Freshman: to bring a car or not to bring a car

Any advice on whether or not I should bring a car to my first year at Ole Miss? I am from Florida.
Thanks!

@maadsil You asked me this on a thread in Student Life, but I’m answering here.

Most freshmen at Ole Miss who can afford to bring a car bring a car. I am now in my fifties, but I can’t imagine going to college without a car, and I’m sure my children will take their cars to college wherever they go, unless it is prohibited. If they manage to get a full or nearly full ride somewhere through merit aid, then I likely will buy them a newer car (I’m pretty much resolved not to buy any more cars that are less than two years old).

With that said, parking is now a hassle at Ole Miss. Enrollment has doubled over the past 20 or 30 years and they have built maybe three new parking places. And the school has actually eliminated a lot of the convenient parking that the school used to have. So it’s’ unlikely that you will use your car to drive from your dorm to class, as we sometimes did.

I will note that Oxford and Ole Miss now have a bus system, which is an absolute necessity given the parking shortage. The bus won’t get you from dorm to class, but it can take you to the Square, Wal-Mart, Kroger, and pretty much anywhere in town, including all the apartment complexes. But your trip is likely to take two or three times longer using the bus system, but you can use it if you don’t have a car, and plenty of students with cars use it to come to class to avoid the parking hassle.

I did have friends who didn’t have a car. Not having one may force you to meet more people, since you will need rides from time to time. A lot of parents on this board think it’s silly for students to have a car; I’m just not one of them.