<p>After receiving my financial aid letter, I have come to a dilemma regarding the timeless decision of whether to live on campus or commute by living at home. First, I will clarify that I live roughly 30 minutes north of the GT campus (I live very near the branching of I-575 off I-75). I received HOPE and two loans, a PLUS Loan and Direct Unsubsidized Loan. Thank goodness for HOPE, but the loans will amount to over $10k in debt by the end of my freshman year, which is definitely not what I want, especially so early in my college career.</p>
<p>The bottom line is that I want to save money by living at home and commuting every day I have classes, hoping to stay on campus the whole day I have classes. I would love to live on campus, but I don't see how I can with my only support for housing costs and fees being loans. </p>
<p>So, does anyone know what it is like commuting? Is it not nearly as great as living on campus? Any negatives or positives you can think of?</p>
<p>Commuting can be tough. In your freshman year you’ll have lab classes that run until 9pm. You’ll also have early morning classes (freshman classes tend to be early), so you’ll be on campus for 12-13 hours on those days. If you live on campus, you just head home for a few hours in between, but if you’re commuting, you’re stuck in the library or student commons areas. Also, living off campus will really hinder your ability to make friends and meet people. This might not be a major problem if you already have friends in the area, though.</p>
<p>As I mentioned in the other thread, one thing to keep in mind is that you can co-op or work to pay for your cost of living. You can start co-oping second semester freshman year.</p>
<p>Thank you, G.P., and I really mean it
I did actually consider the “meeting new people” problem I would probably have, and I only know a handful of people from my school who are going to Georgia Tech. I would absolutely love to do Co-op to help pay for my education, but the website does not list my major (Psychology) as participating in the program. Do you, or anybody else here, think that commuting will hinder my academic success? I have heard from some people that living on campus is less distracting, thus more work gets done. Even then, is it really worth pulling out so much in loans my freshman year?</p>
<p>Since freshman year is so important in making friends and adjusting to college classes, why
don’t you live on campus the first year. Then you decide ways to economize or make money later (maybe commuting) and you will better know what is important to you. I think living at home freshman year would increase your chances of being unhappy or not continuing.</p>
<p>One thing you can do to minimize those loans is to get a part-time job on campus. I live in the exact same area as you (at the split of 75 and 575… I assume we are in the same county, maybe same street :O); anyway I couldn’t IMAGINE commuting to Tech. I am a sophomore there now and I am loving college because of how involved I am on campus, but I don’t think that would be possible if I commuted. I do have a part-time job as a TA and I live off-campus to cut costs (first year I lived on campus of course). </p>
<p>In essence, I highly suggest you look into getting a part-time job, even if it’s just working the cash register at Tech Square’s Barnes & Noble, to get you on-campus.</p>
<p>The only problem I would have with getting a part-time job would be the issue of not having a car. Although, now that I think about it, there is public transportation that could get me to and from, right? And are the on-campus jobs for the work-study kids only? Because I didn’t get work-study, so hopefully that won’t change things.</p>
<p>I don’t have work-study and my on-campus job is TAing (which you can’t do until your second semester, but after that you can). Before I was a TA, I was a tutor; you can look into that as well after your first semester. Not sure about other types of jobs, but I’m sure you can find something. I also don’t have a car, for reference. </p>
<p>Another thing to consider is co-oping or interning while at Tech… it can help offset the cost by a LOT. I am interning this summer and let’s just say I’ll be making more than twice as much over the Summer as the amount I’ve spent all year So if you get a nice Summer internship or a co-op, you can pay off any loans you have pretty quickly…</p>
<p>Problem with freshmen who will be commuting is that most math classes like calculus will have classes in the morning and labs for chemistry and physics, you can possibly get it in the afternoon but it’s possible that you won’t get that timeslot and force to take lab from 6pm to 9 pm. Also with homeworks and test, you will likely to maximize your chance of getting higher grade by working with your friends in dormatory.</p>
<p>My advise is I know that dormatory cost alot in Georgia Tech and you can save money for by commuting near college but you will loose the chance of working together with your friends to bump up your grade. It is really important to get a good study group at sophomore and Junior year. I wouldn’t have gotten good grades in my sophomore and junior year if it wasn’t for my study group. Find friends who are in your major and find bright study group. It will really help you with your classes later on when you have hard homework and project.</p>
<p>I really wish I could Co-op, but the Psychology department doesn’t offer that choice, but I’ll try at an internship maybe. I think I’ll worry about saving money after freshmen year and live on campus first year.</p>
<p>Indeed, but I’m going straight into a graduate program in Industrial/Organizational Psychology after graduating. Their average salary is around $85,000, and their employment is supposed to rise by 21 percent in the next decade (I know, I’m a nerd). I’m still thinking about doing my PhD in it, considering the larger number of jobs available with that level of education. Plus, Georgia Tech offers a PhD program in I/O Psych, so that’s always something to look forward to perhaps. Don’t worry, I have this down ;-)</p>
