<p>as a freshman. I never would have imagined doing this. She's excited. I'm fairly at peace, but boy ... this is not what I thought I'd be doing. Essentially three girls from church, two honors (one not ... but barely missed), and all wanting to major in engineering are going into a 3/3 apartment. They're going to be living in the same complex as one of the girls older sister, whose roommates are adopting the girls in a "big sis/little sis" relationship. So, I guess that's good. But ... the whole changing way of thinking, learning bus system, not getting meal plan .... like everything's been dumped upside down on its head. LOL</p>
<p>Sorry, just had to vent for a moment ....</p>
<p>zebes, whose daughter can't believe she did this ... ;) Husband's just happy that it's $2000 less than UCF's Towers where S has been past two years.</p>
<p>Every experience is different for every student. It sounds like she has a good support system in place, so she will be fine. Frankly, If I knew then what I know now, I would have been happy to have my d live off campus freshman year. Her dorm experience was lacking to say the least. She was in the basement of Jennings, had very little contact with the other residents, based on both her proximity to other rooms, plus the fact that she had too much to do to attend the meetings and social events. Her RA was surly and unhelpful, especially after her room flooded, ruining all her books and other possessions, due to a water pipe breaking. The university basically told us they weren't responsible, so we lost about 500-700 dollars worth of books and other possessions. The mealplan was way too much food for my d (we did the 150 block) and ended up losing all the uneaten meals, so we switched to declining balance the next semester. I do have to say that d has friends who had a phenomenal experience in the dorms their first year. One even became an RA. So it's different for everyone. The only disadvantages are that she will be father from ca,pus, so she will take the bus, and you probably had to sign a 12 month lease, even if she wasn't planning on being there in the summer, which you don't have to with the dorms. My one piece of advice is to encourage her to get involved with a campus group, activity, etc to feel more connected. It is harder when they are off campus to feel like part of the community.</p>
<p>^^^
Exactly! We probably wouldn't have agreed to this if it weren't for the support system of three roommates who are very compatable, with the addition of big sis and her roommates who all get along well with the girls. They all have similar ideas of where they want to be involved at UF: campus crusade for christ, a christian sorority, which the "Big Sis's" already belong to, and other stuff like that ... so it'll work for them, I think. And, as you said, the meal situation'll be better. D loves to cook, so this gives her a kitchen, and she doesn't have to do a meal plan. I called UF today, and since you don't get any break (discount) with flex bucks or declining balance (a $1 is a $1), I don't see any need to sign up for any of those. She'll work off a budget like her brother does ... so she'll have to figure out how to make the money stretch. :)</p>
<p>But I do know there are potential pitfalls of being off-campus, too ... we'll see how they do. Right now they're excited. And we figure that the cost is about $1200 more per year than Hume where she would have gone ... but not doing the meal plan has saved us money with our son, so it probably will with D, too. So, in the end ... might be a wash in terms of extra cost for 12 mo. vs a reduction in food cost. Plus, S stayed in the Towers at UCF, wher he had to do an 11 mo. contract whether he lived in his dorm over the summer or not ... so we're used to having that extra expense. And ... this is less than that. </p>
<p>zebes, starting to talk about checkbook balancing. LOL</p>
<p>She's going to live at The Estates on SW 20th St. We know there are some pitfalls in that it's the last stop on their bus line, but her friends were telling her as long as she leaves 45 min. before her class, they never have any difficulty ... it's just when you wait 'til 30 minutes before like everyone else ... then you might have to wait a bus or two. Ironically, they tell her that gets better after the first month when kids aren't attending every class anymore. Thankfully, my d's too paranoid about doing something like that ... she's afraid that'll be the day she misses something crucial. We like having the older girls there to show them the ropes. </p>
<p>We bought d a scooter to get back and forth to campus. I was hesitant about the safety aspect, and on rainy cold days she takes teh bus anyway. I have to tell you, having the scooter has been wonderful. She goes back and forth multiple times a days, she is in marching band, so she is forever hopping back and forth between her apt and campus. The cost of decal is minimal to park on campus and she parks right in front of her apartment building. The only issue we have is during breaks. I don't want her just leaving it in the parking lot and you can't bring it inside. We found a scooter place in Gainesville where we pay 20 dollar a week to store it. It's been well worth the investment. The only time she drives her car is to work, errands and when she comes home.</p>
<p>Small World! I just leased at the Estates with 2 friends (we are all engineers too) just two weeks ago! We told another group of friends to visit, and we got a call from them yesterday that they've leased at the Estates as well. Lovely place isn't it? I just love that the Supermarket is literally NEXT to us, but I'd probably still shop at the Publix haha.</p>
<p>It depends on the size of the engine and brand. If you buy less than 50cc, it doesn't have to be insured and the driver doesn't have to have a motorcycle license. We got d's 49cc scooter for $1000. I have seen them as cheap as 800--900 up to 2-3K, it just depends on the brand. Apparently there is a market in Gaines for used scooters, since students sometimes want to sell them upon graduation. We bought hers new in our hometown. D's is real basic, no fancy stuff. We also upgraded our AAA so that it covered her scooter, which she has had to have towed a few times. UF requires that any scooter on campus be registered and have a plate, so that's about 70 bucks, plus the decal each year. Maintenance is pretty minimal, she takes it in every few thousand miles to a scooter place in Gainesville for service. It gets about 70-80 miles a gallon, so she can go all week for a couple of dollars.</p>