<p>As a Great Lakes resident and soon to be upper NY college student mom I am thrilled to join you in this forum! I have been enlightened regarding recent college life due to this website and am most grateful.</p>
<p>I am curious as to your thoughts regarding my freshman daughter’s adamant declaration to drive her auto across the country and house it on the campus parking lot. She can cover the parking fee. The auto is licensed to her and she has insurance under her name. She knows her premium will go up with the change of zip code. </p>
<p>She recently visited the college, sat in on classes, stayed with a student and came home with a torch one would not desire to put out. Except for one!<br>
Keeping her auto on campus and driving to town (no need for buses and cabs) for necessities and independence. </p>
<p>What might first appear appealing has brought on a headache that cannot be ignored.</p>
<p>My thoughts:</p>
<p>-If there was a need for transporation why don’t more students bring their own autos?</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Driving can allow my daughter to be in situations she may not be ready for.
It could be highly dangerous.</p></li>
<li><p>The other autoless students (whoes parents knew better) will certainly be asking for rides to who knows where.</p></li>
<li><p>Driving to NY city on a weekend causes my clothes to ring of sweat. Really! </p></li>
</ul>
<p>I would sincerely appreciate your thoughts on this subject.
Yes, I sound like a first college freshman mom but I am unable to shake this
concern. </p>
<p>Thank you fellow parents for your thoughts.</p>
<p>Very normal concern! Our son does not have a car, and I sleep well at night. Lots of kids have cars, but not everyone. My son has to rely on public transit, college shuttles, and the good nature of friends with cars. He is surviving. I am happy to reimburse for an occasional cab ride where necessary (ie: if ill, internship needs, academic reasons, or instead of getting into a car with a student who is drunk).</p>
<p>I do know someone who had a car on a campus and had all of her windows shattered intentionally (vandalism).</p>
<p>My daughter also goes to a college at upper NY state - Ithaca. She had her own car at home - paid by us. I made the decision of not letting her bring her car up until this Spring break. I didn’t want her to have a car right away because I wasn’t sure where she would park, and I was concerned with Ithaca’s winter weather. Before she was allowed to bring the car up, she promised us that 1)she wouldn’t drive to parties at night, 2) no road trips (she is only to use the car in Ithaca and drive home), 3) she had to find legal parking. There is no absolute need for her to have a car on campus because all freshmen have free bus passes, but it has made her life a lot easier to go off campus to do some ECs. The first time she drove back to school (4 hrs) was a bit nerve wrecking to me.</p>
<p>I’m not taking a car with me. I’m going to a very small school with a nice-sized mall just across the street from campus, so I felt no need to take one. There is also a lot of public transportation where I’m going. </p>
<p>Sit down with your daughter and CALMLY discuss why she so badly wants a car. Point out the various ways she can get around, as well as the hassle of having a car. She says she can cover the fee now, but will she still feel that way in a few months when that really cute little top goes on sale at the mall, or she needs to buy that extra book for her classes? Also point out why you’re so hesitant to have her take one…those are very valid concerns, and (most of them) were ones I had as well.</p>
<p>Having a car at school is great–especially when you are in some upstate NY town. I’d rather be driving then having to rely on some other potential goofball.</p>
<p>First of all, she’d better double check that freshman are allowed to have cars on campus. </p>
<p>Regarding the driving into NYC thing - I completely understand the worry on your part. What she can do (saves money, too), is find a place the commuter lines serve (NJ, CT, etc.) and drive there. Park the car there (even better, if she knows someone’s house she can leave the car at for the weekend and have them take her to the train) and take the train into NYC; parking is prohibitively expensive in NYC and frankly, driving all the way into Manhattan doesn’t save you any time or aggravation once you’re in town.</p>
<p>Different kids are different about wanting cars on campus. D2 wants her car on campus this summer when she’s there, but not when school resumes in the fall. </p>
<p>I will say that D1 has never made the drive alone; this is just something we’ve insisted on. Either me, H or D2 (who is at college less than 200 miles away from D1) makes the drive with her back and forth to/from home. I think it’s too long of a drive for one person to make alone, and we always drive it straight through (700 miles).</p>
<p>Only one of my Ds took her car at the beginning of freshman year and she actually ended up regretting it because too many friends wanted to be driven everywhere! She ended up bringing it home before Christmas.</p>
<p>How far is her campus from ‘town’? Is there easily accessible public transit? How often will the need arise to go into town? Is a parking permit required for campus parking and is one available to freshmen? These are the questions I’d be asking before making a decision. :)</p>
