<p>Hi, I was born in Miami, Florida but moved when I was very young and have ALWAYS wanted to go back. I moved to Ohio and now I live in Alabama. So I applying this coming summer for the summer or fall term for 2012. My parents don't want me to go to any school in South Florida because of distance (11 hours boo hoo) and they don't think I could afford an apartment. So I told them that I want to go anyway and that if there isn't any affordable housing off-campus I can just live on-campus all four years until I get settled in. So, I am asking if anyone knows whether or not FAU offers on-campus or off-campus apartment connections. And could chance me?
GPA - 3.4 uw, 3.7 w
ACT - 26 twice (28 superscored)
Some community service
3-4 EC's
Part-time job
A ton of honors classes and 1 AP.</p>
<p>Thanks and sorry it was so long!</p>
<p>Your stats look good for the school just remember to apply early. FAU does offer on campus apartments such as Innovation Village. However, it is a requirement that all freshmen live on campus unless you meet certain requirements.</p>
<p>Okay, thanks! My parents don’t want me to go down that far south. I live close to Mobile, Alabama so it is about a 10 and a half hour drive. Do you have any advice or experience with going that far away for college to convince my parents to let me choose? Thanks!</p>
<p>Living away from home is really very critical to becoming an independent adult. There are a lot of things that you need to learn and deal with - buying groceries, doing laundry, paying bills, negotiating with public services like traffic/parking/utilities, etc - that are probably best served by being thrown in the water and forcing you to swim. A college environment is perfect for this because everyone around you is also going through the same things.</p>
<p>That’s really the rationale, but I think you need to get at the heart of why they don’t want you to go away; is it because they think you’ll drink too much? That they won’t be able to see you? That they still need you to do things around the home? etc etc And address those concerns.</p>
<p>They haven’t mentioned any worries about me drinking or doing drugs because frankly, I never have, so they can trust me. It’s the fact that it’s 11 hours away that they keep bringing up. They said living that far away won’t allow me the opportunities to come home as often like I would be able to if I went to UCF, USF, or FSU. They also mention the pricey area surrounding FAU. They say Boca Raton is too expensive for a college kid to find an apartment. So mainly it’s the distance that they don’t like most about it. I’m still applying to FAU and FIU (another school they obviously don’t want me to go to), but they will not pay my application fee for that. They are only paying the fees for the schools that they think are “realistic” for me. But they said I can apply wherever I want and in the end they will let me choose where I want to go to college, but I think that if I choose someplace 11 hours away, they will be mad and hold a grudge type of thing against me. This is a very difficult situation lol.</p>
<p>Thanks.</p>
<p>UCF and USF are only three hours and four hours north of FAU, respectively, so you’d still be ~8 hours away from Alabama and even that’s too far to come home on any convenient time schedule. </p>
<p>In my experience, unless the school is 2-3 hours away, most people don’t want to make the trip unless they absolutely have to (or for big events like July 4th). It gets old fast, but that’s the point - you get away, you meet new people, you hang out with them and you fly home for Christmas. That’s how college students do it all over the country.</p>
<p>Depending on where you live now or what you’re used to, yes, Boca (and South Florida in general) can be pricey. A one bedroom could run you $800+, sure, but typically people live on campus the first year, make some friends and then go in as roommates for sophomore years and beyond. That’s when you start paying more like $400-600/month/person. I believe I posted a link on the ULTIMATE GUIDE TO FAU thread to the fauoffcampus website and you can take a look for yourself. Also look through Craigslist for deals - a lot of people here rent out townhomes, etc and it’s a MUCH better living experience than a dorm.</p>
<p>That is exactly what I’ve been trying to tell them, but they won’t budge. I do however appreciate that they are giving me the option in the end to pick where I want to go.</p>