I’m 17 and an incoming freshman. I decided to commute to college since the campus is 20 minutes from home. Now my problem, which to me seems like only I have this problem is that I don’t have my driver’s license. It’s somewhat embarrassing to admit, but now my concern is that without a license I know I won’t be able to obtain a parking permit. Is a permit really necessary? What should I do?
Well if you aren’t driving, I don’t see why you would even want a parking permit. Do you plan to get your license? How do you plan to get to school?
Are you driving without a license? Did you have your license suspended? If so you are heading for a lot of trouble.
I should’ve added that it’s a 20min drive so yeah I will be driving. I thought it would be smarter to wait until I was closer to 18 so I wouldn’t need to take drivers ed and drivers training, but I do regret it now.
Repeating @TomSrOfBoston’s question, for clarity: You mean you’re planning on driving without a license?
If so, seriously, don’t. Altogether too much can go wrong for you.
There have to be other options, whether mass transit or carpooling. Most colleges with any appreciable number of commuter students have an office specifically supporting those students, and they’re likely to be able to connect you with carpools, so maybe start there.
No, that would be extremely dumb.
@jemmo Your concern should be, without a license you won’t legally be able to drive, and you’ll likely face fines and impounding if caught.
Whether you get a parking permit can depend on other factors such as cost or convenience. For example, I’m 23 and have had my license for 7 years, and did not get a parking permit since I don’t park on campus often/long enough for it to be worth getting one.
But for you, you should consider public transit/carpooling or other options before you have your license.
Yup, get signed up for driver’s ed and start the process to get your license. Meanwhile, find another way to get to campus (public transit, carpool, parent drop off, etc) until that is done. Also, as mentioned above, you may not be able to get a permit after that. But take care of getting your license.
You don’t have a license. You’re planning to drive illegally to and from college every day-- is that correct?
Do you have any friends from high school with whom you could carpool? Can you get a ride from your parents? Could you afford a cab/Uber until you can get a license?
If there are no other transportation options, it would be FAR, FAR wiser to take a semester off than to drive without a license every day. When you get caught, it will probably mean it will be months and months before you can get a license.
And I would imagine your insurance will be a nightmare.
Once again, for clarity: do you plan on driving WITHOUT a license?
Yes I plan on driving with no license. I know it’s risky and not recommend but it definitely would only be temporary and me options are limited 
Welll the responses have made it clear what I should do. I just wanted to say the only reason why I was even considering something like this was because my other options of getting to and from campus are fairly limited.
Let me reiterate, driving without a license is illegal. There is no such thing as “not recommended”.
No one is saying that you can’t drive there, but you MUST have a license.
Plus, most students use their licenses for other needs like: identification to confirm who you are. On college campuses there are lots of parking tickets, and hits to cars. My dd received two parking tickets over her four years and neither were her fault. Her parked car was hit and no one left a note. She used her DRIVERS LICENSE with her AAA card to have the car towed. No reputable towing company would tow your car if you couldn’t produce a license.
You could take a gap semester. Work and get your license. This is a really dumb plan. You could hurt yourself or someone else, ignoring possible legal trouble you could get into.
You apparently are comfortable behind the wheel of a car.
Why not set up a road test today? You could have your license in no time at all.
And, again, please do not go ahead with your original plan. It could cripple your future in more ways than you can imagine.
If you are in an accident, insurance will not cover you if you have no license. Get the license.
Are your parents willing to let you drive a car that presumably belongs to them without a license? Why don’t you just take the road test as soon as possible? Yes, your parent’s insurance rates will go up but it’s a lot better than the consequences. In my state, the insurance would cover you so long as you were a permissive user even if you had no license but it could really up the rates, especially if you are found to be at fault, and perhaps raise them higher than they would be if you just took the test.
Maybe you could advertise for a carpool till you get your license. Pay someone a bit towards gas and they could drive you.
Because many states require driver’s ed for an applicant who is under 18, as the OP is.
Well it might cost money, but at this point it should be done. See if, like in my state, that you can go to drivers training place. You just get your learners permit, then go to a Saturday class and then spend X number of hours with driving instructor.
Curious as to why your parents have let it get to this place. Having to commute to get to school should not be a surprise.
I don’t get it. You already know it is illegal to drive without a license. All we can tell you is find a legal way to get to campus even if that means delaying your start. Do you have a permit? In my state you can’t get your license under 18 unless you have taken driver’s ed and driver’s ed requires a 30 hour class, 12 hours of driving with a driver’s ed teacher, 6 hours of observation, 40 hours of driving with a parent/guardian and having a permit for 6 months so it isn’t necessarily a quick fix.