College experience

variant

So lately, I've been thinking about moving out...

I start Uni in Fall, its about 20 mins away, an hour if there's traffic(which there will be, especially for the morning classes), I've heard parking takes anywhere from 20-50 minutes...

The thing is, I can deal with all that if I really have to, I already have these past years while attending an overpopulated CC, all that and free rent ain't a bad thing.

But I was wondering...Since going to Community College, I -think- I've miss out on the whole "College Experience," and that, I believe is the main reason I'm considering it...If I get decent Aid(for tuition), it can be financially viable.

Anyways, any thoughts? Should I move out and get a place: close to school, uppder division residence or maybe in a frat house?

Or is it not worth it? Or can the experience be had living off/away from campus?

panksea06

I am a freshman at a school basically the same distance away and same parking.

I live on campus and if I didnt I would have a horrible horrible time. I know one person who commutes with the same set up as you and me and I think she knows basically no one at the school. Think she finally moved into an appartment near by.

By living on campus you get to know people and automatically have like 2 hours of time added to your day to do whatever. Its amazingly nice. Hugely recomended if you are concerned about getting the college experince.
I dont think the experince can be had if you dont live on campus.

Frats vs Dorms vs housing nearby is a harder choice though.

khain

A lot of the 'College Experience' I think is from dorms because your pretty much around people al the time due to the living space. One thing at least at my school though is that there is a huge difference between the freshmen and sophomore dorms and the senior ones. The younger students want to meet people and make friends while the older ones generally already have their friend and tend to want their privacy and our busy studying. It can be good and I enjoyed my time there but I know people that can't stand the lack of privacy and noise. I strongly recommend against living in the majority of frat houses unless you like to party and 90% of them are a mess and while have parties which if you don't want the noise and everything else that goes along with it will make your life miserable. Living in a house is always a option, however it can range from being a complete hell to the good times dependent on your roommates.

I know that when I was first thinking about going to college I never planned to stay in the dorms and I was planning on living at home and commuting and a couple friends convinced me to live in the dorms and I've alway had a great time. I meet most of my friends there and now I'm living in a house with a bunch of great people and having good times.

variant

Yeah I'm really stumped.

Also, to add to it. I have an acquintance that already goes to this school and she lives at home, granted she was always kind of shy but she's been there for 3 years and hadn't made a single friend the first two years, till this past year, she joined a sorority and has made like 2-3 good friends. I still haven't gotten around to asking her about her take on the whole thing, I will next time I see her.

Another thing is the on campus housing for upper div. is mixed with internantional students and grad students, so yeah you may be right in saying "it's not the same"

Also, I still have to convince my parents(maybe, I haven't talked to them about it at all, not sure if they even need convincing).

meatflower

variant wrote: »

Yeah I'm really stumped.

Also, to add to it. I have an acquintance that already goes to this school and she lives at home, granted she was always kind of shy but she's been there for 3 years and hadn't made a single friend the first two years, till this past year, she joined a sorority and has made like 2-3 good friends. I still haven't gotten around to asking her about her take on the whole thing, I will next time I see her.

Another thing is the on campus housing for upper div. is mixed with internantional students and grad students, so yeah you may be right in saying "it's not the same"

Also, I still have to convince my parents(maybe, I haven't talked to them about it at all, not sure if they even need convincing).

I'd push the whole "college experience" thing on them. I know my parents biggest concern about me going to CC was that I'd be missing out on that for the first two years.

Latter half of my first year now, I don't really know anyone except for the people who I've been in classes with before. I wouldn't even call them friends, just acquaintances who I may happen to see while buying coffee and chat with for a few minutes about nebulous shit.

The only real friends I have are people I went to high school with that go to local universities that I still keep in touch with. Luckily those friendships have remained as strong as they were in high school, if not stronger, so I'm not hurting on the whole social scene. It's just when I'm at school it's like I'm lost in the crowd.

Similar commute, 20 minutes and 30-40 with traffic. Nothing I can do really but suck it up for the next two years, no point in moving to an off campus apartment for a CC. I worry about how upper division dorms will be like when I eventually transfer to a university, I'll probably never get that underclassman dorm experience.

Good luck.

Zek

If by the "college experience" you mean an active social life, then yes, the closer you live to campus the better. The main reason though is simply the amount of time you spend on campus. It's perfectly possible to be socially active when you commute from home - just stay on campus for the majority of the day, and have some friends whose dorms/apartments you can hang out in. There are definitely aspects of having a roommate that you will not miss. However, as a fresh transfer that's not going to be easy. Living in a dorm for at least a semester is a good way to get your foot in the door, but it's not a requirement. I definitely recommend moving out of home - try going into a dorm for the first semester, and seeing whether or not you want to go off-campus after that.

Eggplant Wizard

I commuted in college. I also worked a lot, and therefore I was never on campus longer than I needed to be. Knowing what I know now about how affordable student loans are, I think I would have made different choices if I had it to do over again. I think I missed out on a lot of experiences.

RocketSauce

I kinda did the same thing as you. I went to Community College for two years after high school and lived at home. I lived about 20-30 minutes away, but I also had a lot of friends that still hung around. We always had something going on during the weekend, and while it wasn't a "traditional" college experience, it was still fun.

For three years after that I went to a "real" University and lived in the dorms. It's a great atmosphere as there are ALWAYS people around, willing to do something. You'll meet a lot of really cool people, and it's very easy to make a lot of friends, even if you don't have anything in common with them.



Here's my advice: If you have friends that you already know and have a really great time with, there's nothing wrong with commuting. However, you REALLY do miss out on meeting new people outside of your classes. It can be loud, disruptive, and very annoying if you're a little older than everyone, but there's an awesome sense of community when living on or near the university. I say give it a try for a year and see if you like it, if not you can always move back home and commute.

Kewop Decam

Live in a dorm for the first couple of semesters and you'll be good. Just don't let all the "experience" get ya kicked out of college.

EggyToast

The college experience is being forced to live with people you don't know in relatively close proximity with the knowledge that you won't be able to go back to your own room at the end of the night.

You can commute and still do that, mind, but it helps if you try to spend a lot of time on campus, or make friends with people in the dorms/apartments and hang out with them. The big difference with people who live on campus vs commuters is usually what happens after class. If two people who live on the same floor end up in class together, or see each other on campus, they'll usually talk, hang out a while, and not be in a rush to get to whatever is next (which may simply be sitting in their dorm).

Commuters go to their car and drive home.