<p>Okay, so I am a desperate rising senior who will be applying to 20+ colleges in the fall. But here is the thing: I have NO idea how to get a dorm room and other things...Moreover, my parents said that they'll kick me out next June and I seriously will have no where to go. Not only they refuse to offer me any help for college, but also they deny me a place to live THE DAY AFTER MY GRADUATION. My parents are very sweet and kind people, don't get me wrong, but they also are very strict on me and wish me to be as independent as possible. So basically, all the housing system stuff, tuition, everything else are all on me.
I will be applying to both out state and in state schools. What are the basic things I need to know about apartment and/or college dorms? How soon should I get them after receiving my admission letters? Please be as detail as possible. Thanks!
Also feel free to share your experience with apt. and college dorms.. :D Have a nice day!</p>
<p>In general, off-campus apartments are usually cheaper than dorm housing. HOWEVER, some schools require freshmen to live on campus, and/or have meal plans, so you’ll need to check with that. Personally, I had a much better time in an apartment than a dorm, although it’s arguably easier to make friends in dorms. How are you planning to pay for college?</p>
<p>Most colleges won’t let you move into a dorm until mid to late August, so maybe you can convince your parents to let you stay at home for the summer? Or crash at a close friend’s?</p>
<p>@rebeccar Most of the colleges I apply to wont tell me the answer until April/March. Is that too late for moving in by June? How soon can I get a dorm after acceptance??? “How are you planning to pay for college?” Scholarships, I hope. Financial aid.</p>
<p>@206377 What about dorms at Berkeley, UT at Austin, Stanford, UCLA, ivies, Rice, and MIT???</p>
<p>Berkeley: August 23-24
UT Austin: August 18 - 23
Stanford: September 16
UCLA: September 20
Ivies: They’re all different
Rice: August 17
MIT: August 24</p>
<p>These are all very competitive, do you have less selective backups? </p>
<p>@206377 UT is my back-up school. (I will be doing the apply Texas thing, so all public schools in Texas)
Any suggestion for back-ups?? You’re very helpful! Thanks a lot! </p>
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<p>Sorry man, but you can’t do that. If they’re paying for nothing, the max amount of loans you can take out is 5.5k per year. You’re going to have to pick some more affordable schools, especially if you’re going to have to have an apartment for the summer (very, very few schools will let you move in during the summer–do they know this?).</p>
<p>If your stats are good enough to be thinking about those schools, you should apply to lower tier places to get better merit packages. You may be able to get a full ride, or close to it. Honestly, if your parents aren’t helping, this is what you should do. I’m not the best person to give advice about this, but I’ve seen on here multiple times that the University of Alabama gives great OOS scholarships, try there. If not, stay in your state so you can get the maximum aid. I would look at the Financial Aid and Scholarships forum on here to learn about other schools that have good reputation with aid, because you won’t be able to work through college.</p>
<p>@Vctory For real?! My parents don’t know about this… And I really don’t think they actually care about it, either.( They will probably ask me to live in an apt.)
Hey, so after I turn 18, my parents should have no restriction on me anymore, right? For example, my mom said I gotta give her my apt./dorm key so she can make visit and crap… (Doesn’t this sound super strange??)
So say I choose to live in a apartment, I won’t know which school accepts me till April, um, if I just get the apartment around April, how long am I supposed to wait before move in???</p>
<p>Do you have someone that can speak to your parents? Maybe someone like them? (same culture or church or whatever) I don’t think they understand how it works. </p>
<p>@veruca No, I do not. I guess because they’ve been go through a lot so they expect me to do the same. My dad said the ONLY thing he’ll help is food. (come on, I can do better)</p>
<p>If you are paying for everything yourself after graduation, you really have no obligation to obey anything your parents demands. If they are paying for some of it, or enough to where they can threaten to take away your funding, then you will have to follow their orders.</p>
<p>If you are renting an apartment on your own money and paying for your own college education, you do NOT need to give your mom a room key unless you want her to have it. But, if they are still paying the bills for you, they will obviously still have control of the strings and can threaten to remove it if you don’t listen to them. And with good reason, too. If you are the one paying your own bills, you are an adult and you can go about your life as you please, if you are ready to leave the fold of protection of your parents.</p>
<p>How much money do you have saved?
