<p>My parents are highly considering buying a condo 4-5 miles away(10-15 minute drive) from campus for me and my brother(currently a freshman) to live in for our time in the university, and for my sister, who will attend in 4 years, and whether or not we do any professional/graduate schooling there.</p>
<p>The condo will save my parents a crap-ton of money over time, but I feel like it will ruin my social life there. About 20 of my friends from highschool are going to attend UM, and about 5 of them are my very close friends, but I feel like I won't make any new friends at all if I would live off-campus, and that having only one car between my brother and I will interfere with whatever fun stuff goes on. </p>
<p>I wouldn't have a meal-plan either, so I wouldn't be able to socialize in the dining halls either.</p>
<p>Has anyone here been through this, and can give any advice and past experiences with such situation?</p>
<p>4-5 miles is way too far away. This will definitely detract from your experience. I had friends who lived in a condo about a mile and a quarter from the diag. Two of the kids had parents who owned the condo and the third rented from the other two. The renter moved out senior year to live closer to campus and was excited to get out. They all lived in dorms freshman year. People whose parents live closer to campus than 4-5 miles live on campus. You will be driving to a commuter lot and taking a bus to campus. It’s just not worth the savings.</p>
<p>I will be paying for parking on campus so I wont have to bother with buses. And the money saved comes out to be a ridiculous amount, but is saving $100k between my brother and I not worth it? </p>
<p>We plan on staying on campus most of the day anyways on regular days and all day and night on Fridays/weekends. </p>
<p>Is it really that bad? This is really the only option now according to my parents. :(</p>
<p>I just find that most freshman make their best friends by living in the Res Halls. Otherwise, it gets tough. It’s not impossible, but res halls definitely help with bonding and socializing.</p>
<p>It will help if your very close friends let you hang at their places during the day. I knew someone who commuted. One of my friends let him hang at his apartment during the day. The problem is it is not like high school or a job where you start at the beginning of the day and leave at the end of the day.</p>
<p>Yeah, I hate to be blunt here, but I agree that it will take away from the experience quite a bit. Social life for a lot of freshman during the week just about revolves around hanging out with people inside the res halls, and the collaborative working environment that can occur can be very helpful and makes things a lot easier. It’s one thing if you were doing this as an upperclassman, but as a freshman, it will be difficult. Scheduling your classes will also be a pain, as you don’t always get the times that you want, and could end up with your first class starting at 9 in the morning, and your last class ending at 5 in the evening (or later) and that time in between is a lot to fill in by just sort of being on campus.</p>
<p>If it’s your only option, then don’t fret. Just understand going into it that you’re going to have to make a more dedicated effort right off the bat to make friends, and as long as you give this effort and find out what works for you, then you should be fine. I do agree with res ispa above who said you should find someone who lets you hang out with them during the day.</p>
<p>There is no good quality and affordable condos within 2-3 miles from campus. However, there are plenty relatively new condos within 3-5 miles at around $150k. If you can afford $250k+, there are some within 1-2 miles. Anyway, once you need to drive, there is no difference between 2 miles and 5 miles. Living in a dorm will get you a lot of new friends, but having a car in town will also get you some friends too. It would make a lot of sense if you have 2-3 siblings going to live in a condo together (or sequentially). It is actually a good time to buy property again in Ann Arbor. We are expecting a large growth in job and the property values will increase again significantly. Right now, it is still around 20% below the peak around 2007-2008. Condo prices are around 30% below peak.</p>
<p>If you find a workable solution, then do it. I commuted and I don’t think it’s a problem. But it’s probably harder to find a workable solution than you think.</p>
<p>Yeah, I completely glossed over the comment about your sister. She hasn’t even started high school yet, that’s a major stress to put on a young kid’s shoulders. It’s one thing if UMich was a much easier school to get into than it is, but that’s not the case. I know it’s probably your parents’ expectations so it has nothing to do with you, but that is pretty unfair to her.</p>