<p>Hello! Im a 16 year old guy and a junior in high school and I haven't decided my college or major yet but i want to be like 1 and a half hours to 3 hours away. My dad however is threatening to not pay for my college if i go further than 45 min away :( he says it is easier if it is closer so to get home is easier which i agree but i also dont want to be super close. I live in the small town of sidney and i want to try going to suny buffalo or suny albany. Buffalo is like 3 and a half hours away and albany is 1 and a half hours. How would I get home if i end up going to one of those colleges? My dad wouldnt drive there to get me cause it is too far and i have no car :/. Please help this is worrying and stressing me out :( thanks! </p>
<p>You can take a bus or train there, but if your parents don’t support your choice, how will you pay for college? I think you need to work on getting him to support your choice of college first, then worry about getting there. Once you are there, you find rides with other kids who do have cars traveling in your direction.</p>
<p>FWIW, I went to school about 45 minutes from home and I never went home. Never. Because it was so close during school breaks I’d go home for the holiday (Thanksgiving) and go back to my dorm/apt. the next day. At Christmas I may have spent a few extra days at home.</p>
<p>You take megabus…that’s what all college kids do nowdays…and its very affordable <a href=“https://us.megabus.com/”>https://us.megabus.com/</a></p>
<p>You can usually find someone that is from that area from your college who happily will take you if you help to pay for the gas.</p>
<p>@Twoinanddone , my dad is super strict he wants me to go to the same college as my sisters 45 min away 
I don’t want him choosing that 1 college for me cause I want to choose which college I want to go too. Can’t I get scholarships or financial aid loans to pay for it for now? I can maybe also get a part time job there in buffalo or albany depending where i go. </p>
<p>@Southernhope, wow does megabus go to anywhere?
@momom77, like a friend from college? </p>
<p>@southernhope , hmm if i leave from albany or buffalo for megabus, it doesn’t give me options to take me anywhere close to home where my dad can then pick me up</p>
<p>other options, for example, at SUNY Buffalo: <a href=“http://www.ub-parking.buffalo.edu/faq.php”>http://www.ub-parking.buffalo.edu/faq.php</a></p>
<p>rideshare (public): <a href=“https://rideshare.511ny.org/newyork/?id=2065&client=GBNRTC”>https://rideshare.511ny.org/newyork/?id=2065&client=GBNRTC</a></p>
<p>Yea, like a fellow student at college. Sometimes they just post it in Facebook they need a ride, or some form of social media. Do you know anyone else thinking of going there? To either school that is? If so, there may be a link for you. </p>
<p>Hi @collegevetting thanks !! Is there anyway i can contact University buffalo to ask more questions? I need to know if their buses will take me to binghamton for holiday breaks so then my dad can easily drive 45 min to bing to bring me home so it is less of a hassle. Now i need to know how to get back to buffalo after my break though. </p>
<p>@Momom77 , unfortunately no i dont know of anyone going to university buffalo 
some ppl r thinking of rochester or ithaca or suny delhi but no one yet i have heard for bufflalo </p>
<p>@MusicalAsian7 from the first link: “Also, for those of you who live east of Buffalo, the UB Express Bus will get you home for the holiday breaks. Buses will take you to New York City, Rochester, Binghamton, Syracuse and Albany.” </p>
<p>Presumably the buses go both directions, after the break. However, the link is where you should go to start asking questions about more detail of that. </p>
<p>I suggest you take your Dad’s concern at face value, and present him with the exciting news that it can be done. His stated concern MIGHT just be a general dislike of having you so far away, but it also might be a real concern, that you won’t be able to get home from there or there from home easily enough to stay in touch. That $35 per year zip car thing is something to look into imho, would you be able to take it for an impromptu trip home if family were sick or you were homesick? (Concerns he might have.) That would make it even more attractive. </p>
<p>I do have a twinge or two when I think of my kids far from home across the country NEXT YEAR. These kids have had a week away from family here and there but that is about it. I remember when I was 17 one reason I picked UCSB (I’m in California) was that I wanted to be far away enough to be independent in my daily life, but close enough to go home on weekends ‘in case’ I was homesick, since I knew people who HAD gotten homesick when they hadn’t expected to. (I wasn’t, but still liked being close enough to go home on weekends with friends, since the city had different stuff to do.) If your kid gets homesick far enough away that there isn’t much you can do about it, that would feel miserable. Showing your Dad that you are mature enough to figure out your own plan, just in your ability to do that, may put some of his unease to rest.</p>
<p>@Collegevetting , I live north of nyc(like 3 and a half hours away) so im guessing that means i am north of buffalo too. I hope no matter where I live, they would still take me to at least binghamton for breaks. Not sure how I would return back to college though after breaks though Or how I can get there if i go there in start of college. </p>
<p>My dad I think mostly doesn’t like how it is harder to get there and get back home but there may be some other reason he isn’t telling me… Usually he just wants his way but in this decision I don’t want to be restricted to a college my sisters are going too. Does the zip car take a person anywhere? </p>
<p>How far was UCSB from your home ? I really think my dad doesn’t trust me to pick a college, simce he is threatening to force me to pay for college if i dont choose the college my sisters are going too. In the end, is it ultimately my choice where I want to go? I want to be happy and choose which school makes me happy </p>
<p>OP, Greyhound has several buses traveling between Binghamton and Buffalo every day. They stop at Cortland and Syracuse, in case one of those places is more convenient to your home.
