I am attending a school in my hometown next year so my parents will not pay for me to live in the dorms and want me to commute. If I want to live in the dorms, I have to pay myself. My plan would be to only live there freshman year, so it would be $13,500 for the year. I could take out a $5,500 loan to pay for almost half of it. The remainder, I would have to work this summer, during the school year and use my savings (I already have about $1,500) to pay for the rest. I have also applied for many scholarships and I’m hoping I’ll get at least some (theyre all relatively unknown scholarships so I think my chances will be high). Do you guys think living on campus and having the college experience is worth me doing this? I definitely want to have a good social life and not feel like I’m missing out but I just don’t know if it’s worth it to try and pay myself.
However if I dorm, I won’t have enough money to pay sorority dues (I"m planning on rushing), but if I commute I can with no problem. So is it better to dorm but not join a sorority or to join a sorority (for the purpose of feeling like I’m part of a community/the social aspect) and not dorm? Which is more worth it for the price?
How long is the commute? Do you have a car? How is parking for frosh?
@intparent the commute is 30 minutes and i do have a car. parking is $80 a month so $720 a year.
Is it a commuter school? If my kids are local the commute would be the same and the stipulation would be the same (no way am I paying 13K for my kid to live in a poxy shared room when they have luxury accommodation here). The fact is for our local option most kids don’t dorm so kids are not missing out. It looks like UCI right? You would be among the majority of instate kids whose parents would not pay for dorms. Who pays for the car/gas/ltags/insurance/[parking?
Personally, I prefer to commute - this is what I’ve done during my first two years and intend on continuing during the last two. It saves a lot of money, and I never felt like I was missing out on something. But then again, I’m really not into Greek Life or partying, so I can’t say much about that.
I think it depends on your school… If your school has a lot of commuter students, then you probably won’t miss much when it comes to the social scene. But whatever you decide, hope it works out for you, and have a good time in college!
Are your parents able to pay tuition or are they counting on you kicking in the student loan toward costs? Who’s paying for extras like clothes and personal, and books? Do you currently have a summer job lined up?
You’d need at least $6750 to pay the RB bill before fall semester and you’ll need dorm things like bedding, lamps, whatever. The student loan is only disbursed half at that point. So, 1500 savings, 2750 from the loan, maaaybe 2500 from a job (or maybe not.)
The spring bill comes due December or January, depending on the college. Work study is usually about 10 hours/week, from $7-10/hour. If you work 3 months, when that bill comes due, you have less than 1k, plus $2750 from the 2nd semester loan.
Is this really that important? You’d forego spending money during college (and a sorority) to live in a dorm room?
We don’t usually recommend an off campus job. Campus jobs are right there, you can get hours that work for your class schedule, are flexible when you have exams or a big paper, etc.
You can run the numbers, but this seems mighty tight.
I’d do the sorority rush and hope to live in the house for a year. It might be cheaper than the dorm.
@Sybylla as of now i pay for my own gas and i would pay for the parking too, the car is paid off but my parents do pay for the insurance.
@lookingforward they are able to pay tuition with no problem, and yes i do work. i am a private tutor and i have a lot of students i tutor so since i charge like more than double minimum wage i actually do end up making a good amount of money for like half the amount of time working. that’s why i know i would be able to come up with the money by the end of summer. also, my payments are in quarters because UCI is on a quarter system. but i completely agree with you, it would be very tight and i think i am hoping that scholarships would cover the rest but obviously that is not guaranteed. i just wanted to see if anyone felt the dorming experience was that important that it would justify trying to make it work but you bring up a lot of good points!
@twoinanddone yeah that’s what i was thinking too. living in the sorority house second year is only like $6000 a year. thanks for your input
Are you doing a tax rerun on your earnings BTW?
OP, I like your realistic thinking. Best wishes. I know it’s hard to give up the dorm, but if you get into a sorority, you have a good social network started.
And even if not living on campus, you can work the contacts you do make, spend time with them, socially or in study sessions or at the library, in clubs and more. Consider a meal plan, so you can dine together, meet people in the dining hall, etc. You may also find sometimes, when one roommate is away, your friends let you overnight in their rooms.
@ddeebaa
It’s going to be far less costly to be in a sorority than to live in a dorm. Where will you get the $13500 or so you say you need to pay for the dorm costs?
You would need to continue your tutoring job at the same pace while you are in college to get the same income to pay for the rest of the year. It sounds like your earnings are good for your work, but it’s still time…getting back and forth, etc.
Frankly, I think I’d use that $13,000 or so for something other than a dorm room and school meal plan.
Commute, but do your best to make friends with people on campus so you can enjoy some ot the aspects of that life. If you have a lot of group projects, or late study sessions, chances are you will end up spending ocasional nights in a friend’s dorm, and your friends will occasionally escape home with you for an evening or weekend.
It’s totally worth it. You’re the one paying for it, so there will be a much greater appreciation for your college experience.
In my opinion, not being in a dorm will not hurt your social life. Save some money and enjoy.
If it’s UCI I would just commute. Parking is a bit tricky but not bad for students. You’ll lose the hour every weekday with study time but not worth $14K.
Commute and be in the sorority. That’s what I did and I never felt I was missing out on anything by living at home. In fact the only time I was home was to sleep, I was at school all the time. Save your money and be debt free you won’t regret it. And like another poster said half the time you’ll end up crashing in someone’s room and in return you’ll have your friends over to your house for a nice home cooked meal.
Commute qnd join a sorority. You could afford to uber on events.