<p>I'll be heading off for college in a matter of months, and am trying to figure out a way to pay for living on campus. My parents live quite close to the university, so the deal is that they'll pay for my tuition, but not for rent, and that I'm welcome to continue living in the house for as long as I want. Financially, this seems like a sweet deal, but I'm afraid that it would be a social handicap. Anyhow, I wanted to seize the opportunity and use my situation as motivation for finding a job and trying to pay for rent. How practical is it, and what are the highest-paying jobs available for college students? Are research jobs available for undergraduate students?</p>
<p>Some people live with their parents and they do just fine. However, my parents literally drive me crazy, so I had to move out. I was able to find a sweet deal for my apartment (only ~$250/month total including utilities).</p>
<p>I can’t look for a job for you so you’re on your own on that… Professors do have openings on undergraduate research positions, but you have to jump on those as early as possible.</p>
<p>btw. on campus living is expensive. You might make some good friends there or maybe not, wouldn’t know. I just know there’s no freaking way I’m falling for a crammy room with no privacy for $500/month + food. nty</p>
<p>PS first semester, everyone will ask you where you live. I was too embarrassed to say “I live with my parents” so I just lied. :p.</p>
<p>Working full time to pay bills and going to college isn’t a cakewalk. I haven’t been able to find a way to work part time and cover the cost of living. Its really hard. If you can tough it out at your parent’s house for at least a year its worth it. Waiting tables/serving/ bartending (you have to work your way up from server to bartender usually) is the easiest way to make fast cash and usually you can make enough to support yourself plus rent and utilities. Its usually much cheaper to find a house and rent it with a few friends you trust than living on campus or in an apartment. The houses in my area are a lot cheaper than apartments when split 3 or 4 ways. The problem with that is finding reliable roommates who won’t stiff you on rent or finding a landlord that will let you sign independent leases so you aren’t responsible if one person doesn’t pay their rent on time. </p>
<p>Finding undergraduate paid research positions is mighty difficult. They are rarely offered at my university. Even the grad students don’t get paid for their work, they are slaves to the university (they teach and do research for tuition discounts) so that they can attend school. You’re better off trying to find a part time job in a field of interest. I’m not sure what your major is, but for example, a lot of pre med students in my area are medical “scribes” they follow ER doctors around for an entire shift documenting everything from patient history, to the physical exam to orders. Its a great way to immerse yourself in the field. </p>
<p>Commuting to school does suck, but if you can tough it out its not all that bad. You’ll be saving yourself tons of cash. You could always take out loans to cover housing, but you do have to repay those back. Living on campus is very convenient but in my opinion is a bit overrated. You have to do whats best for you. Try living at home and commuting. If you absolutely can’t stand it then work on a plan to move out.</p>
<p>Yeah, just so you know, working enough to pay for your rent (i.e. full-time) and going to school full-time is HARD, and could take a long time since making classes fit with your schedule won’t be easy. Whether there are many full-time jobs around for you depends on your school. In your situation I would probably live at home at least for a year, and maybe get a part-time job so you can save up money to move out after your first year. Trying to make a full-time job and going to school full-time work is just too hard to do if you don’t have to, in my opinion - and you won’t be able to enjoy being out on your own if you don’t have any free time to do so!</p>
<p>I agree with staying with your parents for a while before moving out. Most jobs around here have you start out at minimum wage. This girl had to work for 500 hrs getting paid minimum wage shelving textbooks at the library before she’s eligible to be promoted to the circulation desk, where people sit on their a55es surfing facebook. She’s still shelving books. What a scam.</p>
<p>I consider myself lucky to have the jobs I have now. . . very, VERY lucky. It could have been a LOT worse.</p>
<p>btw. One of the perks of research positions is that the hours are usually very flexible.</p>
<p>Depends on your area of study and course load. I worked full-time nearly all 4.5 years of college. I usually had a pretty challenging course load, but I also budgeted my time wisely.</p>
<p>The problem, however, is that if you are working to pay rent in order to have a social life away from home, you will find that you will have no time left to have a social life. You will be working to pay rent, and going to class, and doing homework, and…sleeping. Unless you get a really good paying job (such as a server at a place that brings in excellent tips), you will be working a lot of hours to make ends meet. Unless you’re willing to take out a small loan each year to pay for living costs, which might not be such a bad idea to build your credit while allowing you to have time to actually make friends. </p>
<p>If you live close to campus, it’d be possible for you to spend a lot of time on campus, join clubs, hang out in the different student activity areas, and have a social life without moving out. I lived 45+ minutes from the college I commuted to, and like I said I worked a lot, so I wasn’t able to be on campus for much more than just class time.</p>
<p>You would be wise to take things one step at a time. You are just starting school. Give yourself a chance to see what that is like before jumping into any more firsts. It is a huge transition to go to college for the first time. It will take you some time to adjust to the workload that you will have and to learn what you need to do to make the grades that you desire.</p>
<p>Having the opportunity to live at home is a blessing. You probably don’t realize how much living alone or with roommates involves. Your family has had years to learn how to live peacefully together. That is not something that just happens by itself. </p>
<p>It would not hurt to get a job and to try and work while going to school, before you move out. Having your fist job will give you a lot of insight. You will find out that there are tons of jobs that you don’t want to do and be amazed at how little certain positions pay. If you can handle working and going to school then save some cash. You want to have some money tucked away when you eventually do move out because there will be a load of expenses that you didn’t consider before.</p>
<p>It honestly depends on where you live and what your housing options are because some places the cost of living is crazy high. I go to MSU (gigantic state university). The cost of living is relatively low compared to most places and there are TONS of on-campus jobs available - most jobs are $8 or 9/hour though, not very high paying. Only if you are really lucky can you get something that is $10+ hour (special research position or something). Working my job for $9.25/hour 19 hours a week, I get just enough in paycheck (about $160 each week after taxes) to pay off my rent ($392/mo + $30/mo electric, cable, internet) and eat to my heart’s content. 19 hours of part time work a week is really easy to do imo but it also depends on your courseload, how good you are at managing time etc. Also, if you eat out a lot/have a car/go to the bar a lot your expenses are going to go up significantly (something a 20 hrs/week part time job won’t pay for). </p>
<p>As a freshman if you are working while going to school definitely start out with no more than 20 hours/week at the beginning so you can see how you manage your time and how busy you feel. As you get used to the routine then you can decide if you can manage to work full time (and if you really need the money)</p>
<p>Also, some campus jobs will offer raises each year if you stay in the same position. I know tour guides at two of the colleges I attended gave a $1 raise per year. I doubt tour guides get all that many hours, but it could be a good supplement if you had a second job with few hours. Depends on the flexibility of the job and whether your school offers annual raises like that.</p>