I’m due to finish highschool this year right before my 17th birthday, and I plan on going to college as soon as possible.However I need to know what all the struggles will be with me still being a minor and will be in another state… I’m most worried about living, as nobody will be willing to rent an apartment to a 17 year old, and I don’t know how dorms work for underaged. My girlfriend, who is moving with me will be 18 then. I don’t know if it’s legal for me to live with her if I’m not 18 yet…so can someone please answer these questions for me?
Starting college as a 17-year-old is not unusual (I did it). Like most/all freshman, you’ll be living in the dorm and all of your hall-mates will be 17 and 18.
Your parents will have to sign for some things still because you are under 18. That I think is the biggest difference.
Many colleges require freshman to live on campus. You obviously would not be able to live with your girlfriend if you have to live in a dorm.
I’m currently a 17 year old freshman. While I certainly have been affected by not being 18 yet, it’s nothing too major. I’ve just had to mail forms home to my parents for them to sign when I registered with the NCAA for track. I also had to call home to get verbal consent when I tried to make an appointment at my university health center. So far, the worst part has been the minor headaches caused by trying to get forms in ontime after having to mail it home and them mail it to my dorm.
IMO, it won’t be a big deal.
@SoCcErTrAcK2016 are any of the forms online that you can either link or attach to emails to your parents? My D is only 16 and I’ve had to sign a couple of things for her, but she emails them to me, I print them out, sign them, then scan them and email them back as pdf’s and she prints them and hands them in. Even if you have to snail mail them out, your parents should be able to scan them and email them back to you, which would cut down the lag time by quite a bit.
To the OP-many of D’s classmates haven’t turned 18 yet. Colleges are used to it. Renting an apartment is probably not in the cards for you yet, though.
@sseamom That’s what I’ve been doing when I can. There was just a couple that had a carbon copy on the back so had to mail those
I went into college at 17, and turned 18 about 3 weeks after moving in. The only thing is that you’re parents will most likely have to sign things like forms and agreements, but other than that it shouldn’t be any different from being 18!
I’m 17 and currently in college, and it’s not too bad. The only thing inconvenient about being 17 is that your parents need to sign waivers and stuff if you want to play sports or something.
You will not be living with your girlfriend in a college campus. Your 18 year old girlfriend and you will have a difficult time getting an apartment unless at least one of you has a job that means you earn enough to pay rent etc…
This seems very ill-thought out. I suppose you could get married, I think some colleges do have housing for married couples. Seriously, please rethink this idea. You are young and in love, but be realistic. Do you already know what college you will be attending? I doubt it. First you need to get into (the same) college together, then contact student housing and ask these questions. You are putting the cart before the horse and have clearly not thought about the practicalities at all.