I spent 4 great years on the 6th floor of an un-air conditioned dorm with cinderblock walls and a hallway bathroom. My kids have found that the crappiest dorms are the most fun, they meet more people and commiserate. I think all freshmen should be in traditional rooms, if possible. At dd19’s college, they only force triple dorms with a/c.
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Sorry for a little off-topic. Will we always have to move out all our stuff at the end of spring semester from school dorm? Where shall we store them if we are OOS?
Yep, Ohio State. TV not a joke- the student’s parents couldn’t believe it either!
Lots of colleges require 1st years to live on campus, and in general 1st year housing is (comparatively) bad.
For example, the freshman dorms at W&M are (imo) multiple kinds of bad: very small, no A/C (and Va is still plenty hot & humid in Sept), terrible storage. There were ructions year before last when one of them got (temporarily) swapped with a senior dorm (housing typically gets better with seniority), but the prospect of a #@$ dorm freshman year wouldn’t put me off W&M.
One of the Collegekids had the smallest dorm room I have ever seen her first year at Vassar- so small that beds had to be lofted to even get 2 beds/dressers/desks into the room. She was pretty unimpressed when she first saw it- but it turned out to be such a small part of her experience that it’s barely a memory. What has stuck is 4 exceptionally happy years, in which she really grew into herself, had a great LAC experience and is now happily in an R1 grad program.
(@fnpony unless you pay for the room over the summer yes. At pretty much every college there are local summer storage options.)
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Thanks. Please tell me that I do not need to move out stuff during Christmas break.
Other than some colleges which subsidize housing and in a few markets where there’re anti-competitive practices, the price for them is determined by market dyanmics (i.e. supply and demand). If the school price its dorms too high, more students will move off-campus unless the school forces its students to live on campus. And vice versa.
There’re colleges that allow student to keep their stuff on campus, not only during breaks, but also in the summer. It all depends on the college.
Yes you will, a lot of people a flight away get storage lockers.
In April you were talking about trying to transfer to NYU. And in a May thread you were debating between living on campus vs commuting an hour each way. In that thread you mentioned that all of room and board (plus some of the tuition costs) would have to be paid using loans. Are you in college now? If you’re already in college the price difference between on campus and off campus housing (in general) doesn’t really matter. Your specific situation does.
What are your current options? Since you’re a Yankee fan and talking about NYU and other New York colleges I gather you’re a NYS resident. Are you already attending one of our state schools? What’s your EFC? Can your family pay it? Students can only borrow $5500 as a freshman, $6500 as a sophomore, and $7500/year as a junior and senior. That’s not enough to cover room and board. If you tell us more about your specific situation it will be easier for us to help you.
Its a profit center for the school. My daughters final year on campus they stuck 5 people in a 4 person apartment. So the revenue for that apartment was like 45 thousand a year. It was built in 1970, so it is bought and paid for.
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I found about the acceptance late so I deferred acceptance but very big gap between costs and financial aid.
The gap is big even if I would not live in school-owned housing. If I were to do that, then the gap between costs and financial aid would be even bigger.
I do not know the rate for student loans and am not sure how to determine potential future loan payment?
My EFC is low.
Not sure if I should apply to other schools such as Fordham, Pace and some publics to compare costs and financial aid.
Was that a hazard with 5 people in a 4 person room?
Where were you accepted? If you’re a low income NYS resident you might be eligible for the Excelsior Tuition Grant. Are you eligible for the ~$5500 federal Pell Grant too?
If the financial aid isn’t enough to cover the costs of tuition and living expenses then the school isn’t affordable. What’s your EFC? How much can your family afford?
You can take out $27K in Federal Direct Student Loans (assuming 4 years of undergrad)…$5,500 frosh year, then $6,500, $7,500, $7,500.
Here is info on Federal Direct Student Loans, current interest rate is 2.75%. You and your parents must file FAFSA to access these. Federal Student Aid
Here is a tool to help you understand what the payments would be: Mapping Your Future: Student loan repayment calculator
If you give specifics posters will be able to help you more (e.g. what your parents can pay, your EFC, the current gap and school, etc)
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My situation involves transferring after earning an Associates.
They just bunked one of the beds, and added an armoire and desk.
One thing we liked about on campus housing (this includes apartments and dorms) was that it comes furnished and you aren’t on the hook for extra rent if someone moves out. Though, at my D’s school, if you lived in a double room and your roommate moved out, you could pay double rent if you wanted to…
@Yankeefan20 the cost for off campus lodging in NYC is very high. I doubt you will save money living off campus.
Why NYU as a transfer? Perhaps the prudent thing to do is find a place that is affordable all around. NYU is well over $70,000 a year.
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Are you in NYS? Is one of the SUNYs within commuting distance?
Transfers don’t generally get much aid. You can’t borrow more than ~$6500/year on your own. If your parents are low income it’s not a good idea for them to take private loans for you.
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Are you a NJ resident?
What is your state of residence and why aren’t you applying to transfer to public universities in that state?
@Yankeefan20, Questions about your situation really belong here, not in other people’s threads.
If you want to know if the colleges you’re considering take financial aid appeals you can check their websites. If they accept appeals they’ll explain what you have to do and what documents you need to provide.
The chance of success depends on the type of schools on your list. Most public colleges don’t have much to give, so I wouldn’t expect an appeal to close a ~$20k/year gap. But you can ask. If you are offered additional aid you need to ask if it’s renewable or a one time grant.