My family owns a complex in a small town (so prices are lower than usual) and I don’t see how it will be possible for a teenager to afford this, plus college. For example, for a one bedroom apartment here, the deposit is $800 and you will have to pay that before moving in, plus $700 rent each month, plus utilities. Every complex is different, but the ones in my area only pay for garbage, sewer, and water (which is rare) so you’ll also have to worry about electricity, water most likely, internet (which you’ll need for school), etc. You’re better off living in a dorm or going to community college or 2 years with roommates. If your parents don’t know that you can only take out $5,500 in loans, they may not realize it’s not possible to pay for all of this and college on your own. </p>
<p>@206377 Not much. Um, actually, I think my parents do know… My dad told me that I should get a job in a fast food restaurant place, so $7 per hour for min. wage. I might need to take off Saturdays and Sundays for work, part time from Mon-Fri. I’m stressing out because my dad think I can pay if I major in something like engineering or CS. which is my passion. Also, my dad won’t listen to anything I say, he’ll just think am making excuses.
In state schools are maybe the best for me: UT and some others, but I’m tired of here for some desperate reasons. The Auto admit thing is just unacceptable.
@Ctesiphon I actually have a twin who is also into the same thing as me, but my parents wont let us live together because whenever we hang out, something bad always happens. I’m not going to be too specific on this… Anyways, if we get accepted by the same school, and we divide the bills on ourselves, we don’t need to follow our parents’ order, right? </p>
<p>It’s just more of a personal choice. If your parents are not contributing at all to your college education or where you will be staying, your future is in YOUR hands. You can choose to listen to whoever you want. If you still want to feel connected to your parents and listen to what they say, you can do that. But they can’t threaten to take out funding if you disobey.</p>
<p>In the case with your twin, he/she’d have to feel the same about this too if you guys would be living together.</p>
<p>Do not take this personal OP.
This culture of parents and guardians kicking children out of the house as soon as they graduate from High school has to change. Especially for students that are seriously doing the best they can to secure their future…
These parents need to be brought to the spotlight to explain their reasoning for throwing their children who are about to start college in a few months out of the house.
If it is a case of a trouble kid, call the authority or something, but How far is TOO FAR?
Stories like this makes me question our moral and family values in this country.</p>
<p>You’re going to have to find a school that gives you a full ride, or work and save up a huge amount of money. I’m being serious when I say 5.5k is the maximum amount of loans you can take. </p>
<p>Post this same thread in the financial aid section. A lot of experienced posters frequent that section and’ll be able to help you out.</p>
<p>How much money do you have in your college fund/ 529? Do your parents realize that in the past 10 years it’s become impossible for a student to totally “self fund” for college, the way it used to be when they (we) went to college?
You can have $5,500 in federal loans your first year. If your family is lower income, you can have abut $5,000 in Pell Grants. Then it’s up to the university to decide, based either on your academic skills (typically a 32 ACT/1400 CR+M but some universities start at 30, or even 29 or 28)
If you live in Texas, you’ll be expected to pay a minimum of roughly $12,000 (not covered by scholarships). The exception is merit scholarships that can provide full tuition or full rides - UT Dallas has a pretty sweet one but it’ll depend on your SAT/ACT scores (what are they?)
UC Berkeley and UC LA would not be possible for you (55k per year, no scholarship).
Stanford, Ivies (choose 2 or 3, max, as they’re all very different), Rice, MIT would all be “lottery schools”. So many incredible students apply that odds are in no one’s favor no matter what. To be competitive, you’d need a 32-36 ACT (32 being the bottom quarter), 4-8 AP classes (with A’s), a GPA close to 4.0 unweighted, and a national or international prize in something.
What this means is that, before you apply to them, you should have
- 2 safeties where you’ve run the Net Price Calculator and know you can afford, are 100% sure you can get in (you meet automatic admission/scholarship criteria, for instance), AND like
- 3-5 matches: schools you can afford, like, and think you will get into, that have an admission rate of 40% or more
- as many reaches as you wish or can afford</p>
<p>Do you know your EFC? Can you parents pay but won’t, or is your family lower income?
Because the colleges you can apply to vary depending on the answer to these questions.</p>