Again, the majority's comments tend to back up my own: The concerns about the social aspect of living on campus as a freshman, the benefits of being immersed into college life.
Yes, it is possible for a freshman to make this housing choice. My husband's cousin's children are doing it right now at the same college. So I know it IS a choice -- I'm just looking into whether it's a good choice or not.
Someone asked if my daughter had much experience being away from home. Yes, absolutely. She's had much, much more experience in that field than the average student. She's spent weeks at a time at camp, she's done trips with school and scouts. She's also a very outgoing girl, the type who knows everyone and is involved in everything. I feel sure that the party would come to her -- which presents problems in and of itself. She's not the wild party type (though neither was I, yet in college I did throw a few parties that the police ended up attending -- we all have our moments), but I can see her having trouble getting people to leave. I think with some coaching she'd do okay, though the safety net of the dorm staff would be better.
What concerns me more than the first daughter's social life is that of the second daughter: She is not an outgoing girl; she's much slower to make frirends. The dorm would benefit her more than it would benefit her sister. BUT if we already owned the condo AND daughter #2 chose the same college, there's no way her dad would pay for a dorm. And, yet, this argument is even more hypothetical than the first daughter's housing . . . the second daughter may not like this school at all when she's ready for college.
Safety is something I had thought about but hadn't mentioned in my post. I'm remembering a girl whom I knew just in the vaguest way -- really, she was just someone I knew lived in my dorm, someone to whom I'd nod and say "hi" to in passing -- who moved off campus because she wanted more freedom than the dorms allowed. She lived in her apartment 10 days when someone threw a brick through her sliding glass door, came in and raped and murdered her. They caught the guy, but what good did that do her?
IF we went the condo route, I have no idea where the condo would be located -- as I said, we're discussing whether this is a good idea or not, but we certainly haven't done any more than glance through over internet posts to see what's actually out there. I wouldn't agree to something that wasn't within walking distance of campus. If she ends up at what is now her #1 choice, it's a physically small campus rather landlocked by the surrounding city; thus, it's very easy to walk to restaurants, stores, and apartments.
Without having investigated completely, I think the area right by the campus is mostly students -- the people who come to ski tend to stay a little closer to the slopes; we're only talking about a few miles down the road, but when you come off the interstate you go right to go to the college, left to head to the ski slopes. Also, someone mentioned renting it to tourists in the summer. That isn't really viable: First, we would furnish it in family cast-offs, not furniture that would make it tourist-worthy. Second, since it's a ski town, aside from students needing summer school housing or the occasional hiker, really there'd be no market.
While I'm thinking about location, the car issue pops into my mind. This college discourages freshmen from having cars (and I'm fine with that -- it's 3 hours from home, not so far that we can't move her in and come up/bring her home once a month or so). On campus students are allowed to have cars, but they have to buy an expensive parking sticker AND the freshman parking lot is literally more than a mile from the dorm. They have to take a shuttle bus to get to their cars. Moreover, the shuttlebus will take them to restaurants, stores, etc., so why bother to use your own car? We've already promised that IF she gets a scholarship that pays all/most of her education, we'll get her a new car at graduation (she has an old hand-me-down clunker to drive around town, but we don't allow her to drive much past the city limits) . . . but seeing the circumstances that she'd have to keep a car at this college, she's already suggested that she'd forego her new car 'til after freshman year so that it'd be NEW for sophomore year when she'd be able to get a viable parking spot on campus, and that'd mean the car'd last a little longer into her first job. She wants that car sooooo badly -- I was downright shocked when SHE came up with that very practical plan.
One person commented that living on campus it's very easy to leave the dining hall, the library, or a party and find someone who's walking back to Big Dorm #1. It's not so easy to find someone walking back to your condo. I think my husband -- determined as he is that this is a money-saver -- will really bite on that one. He is a miser, but he's also a good father.
Also, I noticed the campus is equipped with LOADS of emergency phones -- you know, the ones that you don't even have to dial: You just pick up the receiver, and the police know your location. Those are only ON CAMPUS.
Someone mentioned that dorms aren't really all that nice. This isn't a topic that's on my radar at all. We walked through the dorms; And, yes, they looked like they were built in the 1960s: plain white floors, plain white cinder block walls. But they were clean, the rooms were large and well-lit. The closets and dressers looked, if not generous, at least adequate. I am not concerned with lack of luxury in the least, and my daughter said she could definitely see herself living there, though she specified a few things she'd want to "make it home".
As for cost, I'm totally aware that the $2000/semester includes electricity, wi-fi service, and cable TV -- things that'd cost in another venue. And that the condo would add taxes, home owner's association fees, groundskeeping, and other things that'd add up. My husband is the one focusing on getting "all the housing money back".
Thanks for the advice -- keep it coming!
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