research/state universities I'm going to apply to). I know this seems kind of stupid when I don't even know whether I'll be accepted yet or whether I'll go there if I am accepted. But not having a car for some reason makes me really nervous. I guess it comes from living in an area of the country where if you don't have a car you're pretty much screwed (practically no public transportation, few things within walking distance), whereas in the north things are generally closer together. But how do people survive without cars? Most of the people I know who attend Auburn have cars. Do all the freshmen at these schools just stay on campus? How would I get home on the holidays? Taking a plane is about three times as expensive as driving, and I'd rather drive anyways.</p>
<p>If you are a freshman who brings a car, could you not just park illegally in like a restaurant parking lot or something near campus and hope you don't get towed? I mean, if it's not during peak hours, why would the owners care anyway?</p>
<p>Is a car really not needed at these colleges? Again, I know it's a stupid question, but not having a car available really does make me feel kind of trapped.</p>
<p>In the case of my school, bikes tend to be more efficient than cars for both getting around campus and around town, but I realize that’s not the case in a lot of places. It’s worth looking into though, just so you have your own transportation in case public transportation doesn’t work for whatever reason.</p>
<p>On that note, look into public transportation in those areas. Depending on the area, that could be all you need.</p>
<p>You could also make friends with upperclassmen who have cars. The issue there, of course, being that you need to rely on other people for transportation.</p>
<p>For specific advice, try posting in the individual school’s forums and see what people say.</p>
<p>If the colleges do not allow freshmen to have cars, it’s likely doable to get around without a car. Check out the public transportation in the area, visit the schools if you can, or try to talk to someone who goes there or used to go there. There is likely some sort of transportation system (perhaps, some combination of public transportation and transportation provided by the school) that lets students get around on and off campus. In some places, it’s easier to get around without a car.</p>
<p>Would it be possible for your parents to drive you to school so that you don’t have to buy a plane ticket? That’s what my parents did when I was a freshmen to get me moved in initially.</p>
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<p>I really don’t think this is worth it. For one thing, it would be harder to get to your car whenever you want to go somewhere. For another, what are you going to do with your car during peak hours? You’d likely have to leave your car somewhere during the day, while you’re in classes and such. You’d probably only use it during the weekends, maybe, or perhaps during the evenings. Other than that, you’d need somewhere to park it semi-permanently, especially if you live on campus. And then of course there’s the question: what if you do get towed? Was it really worth it?</p>
<p>I survived four years at a school in southern California (which is a very car-happy state and isn’t exactly known for a good public transportation system) without a car, and I was fine. If they don’t allow cars for freshmen, it’ll probably be fine. If nothing else, you and all of the other freshmen will be in the same situation, so you can all handle the problem together.</p>
<p>@baxtrak What school did you go to, if you don’t mind me asking? I currently attend CSUN and althought I have a license, I still have somethings to do with my car. Luckily one of my roommates has a car, but if she’s busy or if I wanted to go somewhere by myself, I’d want to know how I could get there efficiently and cheap.</p>
<p>I drove two years in high school and couldn’t bear the idea of not being on a campus that didn’t allow cars for freshman either. As an above poster said, usually public transportation for these places are decent. Another thing is, you could make friends with upperclassmen who do have cars. I would not risk parking across the street or something because usually the school has some type of security/police that keeps an eye out for these cars. </p>
<p>Trust me – you WILL survive and find ways around not having a car on campus. This is coming from a girl who comes from a city that is very dependent on cars (terrible public transportation) but spent her first year of college car-less! I did a lot of carpooling, walking, and bussing/training.</p>
<p>@smurray09: I went to UCSD. The bus system wasn’t great, but it still got me places that I needed to go and was my main mode of transportation. Other than that, I’d walk/bike, carpool, or rent a zipcar.</p>
<p>My #1 school doesn’t let you have cars. There’s plenty of public transit and campus buses to get around. Do your schools have Zip Car? My #1 does and you can rent it hourly or by the day if you really need a car.</p>
<p>I’ll be bringing a car every other year though!</p>
<p>Re: parking in restaurants - I used to work in a downtown with a college campus. Every fall, we would watch the “towing of the freshmen”. Because there was limited parking available downtown, companies would rent spots from 8-5 in the parking lots of local bars and restaurants for their employees (leaving the spots in public parking for customers). Freshmen would come in and try to park their cars at the bars and restaurants during the day, and the towing companies would be geared up and ready to tow them out. It was always a pain the first week or two of a new semester. (The nice part was, we couldn’t work late, as we had to be out of the spots before dinner crowds started coming in).</p>
<p>You’d be perfectly happy without a car at Wellesley. Public transportation in the Boston area is very good and it’s supplemented by college-supported transportation options that many students use. Also, parking in Boston area is often difficult to find and quite pricey when you do find it. So, even if you would have a car on campus, using it to go into Boston won’t necessarily be your best option.</p>