tb0mb93

I brought a car with me to school and it got pretty annoying. My friends would get too comfortable asking me for rides to the supermarket, CVS, etc.. or even across campus. I'd say no quite a lot since it got to be too much, and that lead to some people getting mad at me lol.

The only good part of it was that everyone was overly generous with gas money. I enjoyed that part quite a bit haha

user_007

Couldn't live without my car, but we have a suburban campus that requires a 20-30 minute walk to get to anything. Plus club activities, etc, often take me off campus.

But obviously doesn't apply everywhere, probably would not be as useful at a big urban campus.

Plus, my car is 20 years old, even though it runs like new, I don't care if it gets scratched, tapped, etc.

footballmom104

We are thinking about letting our S, a rising college junior, take our 16 y.o. truck back to school with him this year. I'm not fully on board with it, because from my perspective, not having a vehicle reduces or eliminates several forms of trouble he can get into. I'm not worried about him loaning it out, though - it has a standard transmission and kids just don't learn how to drive those anymore!

caemin

I go to school in upstate NY, about 4 1/2 hours from home. I do not own a car (I've always borrowed a parent's car when I needed it at home) and while I can see the benefits of having a car, there is enough infrastructure in my college town to justify not having one. Do I take a ride when its offered by one of my local friends with a car? Absolutely. It is more convenient. Do I need it? No, I can take the bus. To get home, I take Greyhound or Coach or whatever to NYC and take a train home from there. If I can catch a ride and carpool, I will, but the buses were my main way of getting home for two years.

And to the person who is contemplating getting a car for a NYC college, it's not worth it. Take a bus from Port Authority home and back, unless it is absolutely a pain to get to a Greyhound station.

MidwestMom2Kids_

If you go to the University of Mississippi and you want to come home for fall break, etc., you must either depend on the kindness of others to get to nearest airport (70 miles away in Memphis) or pay for a very expensive cab ride. There is no shuttle or train or bus. At orientation, we heard "Oh, someone is always heading to Memphis - you can catch a ride" - and they do have an active ride board system - but this really does not sound like a system an incoming freshman can rely on. We're letting our son bring a car to Ole Miss this fall.

rayden54

A car was almost a necessity at the University I went to. The campus shuttle was once an hour and a half late on a 20 minute route (missed my class completely). 10+ is typical. The other buses (the ones that went off campus) were regularly as much as 45 minutes late (for an hour long route). If you needed to go anywhere off-campus you had to schedule nearly three extra hours or you'd risk missing your next class. An off-campus job was completely out of the question. It was just one of the many reasons why I'll never go back to that campus again.

thankyou4flying

I don't even have my own car anyway ( I drive my mom's) but even if I did, I probably wouldn't bring it to school. Being in downtown LA automatically means that parking is horrendous. I just finished freshman year so I don't know many upperclassmen who have cars but from what I've heard, trying to get parking is an unpleasant experience.

Looking back, I pretty much never needed a car. All the important places I needed to go to - dollar store, CVS, restaurants, movies - were mostly within walking distance, or we had a shuttle provide transportation for certain events. The only bummer was that I couldn't find a way to go to Six Flags or Disneyland, but my friend and roommate-to-be lives in LA so he'll probably bring his car and the fun will commence.

clarinette52

I'm pretty good about turning down rides if I don't want to drive, and I need my car so I'm not dependent on the campus shuttle all the time. The only pain is when I have car trouble, because I'm 30 minutes from a repair shop that can service my car.

MD Mom

We took a car up to DD in May. She is a rising senior and lives in an apartment. She really is enjoying having the car. It makes it much nicer for her to go to the grocery store. She can buy more and not have to go as often. Groceries on a bus are not easy to manage. Her only problem has been others respecting her paid parking spot.

Niquii77

I know my mom expects me to bring my car with me to college, whether my school allows it or not. She says it wouldn't make sense for her to buy a car for senior year and not be able I use it for freshman year in college. If I go to UM, I'll have to rent a parking spot.

MyPaperBleedsInk

Our campus has multiple parking lots/ramps, but I haven't brought my car yet in the two years I've been at school. I live on campus in the dorms, so I can easily walk to classes and campus events. Students get to ride the buses in town for free, and they conveniently have stops near main campus buildings. Also, some stores and fast food places (Target, Cashwise, Shopko, Arby's, etc) are about 1.4 miles away from campus, so my friend and I just walk there during nice weather if we need anything. No need for a car.