Commuting

<p>I am feeling like commuting from home has destroyed my college experience. Im a junior, never lived on campus and have extremely strict parents. Anyone else in a simialr situation or think the same way? What makes you stay at home? Dop you plan on getting out or going away!?</p>

<p>Get a job and tell your parents to **** off as you support yourself.</p>

<p>Sometimes as a commuter I feel incredibly left out. Especially when my friends talk about all the parties and stuff that they go to and all of the friends that they made on campus. The whole "perfect college movie ideal" stuff, ya know?
But being me personally, I need my support system around me. And that would be my family. I also never liked the idea of living with somebody else in a space as confined as a dorm room. I'd rather live by myself. </p>

<p>But that's just me and I see myself as a rarity :) I plan on moving out after I get accepted into grad school, but until then, I want to be near my family. And besides, my family's pretty cool. I can come and go as I please and pretty much am free to do what I wish.</p>

<p>I plan on commuting, so... I'll let you know how it goes.</p>

<p>Man i've been communting for a week and it sucks. My parents wont let me dorm cause the school is so close so i'm transfering didnt really like the school anyway</p>

<p>Commuting to school makes it feel as if your attending an uber expensive community college.</p>

<p>Sad face</p>

<p>Just go away then. NYC schools such in general except like 3.</p>

<p>I doubt u attend them.</p>

<p>i'm commuting for this semester (i'm a soph transfer), and i'm just hoping i'll still have fun and make friends</p>

<p>I was a commuter for the last three years of college after living in a dorm for two years at a previous college. I am an introvert and never really socialized, so commuting never impacted my social life. Also, the school I commuted to was largely made up of commuters, so it was no big deal. I'd say the worst thing in that respect is having strict parents. My fiance lived with her grandma and aunt who raised her. If she was not at school or at work they expected her to be at home doing what they wanted her to do. They felt she should be physically in the house as much as possible. This attitude not only impacted her social life but also our relationship. This summer she decided to move and get her own apartment. And in case you ask, I graduated from college in May and live 40 miles away from school across the border in another state. It is much better for her to have her own place for now, which is only 5 miles from school. She also has a job on campus.</p>

<p>Strict parents suck. My mom is relatively strict (though how you make it sound, probably not as strict as your parents) and I basically refused to go to college if she didn't let me dorm. I had a full scholarship so why not if it's paid for already, you know? I feel like I got such a better experience than if I had commuted (we live 1/2 away from my college). Alot of my friends or people I knew from high school either commuted to my college or a local community college and it's like they're still in high school. They still have curfews and have to let their parents know where they are all the time. I used to be really introverted and shy and I think living on-campus has helped break me out of my shell and be able to talk to people easier. I also definitely do not think I would have ever met some of the friends I have now if I hadn't been able to live on-campus.</p>

<p>I've found that even though I sleep at home I find myself living out of my car more and more each day. My friends and I joke that I live in the "mobile dorm" called "Acura Hall" (it's spacious, pretty comfortable, has a V6 engine...)</p>

<p>I think the school has a lot to do with this. My school is 50% commuters so it's not a big deal, but many, including my own mother, have often said that I'm too "get in, get out, get going" at college (being that I bypass the cafeteria quite often and don't do much on campus outside of class).</p>

<p>However, I WORK a great deal as well. Last week I had two afternoon shifts plus a Saturday. And I also do my random tech support. If I work a PM shift, by the time the evening comes around I'm not only tired but also will want to get my coursework done.</p>

<p>However, when I do have something in the evening plus PM errands and coursework, it's really a nonstop cycle of driving the car around.</p>

<p>My car, by the way, is actually old enough to be a college student (18 years). But it still runs well and is in remarkably good shape for its age. Too bad I have half my life weighing down the trunk!</p>

<p>To TnFStar: I know exactly what you're talking about. My parents are those kinds of parents. They're sephardic jews, better classified as Juhuro, and they're litterally INSANE. My sister goes to NYU and she didn't even apply anywhere that wasn't in NYC. Like UB-Vinny said, there are ONLY SUCKY SCHOOLS in NYC. Only sucky schools that are in commuting distance, and then there's NYU and Cornell. Maybe Fordham, and a couple of others are alright as well. My sister didn't even bother to apply elsewhere. It was NYU and Brooklyn College. We live in NYC and we're sheltered. NYC!!! Ever even been able to fathom that??? My parents live as if they're back in Baku or Derbent.</p>

<p>But you know what, don't take the advice of people saying "F uck them, get a job, and show them." I'm greatful that my parents want me to stay in the house. My parents basically think it's absurd for their child to 'dorm' or have 'their own apartment.' They think that you shouldn't leave the house until you're moving in with your husband(/wife.) And as much as I think they're INSANE, and I want to scream on top of my lungs and tell them that they're freaking psychotic, I thank the lord that they're not doing the exact opposite-- kicking me out. Cause there are plenty of parents that let their children know - "As soon as you turn 18 you're getting out of this house. And you're paying for college on your own."</p>

<p>Along with their other dumb tendencies, they also think it absurd for a parent not to help their child in university payments. They're paying fully for my sister's undergrad at NYU, and she had to beg them and put her foot down saying she's paying for grad. Yes, they're still babying her at 21 years old, but truly, I think that she turned out fine. Thank g-d my parents are so helpful and love us so much that they take their crazy religious/cultural dispositions about issues such as dorming and going to college and carry them along after living in NYC for a good 13 years.</p>

<p>With that being said, I'm SO GOING AWAY FOR COLLEGE!!!</p>

<p>I only brought up the above rant to tell you not to hate your parents for being strict, and not to tell them to f uck off when they just have no idea what they're making you miss. I'm still a junior in high school and I'm so passionate about going away for college. Come on, I feel like i'm living in a nutshell. I want to find a school that will give me "the" college experience that I read about in books and see in movies. Where every one has school spirit and goes to sports games. That's MY perfect college. Yet when I bring it up to my parents they merely laugh. They tell me that I'm crazy. And they'd never let me go. I think rationally and say - "I'm going to be 18! They have no control over me!" I'm going to sit them down when applications come, and tell them that I love them but they need to understand I HAVE to go away. I don't just want to, but I'll never be 18 again, and never go to college again, I HAVE TO GO AWAY. I don't want to go to NYU and I don't want to go to Columbia. I might not even get into either of those schools, where will I be left, at a CUNY??? No THANK YOU! I'll be applying where I want either way. If time comes and they still don't approve of my decisions then I'll take the loans out and pay for college alone. So many kids do it, and I can too. But I hope that by the time comes, they'll understand, and let down their guard.</p>

<p>So sit down with your parents. Maybe show them this thread. Talk to them rationally and just explain to them exactly what you're missing. Ask them WHY they don't let you go away. Maybe you can transfer, it's certainly not too late.</p>

<p>Good luck, from one child of strict parents, to another. :-)</p>

<p>Well, atleast NY is the place to be stuck in. But yeah I agree that being forced to stay anywhere is not good for the child and parents need to lose the ambilical cord(unless they make you stay for financial reasons).</p>

<p>Thanks guys. Good to know that people know what im talking about and feel as i do. I'm gonna see what happens after the semester and try to make a big change in January</p>