We are from Palm Beach area and curios as to peoples thoughts on whether a freshman living in a dorm needs a car.
Most people I talked to say not necessary, everything they need is accessible by foot/ bus. I am more focused on being able to come home when needed. Anybody with experience on this? FSU- West Palm
Thoughts?
It can be done. GMG or Red Coach are the fastest buses I know of since they don’t have many stops. It looks like they take 7-8 hours to go from FSU to Palm Beach.
I thought Silver had flights from Tallahassee to Palm Beach, but it looks like the route may have been cancelled. You’d either have to transfer in Orlando or fly into Ft. Lauderdale.
Need? No. Helpful? Sure.
There are tons of Facebook groups for carpooling to different parts of the state. Red Coach offers a bus that goes throughout the state. You can always fly from TLH to Miami/FLL. Parking on campus sucks.
That said… would it be helpful? Yes. Traveling around town is difficult by city bus. You can walk to a lot around campus but if you want an off-campus job you’d be seriously limited. Traveling to/from S FL is a lot easier with a vehicle instead of riding a bus.
FSU is a compact campus, so freshmen definitely don’t need a car to navigate the area. When it comes to coming home “as needed” – I would think it would be better to try to get a ride with another student as opposed to slogging down the state on a bus. They probably have ways you can find out about rides. Not sure what they are, but just ask someone at orientation and I’m sure they will have ideas!
I am an FSU freshman from the West Palm Beach area, and I live on campus without a car. As one of the other replies said, the campus is compact so using a car to get to class is completely unnecessary. It would actually take longer because there are so few roads that connect through the campus (not to mention the nightmare of finding a parking space.)
However, disregard all that if you are majoring in engineering. Engineering students have to commute off campus to FAMU as early as their first semester, and I know a lot of people without cars who have had A LOT of trouble with this since the buses can be unreliable.
Do you plan on purchasing a meal plan? If not, consider how often you’ll need to buy groceries. The nearest publix is around two miles off campus.
As for returning home, I highly recommend GMG transport. It’s only $40 to get from WPB to Tallahassee and it usually only takes around seven hours including stops.
Sometimes not having a car is inconvenient and it’s easy to feel trapped on campus after a while, but overall it is extremely easy to get by without a car.
Esaturn, do you have the meal plan? Wondering how you’d rate the food on campus.
@esaturn55 Which classes have to be taken as a freshman at the FAMU-FSU Engineering campus? Are any classes required to be taken at FAMU? I was under the impression that for the first two years the classes would all be on the FSU campus.
@shortnuke, there is a 1 credit First Year Engineering Lab/Seminar (ENG1004L) that you take freshman year that is at the Engineering Campus. There is a bus that runs between the campuses just make sure you leave plenty of time to make the trip.
Having a car is also helpful if you are an education major because the Intro to Education class (EDF1005) involves observation hours at local schools.
Other than that, a car helps to get groceries at Publix etc. Or to get home when the inevitable annual hurricane shuts down campus lol. Parking really isn’t a problem if you accept the fact that you will park at the further out parking garages (Pensacola or St Augustine for example) and not at the closer Traditions garage.
@Trisherella, I do have a meal plan. Several of the dorms, mine included, require purchase of a meal plan but I believe they’re getting rid of that for next year’s incoming freshmen.
The food is typically pretty good. There are always a lot of options, and while sometimes the hot meal option is subpar, I’ve never had a horrible experience with any of the dining halls.
There is also a plan called VIP where for an extra $99 where you can use a meal swipe in exchange for $6 at any restaurant on campus. Last semester I had 200 swipes (the cheapest plan available for my dorm), and I ate whenever I was hungry. I still only used 125 swipes (which equated to about $14 per meal). This semester I have VIP and as of now I’m using it at a rate where we’ll get our money’s worth, so I would recommend it. It’s also nice to not feel obligated to eat at the dining hall. That said, I would advise against the unlimited plan. A friend of mine had it last semester and only ended up using around 100 swipes.
Reconsider getting a meal plan at all if you are vegan. Vegetarians can get by just fine but generally for vegans there are very few options. If you have medical/religious dietary restrictions I’ve heard seminole dining will work with you.
@shortnuke as the other reply stated there is just the one credit engineering lab. It’s not impossible to get there by bus but it takes up a significant amount of time and leaves a lot more room for error.
While there are no other classes that take place at the college of engineering for the first two years, there are events and club meetings quite regularly and this could amount to a lot of time spent on the bus. Not having a car could also impact your ability to do undergraduate research with engineering professors.