<p>I am curious if I am at the extreme end of the spectrum or if there are a lot of college students in the same boat as me. My parents have the mentality that once you turn 18, you are 100% on your own. They help me out when they can, but usually I pay for almost everything myself. </p>
<p>For instance, my parents and I said our goodbyes at the airport. They didn't fly out with me or help me move into my dorm room. I purchased my own laptop and I purchase all of my textbooks each semester. I started paying for my phone bill my first semester of college. I pay for my airplane tickets to and from home every winter and summer break. My parents also are not contributing a cent to my tuition, I take out a loan in a lump sum every semester. I also fill out all of the financial aid forms on my own. I am studying abroad this upcoming semester, and I have paid for my deposit, passport, visa, and my airfare all on my own. </p>
<p>I don't think my parents are cruel, they are the most loving parents anyone could ask for. It's just that money has always been tight for them and they have to take care of my younger siblings, they don't have money to throw at me while I'm away at college. When I tell my friends all of the things I have to pay for, they stare at me with their mouths agape in disbelief. I honestly am almost glad I have to pay for things on my own. I feel very independent and have learned so much about responsbility. I have established a great credit score through my credit cards, and I love being in control of what kind of phone I can get and what clothes to buy. I think some of my friends are in for a shock when they get out in the real world and will have trouble adapting. </p>
<p>How much do your parents pay for and what do you guys think?</p>
<p>Same here. They never paid for any of my cellphones, I bought them all and paid for all of their plans, before I was even 18. I’m on aid for the tuition, my parents won’t pay a penny for my tuition and they never would have. Unnecessary things like N64, PS1, PS2, PS3, etc gaming as a child/young adult, forget it, never had that childhood. I grew up watching and playing/participating in boxing and baseball, instead of doing other things my friends would do at their age. And also like you describe your parents, my parents aren’t bad either. But for some reason, when I leave for long periods of time[like a year], i’m happy and don’t miss them. I’ve felt like a visitor here my whole life, I never felt at home.</p>
<p>I don’t see the point in asking this question. Are you trying to boast about how independent you are? It’s also very ignorant to say that people will have trouble ‘adapting’ in the real world just because right now their parents pay for things.</p>
<p>But on topic, my parents pay for everything.</p>
<p>Before applying for college, my parents and I agreed on a yearly amount they would give me regardless of which college I chose. It was up to me to cover the rest in aid or scholarships. I chose a college that gave me a full ride, so that amount is now basically used for personal expenses.</p>
<p>angelfish: What sort of adapting to the real world do you mean?</p>
<p>You sound incredibly arrogant by assuming that you’re better than your friends because your parents aren’t paying for expenses. </p>
<p>While no one should be completely dependent on their parents for everything, what’s wrong with having parents who WANT to help their child out. MANY parents’ goal is to work hard so they can help pay for their children’s college - what’s wrong with that?</p>
<p>It’s awesome that you’ve managed your own finances so well since age eighteen, and you should be proud of your independence. But I also hope that you aren’t judging your friends too harshly. Just because someone has help from family while in college doesn’t mean that they won’t be able to smoothly make the transition to financial independence when the time comes. On the other side, having to manage money at a young age doesn’t guarantee responsibility. </p>
<p>My parents help me with everything, largely because neither of them got any financial or emotional support from their families when they decided to attend college. Since they have the means to help me, they want my experience to be better than theirs’. It’s a huge blessing and a small curse. I’m incredibly fortunate to receive the amount of assistance and support they offer me, and it’s great to be able to focus solely on academics without the added stress of figuring out finances. Many of my friends are not so lucky. I try to appreciate this and show my gratitude to my parents. </p>
<p>But in return, it does add pressure. Since I don’t have to work as much as my peers do, my parents expect that extra time to be put into studying and earning top grades. I also feel my own sense of pressure because I’ve seen many others, including both of my parents, have great success in academics while still working many hours a week and having added responsibilities that I haven’t yet had to face. I feel like if they were able to achieve so much while having a lot more to handle and worry about, there is no excuse for me to achieve anything less.</p>
<p>Both of my parents had to drop out of college for financial reasons so they’re willing to help as much as they can. I’m on full tuition scholarship, and they have a college fund for me they’d started years ago that I can use to pay for room/board and textbooks. I’m on a family cell plan, I have to pay for the phone itself and the data plan. Transportation, sometimes its them and sometimes it’s me. I can use the car at home without paying for insurance, but if I want to take it to school I have to pay for that. Everything else is pretty much on me, although sometimes they’ll send me Freddie’s gift cards or money. They’re very financially supportive since I chose the school with the scholarship even though they were willing to stretch a little more to send me to one of my top schools where I only got like a half ride in need based aid.</p>
