<p>I’m thinking about getting contracts with AT&T. Do many students at Duke do family plans together in the beginning of freshman first semester if they haven’t known each other prior to arrival on campus? Is the a service that sorta “link” people with needs for family plans together? I don’t really know anyone at Duke well and I don’t want to get the individual plans : ( they are so expensive : ( but I still want to get E71 Nokia at $100 so I think I’ll do the contracts.
any help? thanks in advance.</p>
<p>I know a couple of people who do that but they mostly started second semester. It’s usually a group of friends who all need service at about the same time (like international students). Maybe you find some friends like that when you get to school.</p>
<p>Duke does give a 10% discount to students on AT&T, maybe you can check that out also? The OIT website has more info.</p>
<p>[Duke</a> University Office of Information Technology](<a href=“http://www.oit.duke.edu%5DDuke”>http://www.oit.duke.edu)</p>
<p>I don’t know much about students getting family plans together because I’ve never heard of people actually doing this but it seems like a decent idea in specific situations with a few pitfalls. Unless you know these people with whom you want to join in a plan together extremely well already (i.e. you’re not just looking for people in the same situation), it may be difficult to manage for the 2 year span that a contract lasts. </p>
<p>If, for instance, you and the other members of your plan grow apart (which isn’t out of the question for freshmen in college), then it may be especially troublesome.</p>
<p>I agree. The people I met my first semester freshman year (and even continued to hang out with much of second semester) are not who I’d consider to be my closet friends post-grad. So yeah, the 2-year contract might get a bit annoying if you grow apart from certain people. </p>
<p>I stayed on my family plan with my family for most of my time in college, and that’s most people tend to do.</p>
<p>Individual plans tend to be pricey, I agree. I got my own plan during my senior year, and hated paying the bill after about 3 months. I’m not on the same carrier as my family, so I had to call after 7 pretty much. Kinda a hassle. Of course, I have an iPhone so that explains my $8390423432 bill (…which means ~$90…). </p>
<p>It’s worth, however, looking into OTHER individual plans. Verizon tends to be OK in terms of price, while Sprint and AT&T are usually on the higher side (although I haven’t looked in about a year so things may have changed). </p>
<p>Also, if you’re an international student (I know this was mentioned on another thread), it may also be worth looking into prepaid phones. You can buy them at Target and whatnot.</p>
<p>
From what I have looked up, AT&T’s family plan is higher than Verizon’s.</p>
<p>Since you are an international student you may want to contact the International House:</p>
<p>[International</a> House :: FAQs](<a href=“http://ihouse.studentaffairs.duke.edu/faqs/index.html]International”>http://ihouse.studentaffairs.duke.edu/faqs/index.html)</p>
<p>and ask them. They might have some insights.</p>
<p>If you need a single phone plan, and know a Sprint employee, then you can get a really good deal for $15/month. Im sure there’s something like this with other phone companies as well.</p>
<p>Or you can get the pay as you go plans, I head they are pretty cheap.</p>
<p>Pay as you go might be a great idea for the first few weeks, and then you can gauge whether or not it’s worth it to just continue in this route, go in on a plan with a friend, or get a singe plan, depending on your use.</p>
<p>I went to college before cell phones were completely widespread but I did share landlines with roommates and had the following problems- one individual would never pay on time leaving somebody holding the bag, one individual would monopolize the phone (this would be the equivalent of using up all the minutes), one individual moved out of the area and then the cost was divided amongst the remaining people. All of these things could happen to you if you got a family plan with strangers. I don’t know how much I would rely upon other people for a monthly bill.</p>