<p>I don't recall from the campus tour whether the person said cars are allowed first year or not. Does anyone have any information on this? I searched the RPI webpage, but didn't find anything.</p>
<p>google is good...</p>
<p>Here's what I found (don't know how up to date it is...)</p>
<p>
[quote]
Q: Can I bring a car to campus?
A: No, due to a shortage of parking, freshman will not be allowed to park on campus. Public transportation around the Capital District is available.
[/quote]
</p>
<p><a href="http://www.rpi.edu/fye/so/faq.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.rpi.edu/fye/so/faq.html</a></p>
<p>The confusing thing is are they talking about kids bringing cars their freshman year? Or are they talking about kids bringing a car to some orientation event?</p>
<p>OK, found it:</p>
<p>
[quote]
Student Parking Permits</p>
<p>Freshman may not register a vehicle for parking on Rensselaer property.</p>
<p>Freshman students who feel they have exceptional needs (medical, employment, extenuating circumstances) to register their vehicle for parking on campus must complete a First Year Student Parking Permit Petition form.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>If I remember correctly, freshmen who commute may have cars. Freshmen who live on campus cannot unless there are extenuating circumstances. My son has not found this to be a problem, though. Students are allowed to use the city buses free of charge with their student ID. The bus goes to stores, malls and nearby towns.</p>
<p>Ok that doesn't sound too bad. Now I can save money by not buying a car.</p>
<p>OK to clarify:
Freshmen aren't allowed to get a parking permit to park in on-campus lots. There are exceptions to this, such as a member of certain varsity sports teams or circumstances where a car is required to assist with a nearby family member or something.
There IS parking on streets, but most streets have certain days you can't park on them for street cleaning so you'd have to move it. Basically, its a pain to have a car on campus freshmen year. Also, if you're the only freshman with a car on campus you will probably be asked for alot of rides.
You can use CDTA busses for free, which you can take to downtown Troy, to Walmart, and even to Crossgates Mall in Albany. Or you can just meet an upperclassmen and get rides from them.</p>
<p>You won't need a car early on in the first semester. But after that, you'll want to get off campus and out of Troy. If and when you do bring a car, there are certain streets where it's OK to park, provided you can find a spot and don't mind moving it on Thursday when the street sweeper comes. If you join a Greek house, you can sometimes get parking there as well.</p>
<p>I'm a sophmore, and this is what i recommend:
Freshman aren't allowed to get parking permits but you can park in the street (and sometimes in bray parking lot since they don't check there). What I recommend is to come to rpi without a car, and a bout a month into the semester if you want to, and see a need to bring a car. </p>
<p>commuters can have cars, and if you end up joining a greek house, SOME allow you to park there (if they have a parking lot).</p>