<p>I have merit scholarships that allow me to only pay half tuition at my college, but my parents pay all of it. They also pay my phone bill, big expenses (such as parking), and sometimes give me a bit of money when they see me for food and random things. I pay for anything that is “unnecessary”. The reason they’re funding me is to keep me from working too much so that I can focus on my education. I work at the writing center, but it doesn’t pay the big bucks.</p>
<p>Once I graduate undergrad, I am completely on my own. Back in the day it was more reasonable to financially cut off kids at 18, but I think that the span of “childhood” is semi-drawn out until 21 now. Not that my parents treat me like a child, do my laundry, give me a curfew and rules, etc, but they still give me financial support and emotional support.</p>
<p>I don’t think it’s a matter of how much your parents support you, but how much you’re prepared to adapt once they stop!</p>
<p>My dad’s disabilities as a veteran help support me by paying for my tuition in college. I’m the first to go to college in our family’s history and my sister is also in college. Over the past three years they have paid for my books, meals, and gas. Now that I’m transferring they co-signed a lease with me for an apartment so that I could live there and go to school. They will be co-signing a loan with me as well and I will be using my own personal loan as well to afford the cost of college. So, they help me out a lot. </p>
<p>However, I made the mistake of transferring to this university I don’t like and am going to try to transfer again. I think my dad said he’d support me, but I have to give him some good reasons as to why I would like to transfer. It is quite a ways away from home, but I believe I can find the extra money to attend a UC vs a CSU. I’ll be going the AFROTC route and trying to get scholarships through them and use the benefits of becoming an officer (the monthly stipend) to help keep the costs down. I will try and get any other scholarships or work that I can.</p>
<p>I’m thankful and grateful that my parents are paying for my education, and help me out with my cell phone. However, I do work, and manage my own money for things that are necessities, which is what I pay. My parents cover what they need to cover as parents; food, shelter, and in this case education. I want a fancy new watch? I pay for it. I want new sneakers? I pay for them. I want to go out? I pay for it. In the rare case that they treat me to something I want, I sure to thank them. My parents helping me out has no bearing on my financial responsibility.</p>
<p>I’m glad that my parents pay for most things but I see OP’s point about independence - I’m really fortunate in that I’m getting a full ride to my school, so my parents can easily afford to pay for things like my clothes and food and stuff. They’re giving me spending money in college so that I can focus on academics and internships instead of stressing over a job, but I’ve loved the independence that my summer job has given me, so I’d like to have my own income as soon as possible.</p>
<p>My mom pays a good deal of my expenses. It’s hard finding a decent job that works with my school schedule and that’s not far away where I’d be on the bus a good deal of the day. I’m very grateful for that. When I did work, I paid my own cell phone bill, bought my own things and even bought my mom a number of new things whenever I went out shopping for myself. Now that I have another job, I’ll pay for all my things again which I’m very happy about. I hate having to ask for money. I hated it at 17 when I got my first job and I hate it now at 20.</p>
<p>I cover most of my tuition in aid, but usually there’s a couple hundred dollars left that I need to come up with that she covers. I get my textbooks cheap on Amazon and she paid for those for this upcoming semester but this is the first semester since my first where I haven’t been able to buy my own book. I also live at home and commute.</p>
<p>I don’t think needing the occasionally bit of help from my parent makes me any less independent than some of my friends that have been working or live on their own. They all get help from their families to watch their kids, rent money, laundry, etc.</p>
<p>My mom payed initial things like housing contract fees but I’m on my own for most things. Not because I think she doesn’t want to, but she has her own obligations and debts to worry about.</p>
<p>Half of of my tuition is paid for by scholarships, and I’m lucky enough that my parents pay for absolutely everything else. Room, board, books, doctor visits, car insurance, cell phone. Over the summer I make a few hundred bucks that I spend on food and clothes, but other than that they cover everything else because they’d rather I focus on school than on a job. Does this make me extremely fortunate? Yes, and I know it does. I’ll be able to graduate without and student loans hanging over my head. But I don’t think I’ll be “in for a shock” when I make the transition to financial independence.</p>
<p>My parents pay about 20% (depending on FA) of my total tuition, room and board. The rest is loans and a lot of other FA. If I’m not working, they pay for my phone bill or give me money for other expenses but if I’m working, I pay for everything I want or need like my phone or passport. They do however always buy me my textbooks. </p>
<p>I’ve been extremely lucky. I don’t get allowance or anything and I do a lot of the housework when I’m home but since I haven’t been able to find a job, I’m just grateful that my parents throw me some cash once in a while or pay for stuff, like my textbooks and driving tests. My mom even offered to pay for half of my vacation to Seaside Hgts at Jersey Shore when I said I didn’t really want to go because I didn’t want to spend the last of my money there. Lucky, to say the least.</p>
<p>There is no question that financially the OP has it way more difficult than most. He didn’t mention what aid if any he is receiving.