<p>Oh, and no one, student or adult, should be driving into NYC for a weekend. Take a train or bus!</p>
<p>My daughter goes to school many hundreds of miles from home. She took her car freshman year, and she drove home at Christmas (a classmate from our state came with her & helped with the driving). Her campus is about 10 minutes from town & there is no public transportation. Her car has been her link to freedom, and she has been extremely grateful for it. When she drives her friends, they help out with gas money. </p>
<p>D is transferring to another school in the fall, and she will not be able to have a car on campus next year. She is already worried about it! I know that she will survive, of course. This school is in a city & there is transportation available (although not quite as good as in some cities). She is used to the freedom a car provides … a quick trip to WalMart for breakfast food, a jaunt to Target for miscellaneous needs, a drive to the mall just to get away. It’s understandable to want that when one has had it since she turned 16!</p>
<p>Only your family can decide what is best for your child. If you are asking what others do, we don’t have a problem with letting our D have a car at school.</p>
<p>When I first went away to college, I had a car. It was useful for driving to the hospital one night to pick up two of my dormmates who’d had a car accident which totaled the car, a Christmas present to the driver. A day or two later, I went to see the totaled car, to check to make sure the contents of the glove compartment had been removed; the car was a scary sight, and it was amazing that neither of my dormmates had been much more seriously injured.</p>
<p>My roommate had a car, too; I rode shotgun with her one time when she made a booze run to a neighboring state which, at the time, had a legal drinking age that was lower than the state our college was in.</p>
<p>I also ran my fellow students at this women’s college over to a university in a neighboring city for the weekend frat parties a few times. As I didn’t enjoy the whole drunken frat party scene, I did that just a few times.</p>
<p>If your daughter is “the sensible friend,” as I was in high school and college, she’ll be fine.</p>
<p>I have three kids, oldest graduated from college last year, next one just completed his sophmore year at small college in Southwest Virginia about 7 hours from home. Our daughter’s college was about 16 hours from home and she only had her car for her senior year. She needed it for student teaching.
Our son took his car freshman year. She didn’t want a car at school since her friends all had nicer cars. To get home for breaks she either flew or shared driving with a friend. Her campus was extremely rural and within 45 minutes to a city or airport and she managed fine without a car.</p>
<p>We live (here at home) within an hour an a half of Manhatten and only my husband is willing to drive into the big city. Most of the kids around here are too scared to do it too. We take a bus from the next town over. As someone else said, there’s no reason to DRIVE into the city, because then you have to PARK in the city.</p>
<p>It’s worked out well for our son to have his car on campus at his small school. He doesn’t drink and is often the designated driver. He’s a good driver and I would rather he drive home then have someone drive him. He’s also a procrastinator extrodinaire and I’m sure would wait until two days until he needed a ride to ask for one. He’s a real cheapskate and has to pay for his own gas except for the long drives home when we reimburse him so no worries about people taking advantage of him driving them around.</p>
<p>My LAC does not allow freshmen to have cars on campus unless they have a job, are living off-campus with their parents, or are in the honors program. I came in with sophomore credits so I was able to have my car right off the bat, and it has helped immensely. Probably about 20% of freshmen have their cars, and other freshmen rely on us for rides or for borrowing our cars. Personally, I don’t mind lending out my car to some of my friends, but I’m a little more trusting than others. </p>
<p>I couldn’t imagine not having my car though. It allows me to go home when I need to, to drive to volunteering and to this internship I had this semester, and to go to the store for various needs. It’s also nice to be able to go out to eat and not have to worry about cab fees. The beach is also a plus :).</p>
<p>Our son brought his car to college jr year and it was a real benefit in many ways. As parents we have to begin letting go and college is a good place to accelerate the process. </p>
<p>Having said that, I would have some reservations about a car freshman year. Not because of the worries cited in the OP but the chance that she would not become as involved with the campus community.</p>
<p>When the care eventually does head off to college with them, a TomTom gps device is definitely worth the investment. Our son got one for Christmas and loves it.</p>
<p>With all due respect to your daughter’s independence & driving abilities, under NO circumstances should she try driving into NYC! </p>
<p>My vote is for “no car,” at least Freshman year. Most students are convinced they can’t survive at school without one, but the reality is quite different. Our D didn’t take one and freshman year she was actually glad. In fact, it wasn’t even up for discussion at our house.</p>
