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Ok, how important is it to live at college for connections?
We simply will not be able to afford the cost of room & board for our dd for college. I'm encouraging her to get through her undergrad years as quickly as possible, take AP courses, summer classes, waiver exams (or whatever they're called now) and just knock that degree out ASAP.
Fortunately, we live near several excellent universities.
However, she argues she will miss out on the connections she could make while living at school. Well, perhaps so, but we simply can't afford it. Wouldn't getting through school quickly balance out the "connections" she could make? Also, there;s other ways to make connections, clubs, church, sororties, etc.
Just how important are those "connections" nowadays? We can't do what we can't afford, we figure getting a BA or BS from an excellent university, with a high GPA, and involvement in other activities, along with PT work, will bring her as many "connections" as living in a dorm for 4 years at 10K/year!
I am not sure what you really mean by connections. Do you mean like professional connections?
Well here's my 2 cents since I have been a resident and a commuter student.
For my undergrad I lived on campus all 4 years. My school had the rule that you had to live on campus all 4 years unless you where a resident within a certain distance or over the age of 22, or under certain circumstance (you where married, had a kid, ect) From a social stand point I am really really glad I did it bc all the girls i had as friends came from my dorm, at least at the beginning.
I also attended fashion school in NY where the residences where extremely limited and you could only live in them for 1 year. Our program was 2 years so it usually want much of an issue. I lived in my own apartment alone the whole time and I still made tons of friends and networked with my teacher.
At the end of the day it depends on the type of college. At fashion school no one knew where anyone really live bc everyone lived off campus, although you could argue that NYC was our campus. At undergrad literally everyone knew what dorm everyone lived in.
Although I never noticed a difference in my quality education depending on my living arrangements.
It really depends on not only the school, but also how involved in student organizations she becomes. My husband still has business dealings with college connections all the time. He lived on campus the first 2 years, then in an apartment the last 2. His alma mater is known for it's "network" and in his case, it has truly paid off. It has helped him find jobs in the past. It has helped him open doors in business negotiations. He's been out of school for over 30 years and his connections still come in handy.
I have a sister-in-law that did not finish her degree until later in life, after marriage and kids. Obviously, she didn't live on campus. However, she became very active in her specific program (nursing). Even though she completed her degree about 10 years ago, she is still actively involved in the nursing program at her university.
I lived in the college dorms for one year (it was required for a scholarship I received), and rented rooms in houses with friends for the next 3 years. For myself and my friends that year in the dorms made a huge difference. It made housing much easier for the rest of college because I had a large group of potential roommates I actually knew, instead of trying to scramble to find roommates. It also got me into a situation where I only paid $200 a month to live in a brand new house for 2 years because I had those connections. Several of my other friends got jobs throughout school and beyond due to recommendations from friends (part time and full time). We helped each other study for classes, we shared books to cut down on the cost of textbooks, we shared notes when someone missed a class, etc. I've only been out of college for 4 years but I am still friends with all of those people.
No, you don't have to live in the dorms to be successful. It can be a lot cheaper to live on your own or at home. There are a lot of other ways to make connections. There can be downsides to living in the dorms, but I am extremely happy that I got to spend a year living at the school.
It really depends on not only the school, but also how involved in student organizations she becomes. My husband still has business dealings with college connections all the time. He lived on campus the first 2 years, then in an apartment the last 2. His alma mater is known for it's "network" and in his case, it has truly paid off. It has helped him find jobs in the past. It has helped him open doors in business negotiations. He's been out of school for over 30 years and his connections still come in handy.
I have a sister-in-law that did not finish her degree until later in life, after marriage and kids. Obviously, she didn't live on campus. However, she became very active in her specific program (nursing). Even though she completed her degree about 10 years ago, she is still actively involved in the nursing program at her university.
Forgot to mention my own personal experience. I lived at home with my parents during the first couple of years because I could not afford to live on campus. I was working full time and going to school. I was strictly a commuter student. I was involved in nothing. All I did was go to class and then go to work, home, wherever. I finished college later in life, after marrying and having kids, at a different university. Once I left my original university I never talked to anyone from there ever again. Couldn't care less about the people or the school. I do keep in contact with a few of the people from the university I finally graduated from, who were also adult learners such as myself.
I lived on campus my first year, and off campus the rest. 11 years later, the people I keep in touch with are those who were my classmates.
I was in computer science, our program was pretty small. We take almost all the same classes (a few elective differences) and spend a lot of time together for 4 years. We spend most of our time on campus anyways, working on projects, labs, classes, studying together. Where we lived didn't make much of a difference, some lived in dorms, other with their parents, some off campus.
Because we were all the same majors, professional "connections" remains to this day. Many got jobs through each other, and/or worked with each at some point post college.
I think it is EXTREMELY important to live on campus, at least for a couple years. There is a LOT to be learned living in a dorm outside of textbooks that goes along with the college experience.
Being able to "afford" living on campus is not a good reason--commuting costs money too. With various financial aid/scholarship options out there you don't really know what you can afford until you get your financial aid statements from colleges anyway. You will get MORE aid if they live on campus vs living at home too.
Many colleges are pricing by income, not just a flat cost. Harvard, for example is FREE (room and board included) if you make under $60K and up to $18K it is 10% of your adjusted gross income--so up to $18K--which is less than most state schools. Don't just assume you can't afford these things because of a "cost" on a website.
Can she live off campus and commute for the first 2 years and do her major classes while living on campus?
I graduated from a "commuter" school that had NO dorms and have lifelong personal friends and professional contactcs from it. So NO you do not need to live in the dorms as long as you make sure you join the campus activities mainly having to do with your major such as a business fraternity.
Why are you only considering these two options--either you pay for it or she can't have it?? There are other options, such as she pays for it. Thousands of students do it, you know. Pay for their own education, or at least part of it. Quite successfully, too, I might add. In fact students who pay their own way are often more successful in school, because they are more vested in the outcome.
Personally, I really can't imagine surviving those first few years of college if I'd lived off campus. I am not a social person at all, and was always a very good student, but I still needed the dorm atmosphere to adapt to the studying and class schedules and projects and just navigating the university system. If I had lived off campus, I know I would have struggled with my academics, and it would have been a very lonely experience.
I wouldn't say that living on campus has been beneficial to getting a job at all--I've never relied on those connections in that way. But many of my classmates are still friends. And as I said, it was certainly beneficial to my success while in school.
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