I live about an hour away from my school, USC. My parents want me to commute, but I really want to dorm or at least live off campus. Money is the biggest factor here really. My sister commuted to FIDM and told them that dorming isn’t worth it. I have spent a year commuting at my community college before transferring and I really want to experience the full college life.
If money is such an issue that you can’t dorm, your parents probably shouldn’t be sending you to USC. It’s notorious both for being expensive and having students from affluent families.
College is the chance to mature both intellectually and socially. Without the social aspect, you’re missing a significant part of the experience. Your friends will become your business connections, which will help you earn your livelihood.
Great job getting into USC - it offers a great environment, provided you strike a balance between studying and socializing. Not dorming is completely irrational.
I’m receiving 40k in financial aide, so dorming isn’t financially impossible, they just see it as a waste of money.
I can see why it may be appealing to some to dorm, but that life isn’t for me personally (I’m not into the party scene)
Anyway, what you should do is pay for the dorm out of your pocket and ask your parents to continue paying what they are paying right now. That way there is no reasonable,financially driven reason for you to have to stay home.
Get a part-time job near school. Working part-time near school won’t kill your social life or your grades. Plus you’ll meet people who go to USC and are doing the same thing. You can make this work without taking out loans. Go for it.
Will the hour commute be with traffic? You need to factor in the cost of commuting versus not paying for a car and the associated costs. FIDM’s on campus life is frankly completely different from USC.
Yeah, show the cost of commuting to them, and compare it. The net difference may show them it’s not much different and that it’s worth the bit extra.
I did some quick math. If my car has 30mpg, it’s more than 20 miles drive, and gas is around $4. It would cost more than $6 to get there. Going there and back 5 days a week for 4 weeks means more than $240. That’s still much less than $1000 monthly rent. However, if I work, I think I can make $760 a month. Thing is, I’m also thinking of double majoring so time is gonna be problem.
You’re not assigning any value to your valuable time. Commuting 5 times a week, an hour each way, is at least ** ten hours per week**, plus significant added safety risk and physical/mental stress.
I can think of a lot more constructive things to be doing w 10 hours per week, than spending it inside a car.
Why do you think commuting is not part of the “full college life?”
Commuting to college is the [norm[/url], not the exception.
40.6% of 4-year schools are [url=http://digitalcommons.uri.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1233&context=oa_diss]primarily nonresidential](http://www.nsse.indiana.edu/pdf/commuter.pdf).
You might convince them if you could pay for it yourself. Keep in mind that if you get a job that will take up time just like commuting will.
@aldfig0 about 2% of USC commutes. What’s around you is more important than the average.
I’m not saying you must commute as well to have a good college experience, but to say that you aren’t missing anything is a bit ridiculous. At THIS school, he IS an exception.
@GMTplus7 While he may value his time, his parents aren’t paying for it yet. Time values would apply more to personal decisions, here there are other involved
@Popsuker That’s still not insignificant, and you will use a good deal of gas if the drive is over an hour due to stop and go traffic (based on the distance / time ratio and Cali I’m assuming traffic) so my guess is you can bump up your stimate a bit. Overall, it looks like dorming will cost $2000-$2500 per semester. IMO, go for the job if allowed and worry less about the double major if it will affect your time that much. The job experience may statistically help you more than the double major jobwise, and if the double was for interest, nothing stops you from minoring or taking classes in it.
@PensPhils is spot on. Original poster: don’t forget to assign a monetary value to your social life, if you’re going to use a bare cost-benefit analysis to gain some perspective. Also: having a social life will help you unwind better than spending time at home, which will help you deal with the stress of a double major.
The best way to convince them is to pay for it yourself. It’s easy to say something’s worth the money when you’re spending someone else’s.
^The OP’s parents will very likely end up paying USC the same amount.
On the FAFSA & CSS profile/need
access app, did you indicate that you were gonna live in the dorms or with your parents?
The cost of attendance changes based on varying living situations -but the institutional EFC does not.
If you live in the dorms, your aid should increase to the point where your parents would still pay the same EFC, since USC is supposed to meet your need. They consider living in the dorms “a need” for financial aid purposes, since most students are expected to come from far away places. It doesn’t matter whether your parents live next door, the school sets a standard housing budget if you don’t live w/parents, since for the majority it’s not a choice.
Could you copy/paste your award letter, to see which COA you have?
I would dorm. One hour commute is enough to sap your energy.
But is the aid going to increase with loans? OP’s parents might (rightly) not want to take out extra loans to pay for something they don’t consider necessary.
You can easily get a campus job. You need to emerge in USC culture. Tell your parents you will be tired easily with the commute and it can affect your grades.
One hour commute is a typical LA commute. This is an economic option to attend USC. Many LA residents do it.
Jesus, @drgoogle you have absolutely no idea if the OP’s parents can just magically come up with the money. Not everyone has thousands to pull out of a hat.
OP, do you have a job? Can you contribute at all to the costs?
One hour driving will be pretty miserable in typical Los Angeles traffic (and note that car commuting costs go beyond fuel – there is car maintenance, parking, and the cost of car itself and car insurance for it if you would otherwise not have the car).
Is there any reliable public transportation that you can use instead if you commute? It looks like the MTA rail lines are next to USC, and they connect to the MetroLink rail lines for longer distance commutes.
https://sait.usc.edu/ois/intl-students/transport-at-usc.aspx
http://www.metro.net/interactives/go_metro/
http://www.metrolinktrains.com/routes/
Note that an hour driving is effectively wasted. But an hour on the train can be used for reading or sleeping.