<p>S1 took his truck as a freshman (but wasn’t driving in NYC). He’s in a program that’s doable without a car but a whole lot easier if you have one. He has a parttime off campus job also. He is 2.5 hours from home and likes to be able to plan his trips based on his schedule rather than someone elses. Also, after dropping him off as a freshman H and I have not had to move him again. He has always been able to pack up his own stuff and move in/out using his truck.</p>
<p>S2 will be a freshman in Aug. (4 hrs. fr. home) and will also take his truck with him (again not near to a huge city). It will be in an off campus freshman parking lot so I’m not anticipating that he will be driving around his college town a lot. The main reason for him having it is transportation back and forth home. Only a few kids from his h.s go to this sch. so it might be diffucult to find rides home. H and my work schedules would make it difficult for us to make an eight hour round trip to pick him up for sch. breaks. He has the truck. The parking fee is not prohibitive, might as well take it (in our situation).</p>
<p>D1 is at a school 3 hrs away from home. She took her car her freshman year. She is at a small private school in a small town that has no public transportation. She loves having her car for trips to Target, bank or grocery store that are not within walking distance. Oh…and it is great to come home on break!</p>
<p>D2 has eliminated schools to consider if they don’t allow freshman to have cars.</p>
<p>All 3 of my kids took cars their freshman year. But I do think each case (particularly campuses) is unique. It happened that my kids all went to school that allowed cars on campus for freshmen (one didn’t even charge a fee and the others were very reasonable). Also, none of the towns mine were in had much if any in the way of public transportation. Since they were allowed cars, I would rather my kids be driving themselves than riding with others.</p>
<p>D went to Rice as a freshman without her car (4 hours from home). She came back for it in October and really enjoyed having it, both for local shopping/food runs and to come home for breaks.
S is at a school in a major city where you should NOT have a car, and he does. There were reasons for it freshman year (some medical appts that required driving) and it came in handy. Parking is expensive unless you find a place on the street and think hard about moving your car! After 2 years, he really is on the fence about whether he still wants to have it. It certainly comes in handy (he is not eligible for the car-sharing services that are available due to (a-hem) some blips on his driving record) for getting out of the city, visiting relatives and other things I probably don’t want to know about. I have mixed feelings about it. He has been very responsible about it, but it seems like a huge hassle.</p>
<p>It’s pretty much a necessity at some schools to have a car, so I don’t fully understand your concern…it’s really not that risky, especially if your daughter is half-way responsible. If the school was in NYC I would say sell the car, and save a ton of money. However, in upstate NY it’s sort of a toss-up. You certainly don’t NEED a car at a school like Cornell but it could still come in handy.</p>
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<p>Houston…now that’s a city where the kid should have a car.</p>
<p>Most colleges I have visited do not allow freshmen to have cars on campus, so your D needs to check that out. Besides limited parking, I think a reason for this rule is to encourage frosh to stay on campus and explore the school’s offerings, instead of wandering off to hang out in the mall or movie theater or (heaven forbid) find bars, etc. Most campuses try to have plenty of activities to keep kids involved right on campus.</p>
<p>My son is a frosh at college 5 hours away. He did not have a car this year but one of his friends did (paid to house it in a garage a few blocks from campus). The friend ended up giving a lot of rides to stores, etc. DS wasn’t going to bring a car until junior year but is now talking about bringing it next year as we have several family events he may attend in the fall and getting him to/from campus has been a pain this year. Also he is on the ski team (club sport) and they used cars this year, I’m not sure if the college didn’t provide vans or the kids just didn’t want to use them. Anyway, he thinks he could use his car for ski club next year. But I, like you, am nervous about him driving from home to campus and vice versa, the drive involves skirting NYC and the traffic can be very nasty. The issue of the car for sophomore year is still up in the air at our house.</p>
<p>S2’s college has an off campus parking lot for freshman 1.5 miles from campus. It is lighted, fenced, gated. The university has a large bus system. There is one bus totally dedicated to running back forth between the campus and freshman lot every hour. </p>
<p>I’m thinking that taking the bus to get to his truck and then having to take the bus back to campus after using the truck will be enough of a pain that he won’t have time to do that too often during the week. Freshman at his school who have stickers for the off campus lot are allowed to park on campus on weekends which is when I think he will use it the most and of course for trips home.</p>