Hello! I’m going to attend a community college in the LA area next fall semester, animation major. I’m a freshman and I have to live offcampus, and I’m coming from a poor family so financial aid from them is going to be incredibly low. I intend on taking up a parttime job in summer so I can save up some funds for moving out. I tried looking at community colleges with dorms but they’re all in Northern California, a 9+ hour drive just to get there.
I have to move out ASAP because my living situation at home is very unhealthy for me. I suffered from severe depression in highschool and may have squandered my chances at a four year, which means I’ll have to figure out a living situation in freshman year. I intend on visiting the college but I really want a roommate from that college.
I want to take my cat out with me when I move out because she brings me great comfort and I think she’ll help a lot. But I’ve looked at roommate apps and sites and none of them have helped me very much, especially since a lot of features (like contacting) are behind a paywall.
I intend on visiting the college itself at some point before I move out, and may get a chance to talk with a counselor. Is there any advice a college freshman should know when trying to find a living situation? A roommate? I’ve heard of printing out fliers and putting “desired qualities” and then hanging it around campus, would that help?
Is there anything I should know about moving out? I have financial aid and I intend on signing up for scholarships.
Sorry for the long post, and sorry if this is in the wrong sub. I wasn’t sure where else to put it.
. I’m in NY, so I have no idea of the locations— are you SURE that none are closer than 9 hours away?
And if so, would it be worth the 9 hour drive to have this taken care of? Living in a dorm would mean access to a meal plan. It would mean a roommate, so someone you can get to know right away. And it means you won’t need a car to get to and from classes. My daughter’s school in NH is supposed to be 5 hours away, but it normally translates to 7 hours. And my 3 nieces attend/graduated from Clemson, a very healthy 14 hour drive from home. It may be less than ideal, but I would consider the idea. There are so many advantages to living on campus!!
Bringing your cat will probably be a problem unless you do go for off campus housing.
If the cat is a must, and there’s no way you can manage a school with dorms, then I would contact the local CC’s. There’s bound to be a link for this stuff-- you may have to get a little creative in finding it on the websites.
ETA… OK, so this is tricky with me REALLY not knowing CA geography. But I found a couple of CC’s with dorms in Southern CA-- not sure of the distances since I don’t know where you are.
Take a look at:
Taft CC in Taft CA
Cerro Caso CC in Ridgecrest
Reedly CC in Reedly for starters.
All have dorms, and all are within 200 miles of San Clemente. I chose the location randomly from a math of SoCal.
Do any of them work?
And one more question: are you seeing a counselor for the anxiety issues? They tend NOT to mend themselves; you’ll need to work with someone to get to the healthy place you deserve to be.
Maybe I am not understanding but don’t schools have websites for rooming with people. You can also just email the schools instead of calling so get those out today and hopefully come Monday you will have some answers. I am sure there might be others in the same situation looking for roommates.
@bjkmom
I’m not currently seeing a counselor right now, but it’s one of the big reasons I want to move out. My home situation is too strained for me to see a therapist, so I’m hoping that by moving out I can, at the very least, talk to the mental counselor at the college and see where I can go from there. Ideally I would find a therapist who I can click well with.
I have looked at these but the one with the shortest drive is 3 hours, and it’s not that I’m not willing to take the drive, but the place I live is incredibly remote so it’s difficult to get my license, and I don’t think my parent would be willing to take that long of a drive. It’s especially long because I live around the wildfire area and the roads are out due to the storms that occured. I’m hoping that when I move out I can get my lisence though and live in a metropolitan area where public commute or services like Uber is easy to come by.
I did some research and I think I might live offcampus mostly because of how oncampus leases often don’t count for long vacations like summer, and while I like my family, I feel it would be healthiest for me, personally, to not have any visits longer than I have to. It’s not like I hate them, but the environment at home is too toxic for me to stay in for a prolonged amount of time.
I haven’t thought of contacting the college, but I will try that. The college I plan on going to is Pasadena City College, and the website doesn’t say much about housing, which is where some of my concern came from. I’ll try to get in contact with them.
@Knowsstuff
Some do, some colleges I looked at even had spreadsheets on roommates who were willing to share, one of which is a “backup college” if I can’t figure anything out for this current one. The main college I intend on going to doesn’t have a spreadsheet or any list on its website, so I might contact them and ask.
You have selected one of the priciest neighborhoods in LA county for a Community College. Why would you pick PCC? How will you be able to pay rent in or near that area of Pasadena? Assume $1K to $2K for a shared bedroom.
You need first and last month’s rent and a deposit for most places. You would need a job and a credit check. CC’s will give you enough money to cover your tuition. You may get a little more money for expenses, but I don’t think they are going to cover those kinds of rents.
Go down to the bottom of the page-- that last resource may help.
But I think you should look at other options too.
As far as accessing other colleges, what about public transportation? Is there a Trailways/Greyhound bus that could get you to another school? A train? You started by saying that schools with dorms were 9 hours away, and now we’re down to 3. Continue to research!!!
And “you don’t think” your parent would be willing to make the 3 hour drive to college-- have you asked? What about aunts, uncles, cousins? Friends?
I know it’s the wrong school, but it looks like there might be some info there that could help.
Also, you’ll have better luck finding housing if you look at a 4 year college. Which ones did you apply to? What were your results? Take a look at some-- are any still accepting applications? If so, then get them in before spring break!!!