<p>I'll be a freshman in the fall, and I don't know if I should bring my car. I'm from Athens, so I would have to rely on friends if/when I want to go home. How often would a car be useful to get around Atlanta? How often do most students go home? Is the permit worth the expense? Are cars parked on campus easy targets for robbers? Thanks in advance for any advice!</p>
<p>I’m a freshman who lives in the suburbs as well, and I didn’t bring my car this year. I only have two friends my same age who live on campus and also brought their car, and occasionally on the weekends I will drive into Atlanta with one of them. The main way I get places I need to go, however, is just through walking with a big group of people to restaurants or the grocery store, or riding in the car with one of my older friends. Meeting older people is easy if you get involved in student organizations, or live in a Freshman Experience dorm (HIGHLY RECOMMEND. DON’T EVEN THINK ABOUT GOING NON-FE…you’ll regret it!) …because the RA’s (at tech they’re called Peer Leaders, older students who live in your hall with you) usually have cars and can take you places if you get to be friends with them. As for going home, some people go home every weekend, but I’d definitely not encourage doing this. I told myself at the beginning of the fall that I wasn’t going to let myself go home until fall break in October, and it worked. Being away for that long broke me of my homesickness for the most part. If you have a car, you may be less likely to get involved and make friends on campus, that is, unless your chauffeuring everyone around in your car – could be a fun thing or a NOT SO fun thing, depending on your driving personality. </p>
<p>For me, it’s too expensive to really be worth it. You’ll be way too busy with classes and getting involved on campus to really have time to explore the depths of Atlanta. Save that for the weekend, and use your older friends or MARTA for those adventures. As for going home, your family will miss you and hopefully bring you home…or you can carpool with a friend!</p>
<p>Thank you, gtgirl2014, for taking the time to answer all my questions! Your post was very helpful/informative</p>
<p>A car is immensely useful for moving around the city. No, you don’t need it to go to the basics like the airport, grocery store, or the mall, but you’ll miss out on a good portion of the city if you don’t have access to a car. As for the safety thing, I’ve never had a problem, but I also keep my car absolutely devoid of anything.</p>
<p>I wish I brought my car sometimes because it’s nice to go into the city some weekends without going on MARTA or using the shuttle services. It is a bit expensive though to park on campus but you can find parking garages off campus (just a short walk) that are a good amount cheaper. Just make sure you feel that your car is safe, you don’t want it being vandalized or anything!</p>
<p>I did not bring my car this year and I am a freshman. I will be bringing my car this summer though and next year.</p>
<p>I have not had any difficulties not having a car on campus. Honestly, if you have a car you will probably be asked for rides quite frequently. I don’t even have any friends my age here who have a car. Parking on campus is expensive, and I think only worth it if you need to commute to a job (which I will be doing in the Summer). I joined a sorority so usually if I am going places that I can’t walk to (which is infrequent) I can get a ride from one of them. My PLs have cars too and I know a lot of people who drive to Athens for the weekends so I have never had any problem finding people to catch a ride with there. I don’t go home very frequently anyway. </p>
<p>There are so many food places a short walk away and Atlantic Station is not even that bad a walk if you go in a group. I have taken MARTA to Atlantic Station as well if I really needed to shop. I personally see no reason in having a car your first year at tech. I know some people who have brought up cars for a week for certain reasons and almost all of them have to then park in mildly sketchy places where they may/or may not get parking tickets. I have even had a friend whose car was broken into where two laptops/ipods/and cameras were stolen.</p>