I picked out a college that I love, I’m currently in 9th grade and about to be in 10th. I’m trying to prep in advance. The dorms in the college are very small, there’s no kitchen to cook in and you have to share 1 bathroom with 4 people. I found an apartment that’s nice and is really close to the school. But rent for a 765sqft 1 bed 1 bath is about $2,000. Can someone help me figure out how to afford this?
Miles to go. You’re in 9th grade. You need to be accepted into the college first, and most colleges require first years to live in dorms.
Even if such an apartment exists in 3 years and the college allows off-campus living, you would likely need a parent guarantor since I doubt you have the 80K annual income to be approved to rent.
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I’m not sure you need to make this decision in 9th grade. By the time you get to college, rents will likely be higher. You also need to factor in costs of utilities, food, furniture, etc. If there is NO kitchen, how will you make meals…or do you plan to eat out?
Frankly, you will have enough privacy and less headaches living in the dorm.
I would strongly urge you to consider living on campus at least your first year. Many colleges require this.
ETA….when our kids lived off campus, WE (parents) needed to be the guarantors on the lease. Will your parents do this? At $2000 a month, that’s more than room and board on most college campuses.
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ok thanks for helping
Not your question, but you are 3 years away from making the decision as to what college you will go to. Of course, there is the pesky matter of getting admitted to the school, and your family being able to afford it
But also, between now and then you will (or should!) grow & change a lot. Your ‘dream school’ now might well change several times between now and then- for lots of very good reasons. Collegekid1 changed her entire list between spring of grade 11 and autumn of grade 12, dropping the school that she had planned to ED for one that she hadn’t even considered until that summer, and adding another school that had just launched a new program that seemed tailor-made for her.
On CC the mantra is ‘don’t fall in love with a school’! There are very very few schools that are so unique that you can’t find good alternatives (and there are many, many forms of housing for different colleges). Remember, also, that every school has good and bad points. Let future-you shape the list of colleges that you apply to based on the things that are important to future-you at that time.
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Every dorm at EVERY college is different. Every single college my children went to had different set ups.
My eldest always had a single room-expensive, but huge.
My middle had a triple. Three girls in the room. Small but big enough.
My youngest had a double but never saw his roommates.
You only SLEEP in the dorm. Most colleges don’t allow you to cook in your rooms unless you live in a college-owned suite with a kitchen. You will be eating your meals at the Commons dining areas.
As for bathrooms, don’t you share a bathroom now? Does each person in your home have a separate bathroom?
Usually, on a dorm floor there is a shared bathing area.
The eldest one shared a 4-person shower area with the 4 girls on her floor.
The middle one shared a 10 person shower area with the floor of 20 girls.
The youngest shared a 4 shower COED bathroom (male and female) with 4 people.
You don’t know where you’ll get in. It’s cheaper living in the dorm than an apartment because utilities, cable, internet, furniture, trash services are all included.
You cannot prep in advance, at this stage unless it it about saving money for your expenses. Other than that, don’t waste your valuable study time looking for rentals that you cannot rent ahead of time. Focus on schoolwork to get into a college/university.
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I love that you are thinking about this. While you don’t know where you will end up, if you like you can consider and keep a list of the priorities you want in a living space. Also, what items you will need and want. How you want it to look. It’s fun to be more in control of your living space as you grow up.
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Can you or the adults afford this college that you love in the first place? How old will you be when you graduate? Are you working or can you work and save up money?
$2000 a month rent. You will also need a deposit…and usually that’s an additional months rent. Some renters want first and last months rent PLUS a security deposit. And most do a credit check to make sure whomever is responsible for paying the rent has the finances to do so.
So…$24,000 a year in rent…plus furniture, things for the kitchen, utilities, food.
Can your family afford this?
At this point, work on getting the highest grades that you can, and get involved in clubs and activities at school. READ, a lot, every day.
Most students wind up living on campus, and eating in the dining halls. You will probably want to do that, too, because a big part of college is being with the other students.
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