Paying for your own education will have you face economic realities much more quickly and create a sense of responsibility that those who are being significantly supported are not yet able to relate to.
He should be proud for taking this on, it is his life though. You have to play the hand your dealt.
I can relate I put myself completely through college.
Now as a parent with a daughter who is a couple years away from going to college I want to lift as much of that burden off her shoulders as I possibly can.</p>
<p>My parents help with living expenses such as food, school supplies, etc. However, they will not be contributing to my tuition and loan debt. I like it this way because they wont be paying for everything; I like to take 90% of responsibility. I’m starting to get used to paying my bills on time! Hard trying to balance school+internship+job, but do-able.</p>
<p>Mine will help with move in and that’s it. Went to orientation on my own. Let’s be real though, without FA (taxpayer/donor help), probably very few of us “independent” freshmen would be attending college at all. You take out a loan…great, on what credit history were given it? In state tuition? Subsidized by OOS students then. Even if no FA, we depend on others at some level, all the time, whether you realize or not. When you apply for a job as well, you’re depending on the employer, customers, the economy etc. Arrogance is for surviving out in the wilderness.</p>
<p>You don’t know that your friends couldn’t move in on their own or fill out the FAFSA either. This is not as hard as you make it sound, and frankly mine are only coming cause it’s like a rite of passage or something. Plus it’s a short distance. Your friends take what help they can get. You’re not better than them.</p>
<p>I’ve also been pretty lucky with regard to my parents’ financial support of me, as well as financial aid itself. I got a half tuition merit scholarship and got a good chunk of the rest taken care of by fin aid. Of the remaining amount, I took out about $4500 in loans, so my parents are paying the rest, which is very comfortable.</p>
<p>But yeah, my parents always do whatever they can to help me. It also extends to small things too. Whenever I go out with my friends to see a movie or go eat or something like that, and I have enough spending money, my mom will always grab her purse and give me $10 or $20 and I repeatedly tell her not to but she doesn’t take it back. My parents also load money into my debit card account, but I got money from an internship this semester so I’m using that money for textbooks and other school expenses, which should cover me for a while.</p>
<p>But yeah, even though my parents are paying for my college costs, I consider myself pretty independent and I use my own money for the most part. The only times my parents pay are for things like airline tickets (if I can’t cover it) or eating out and occasional gifts and things like that.</p>
<p>Wow. I should be VERY thankful for my parents after reading this hahahhaaa. I went to a private college last year and they helped out A LOT !!! They payed for a good portion of my tuition, room, meal plan, all of my textbooks etc. However the college was too expensive so I transferred to a state school. They currently pay for my apartment but my tuition is mostly covered by scholarship and the Stafford loan plus. They only pay about 2, 000 a semester now. They help me out a lot and I really feel bad at times because they have 2 other kids and I don’t want to take all of the money. Yet another reason for transferring. I say to myself that I’m going to college to become a doctor so if all goes well it should pay off and I could treat my parents in the future. I only needed two textbooks this semester so that wasn’t bad and my mom also payed over 7, 000 for me to take 2 math classes over the summer. But I don’t have a car, fancy phone, my laptop is 5 years old and I don’t do a lot of close shopping so most of me is spent on my education and that’s how I want it to be. Oh and of course they help me move in and the only loans I took out so far are the federal Stafford loans.</p>