Living at home while attending nearby college

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The college I attended was 10 minute drive from home and so I commuted. It was a great decision! No communal showers, gross cafeteria food, irksome roommates, etc. I was still able to make friends and be involved in stuff and do well in my classes.

I’m now 46 and I am quite well-adjusted despite having never lived in a dorm, LOL. That’s a pretty uniquely upper-middle class American phenomenon anyway; most of world doesn’t do it. I don’t understand the obsession with the whole “dorm experience” to be honest.

Yeah, because you never did it. To most, it's the funnest, most transformative time in their entire life.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The college I attended was 10 minute drive from home and so I commuted. It was a great decision! No communal showers, gross cafeteria food, irksome roommates, etc. I was still able to make friends and be involved in stuff and do well in my classes.

I’m now 46 and I am quite well-adjusted despite having never lived in a dorm, LOL. That’s a pretty uniquely upper-middle class American phenomenon anyway; most of world doesn’t do it. I don’t understand the obsession with the whole “dorm experience” to be honest.

Yeah, because you never did it. To most, it's the funnest, most transformative time in their entire life.

+1 If you never lived on campus how can you have any idea what it entailed? And BTW you missed out on a wonderful communal living experience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My son lives at home and attends Montgomery College. It works out just fine. He has his own car and he earns his own money. We ask that he be considerate of us - let us know when he's coming and going, watch the dogs if we go away for the weekend. We buy food, but he pays for whatever else he needs. Sometimes he helps clean up around the house, but not so much because he has a lot on his plate.

But it's not like he has the option to live in dorms. MC is exclusively a commuter community college.

[Anonymous]

My daughter and niece are the same age. Daughter is away at college, niece stayed home. Niece's maturity level is CLEARLY stunted and my daughter is changing pretty dramatically (in a good way). Kids need to get away from home and the high school cliques and regional mores to grow.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone have this situation? Would be good to hear from people for whom it works and how. Thanks.

My son does. He lived at college for a year, and didn't really like campus living much, as he's ADHD and found the chaotic dorm living distracting. His commute is long (30-45 minutes) but he's been able to find classes that don't start extra early, and the commute is against rush hour. It's worked well for him for the most part.

Our friend's daughter does the same (same school) and she had a rich sorority life for quite a while. She left the sorority on her own accord as the time constraints of upper class loads, internships and a part time job became too great.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My daughter and niece are the same age. Daughter is away at college, niece stayed home. Niece's maturity level is CLEARLY stunted and my daughter is changing pretty dramatically (in a good way). Kids need to get away from home and the high school cliques and regional mores to grow.

That also might be personality as well. My DD goes to Montgomery college and I can see the positive changes and growth in her. So, your two examples isn't exactly going to stand up to scientific study. That being said we are planning on sending her to a four year university in the near future where she will live on campus.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The kids miss out on so much living at home, but it depends if you value that dorm experience.

I was a commuter student. I had plenty of the dorm experience, because my friends lived in them. I was so happy to not have to sleep in a shared cell!

Some would argue the experience of having a roommate and otherwise managing your life in a dorm (getting up on time, going for meals, dealing with the social stuff and communal living) is every bit as educational, if not more so, than stuff taught in the classrooms.

Yes, but people like op would never understand this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The kids miss out on so much living at home, but it depends if you value that dorm experience.

I was a commuter student. I had plenty of the dorm experience, because my friends lived in them. I was so happy to not have to sleep in a shared cell!

Some would argue the experience of having a roommate and otherwise managing your life in a dorm (getting up on time, going for meals, dealing with the social stuff and communal living) is every bit as educational, if not more so, than stuff taught in the classrooms.

Yes, but people like op would never understand this.

Not the OP, but I'm pretty hard-pressed to get how you know what he/she understands from their open-ended question on how this situation worked out for folks...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The kids miss out on so much living at home, but it depends if you value that dorm experience.

I was a commuter student. I had plenty of the dorm experience, because my friends lived in them. I was so happy to not have to sleep in a shared cell!

Some would argue the experience of having a roommate and otherwise managing your life in a dorm (getting up on time, going for meals, dealing with the social stuff and communal living) is every bit as educational, if not more so, than stuff taught in the classrooms.

Yes, but people like op would never understand this.

We have done both - one kid lived on campus and the second commuted from home. Living on campus is convenient but its benefits are exaggerated.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The kids miss out on so much living at home, but it depends if you value that dorm experience.

I was a commuter student. I had plenty of the dorm experience, because my friends lived in them. I was so happy to not have to sleep in a shared cell!

Some would argue the experience of having a roommate and otherwise managing your life in a dorm (getting up on time, going for meals, dealing with the social stuff and communal living) is every bit as educational, if not more so, than stuff taught in the classrooms.

I agree; it's like training wheels for real life.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The kids miss out on so much living at home, but it depends if you value that dorm experience.

I was a commuter student. I had plenty of the dorm experience, because my friends lived in them. I was so happy to not have to sleep in a shared cell!

Some would argue the experience of having a roommate and otherwise managing your life in a dorm (getting up on time, going for meals, dealing with the social stuff and communal living) is every bit as educational, if not more so, than stuff taught in the classrooms.

Yes, but people like op would never understand this.

We have done both - one kid lived on campus and the second commuted from home. Living on campus is convenient but its benefits are exaggerated.

A place on campus to meet random peers, entertain friends, nap and get laid is exaggerated?

[Anonymous]

I am the OP and I lived on campus for my university in the UK 2 out of the 3 years. I had a single room when on campus and a single room when off campus. Living off campus in a house with 2 other students was more educative about "real life". We had to do our own bed sheets and clean the house and cook - there was no cafeteria to go to for 3 meals a day. We took the bus or walked to classes and home again.

Really there are some very helpful posts on this thread, and I'm grateful for that, but also some truly asinine folks who should just pack their bags now and go away.

[Anonymous]

I loved living in a dorm but it's about as unlike real life as it gets...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I loved living in a dorm but it's about as unlike real life as it gets...

my son and daughter were accepted to Carnegie Mellon U but decided to attend GMU. Instead of paying 70k/year for each, they both stay at home and drive to GMU for a 12k/year for each and each of them get a brand new Lexus IS250 for transportation from Mclean to GMU for four years. After graduation, each will pocket about 150k left over for not attending Carnegie Mellon.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I loved living in a dorm but it's about as unlike real life as it gets...

my son and daughter were accepted to Carnegie Mellon U but decided to attend GMU. Instead of paying 70k/year for each, they both stay at home and drive to GMU for a 12k/year for each and each of them get a brand new Lexus IS250 for transportation from Mclean to GMU for four years. After graduation, each will pocket about 150k left over for not attending Carnegie Mellon.

Well done - I think that's an excellent choice. Thank you for posting.