<a href=“https://www.greyhound.com/farefinder/step1.aspx”>https://www.greyhound.com/farefinder/step1.aspx</a></p>
<p>@MusicalAsian7 The part of the link I quoted in my post specifically said their buses run to Binghamton (amongst other places) at break. I am pretty sure it is implied that they run BACK after break, since they are suggesting that as a solution to break transportation issues.</p>
<p>Another possibility is that your Dad doesn’t feel he can afford to pay for you to live away from home. Do your sisters live away from home or commute? Real problems have real solutions (in that case possibly working during the summer and work study to pay for your housing, if he can pay the meal ticket since you would have to eat anyhow, or whatever. Also a lot of places you can get free housing if you are an RA in a dorm, and you could look into that IF that is actually the issue.)</p>
<p>I grew up in Los Angeles, so UCSB was about 90 miles from home, about two hours by car, depending on traffic, but public transportation takes longer of course. (I took Greyhound once when my car had broken down, but I did have a car to use.) </p>
<p>I don’t know the answer to the zip car, it said there was a $35 annual fee and it was for ‘those special trips where you needed to have a car’. How many you were allowed, I dunno, but it did say it covered 180 miles per round trip AND gas AND insurance for the car. To me, the gas alone seems like it would cost more so that seems a real bargain. YOU should look into that, by reading the link and contacting through the contact link or by phone to get answers. </p>
<p>IMPORTANT ZIP CAR EDIT:</p>
<p>OK, their statement about all that being included in the $35 fee was too good to be true and inaccurate. The $35 fee is an annual fee you pay (a discount for students) to have access to the fleet, then it is $8 per hour or $66 per 24 hours, but if you share with someone going your way presumably you would split that. Now an adult can usually get a cheap rental car for $25 day, but then insurance and gas are on top of that. (Not sure how gas works with zipcar.) But most car rental places won’t rent to you until you are 25 years of age (unless you are in the military.) Zipcar apparently will rent to you if you are 18.</p>
<p>Seems to me the bus is the avenue for going home for breaks, and the zip car is something you would point out as being available in case there were a real reason you had to get home and for some reason greyhound wouldn’t work.</p>
<p>here is the more direct SUNY Buffalo zip car link: <a href=“http://student-affairs.buffalo.edu/parking/zipcar.php”>http://student-affairs.buffalo.edu/parking/zipcar.php</a></p>
<p>@oldmom4896 awesome thank you so much! 
I hope the buses can drop off and pick up at binghamton too</p>
<p>@collegevetting , thank you so much for all your help!! I have emailed them just in case about their transportation. Im wondering, are there two buffalo colleges in NY? I dont want to get confused and pick the wrong one. My oldest sister lives away from home, she goes to SUNY Delhi and may transfer after 2 years to a diff college. My older sister who graduates from high school this year is also going to SUNY Delhi for 1 year then transferring to Binghamton University. </p>
<p>What is RA in dorm? I will have to compare college costs too cause my dad would be worried about that. I am not sure if I will get into SUNY Buffalo or Albany . My Gpa is currently a 92 or 93 so a 3.6. I didn’t try my best in math my freshman and sophomore year. I am not sure if they look at regents scores either like idk if they matter much. I got mastery on everything but math I do have some extracurriculars like interact club(community service) , winter track in freshman year, french club last year, art club this year. Then i also work a part time job(family business) and am currently taking College U.S. History and next year I am taking College Composition and Literature. </p>
<p>I will look into the zip car thing thanks! Does buffalo use greyhound buses? I also got to look at albany for buses too </p>
<p>MusicalAsian7, this chart has the 25th to 75th percentile test scores and grades for all the SUNYs:
<a href=“https://www.suny.edu/student/downloads/Pdf/Admissions_qf_stateop.pdf”>https://www.suny.edu/student/downloads/Pdf/Admissions_qf_stateop.pdf</a></p>
<p>And yes, there are 2 SUNYs in Buffalo. One is a university center, along with Binghamton, Albany and Stony Brook. The other is a college, that is, no significant graduate student presence. The university centers (in general) are harder to get into, although your stats are fine. (Geneseo is the exception; very competitive admissions.)</p>
<p>There’s a ton of information about the SUNYs at the system website:
<a href=“http://www.suny.edu”>http://www.suny.edu</a>
and at the websites of the individual schools.</p>
<p>@oldmom4896 , i emailed suny buffalo and asked them about if there is buffalo state college too that could be different but they said they are Both University of Buffalo and Buffalo state so idk how to tell the difference 0.0 What do you mean by no significant graduate student presence? Trigonometry and Chemistry are really hitting me hard this year but thankfully im doing well in my other classes to keep my gpa at the same level but I still need to make sure i do well cause anything can happen. Thank you for the website </p>
<p>I’m 50 minutes to an hour away from home and only go home when its necessary which is not very often; I do have a car for those few instances when I do just want to be home. </p>
<p>I suggest looking into the bus; I know buses run all around upstate. And for the record, you are south of Buffalo… </p>
<p>Also “little graduate presence” means that there is a small population of Post undergrad (aka Grad students) on campus because there aren’t graduate programs. </p>
<p>As far as paying for college chances ate you will not be able to do it alone. If you end up needing a loan outside of the FAFSAs 5500 you will need a parents signature on it- a cosigner. </p>
<p>SUNY Albany and Buff will cost around the same amount of money. </p>
<p>An RA is a resident assistant which is basically someone in your hall who makes sure everything runs smoothly. They aren’t there to baby you but will be there when you need to talk or need help, they also enforce things like quiet hours and will be in charge of write ups, when necessary. </p>