Potential college dilemna

[Hiroshi2]

Well, I've pretty much made up my mind that I'm going to attend Alabama A&M in the fall. I went up there for a campus visit the other day, and decided what the hell, I'll go pick up some job applications while I'm up here, so I did at the fast-food resturant we ate at (Chick-Fil-A).



Anyway, it hit me - A&M doesn't allow freshmen and sophomores to live off-campus (i.e. I'm required to live in a dorm when I get there). The problem is, like most (maybe all) colleges, A&M kicks everybody out the dorms for fall, winter, spring, and summer breaks. But the problem is, A&M is in Huntsville, but I'm from Birmingham. Huntsville is about an hour and 15 minutes to an hour and a half away from Birmingham. Obviously, if I'm kicked out the dorm during those breaks, I need a place to stay at (in Huntsville, of course) or else I will have to quit the job.


The question is, given this situation, how the hell do I maintain a job the first two years I'm up there? I see a couple of solutions, though I can't count on either one of them - 1) find somebody I'm cool enough with to stay with during the break who has an off-campus apartment. I know one upper-classman and as far as I know, he's still planning on living in a dorm next year, so he'll be home too. The other alternative is to get a job working on campus, the problem is, usually those jobs do something like pay for your books or whatever. But I don't want that, I'm already getting student loans and possible financial aid for that anyway. I need money. Cash. Green. Or else I won't be able to so much as take a girl out or enjoy a movie or take a girl out or go to a concert or a take a girl out, or................well you get the point. I know it's college and I know most college kids don't have a lot of money for real, but shit I'm talking about being BROKE. No money, period. What the hell am I gonna do about this, I can't be broke for two years like this????????




So, has anybody else been in this situation? How did you get it worked out?

[lethal]

For summer while you aren't in school you can sublet a place from a student who is not going to be there that summer. Usually pretty cheap too.

During Winter break, I'd imagine thet you'd want to go home for the Holidays, hang out with friends and family.

For the other breaks, I'm sure the job will give you time off. They know students have breaks and stuff.

BTW, campus jobs pay you regular money. You don't have to use it toward books and stuff. You can apply it toward living expenses, which include going out to eat and going out to have fun and things like that.

[VV o n g B a]

hey, u'll be in my hometown. anyways, as lethal mentioned u can try for an on-campus job. i know a psych teacher at a&m that may know about how to get that info. i'll ping her and see if she can tell me anything.

all of my hs friends have left or are leaving hsv in the near future. the place is just too damn boring. but that prolly makes it a good place to study. =P but the city is going to grow a lot after this next round of base closings... so maybe new blood and numbers will enliven the place a bit.

[yoMAMA]

kinda OT:

but why do so many southern schools have A&M as their name?

[Hiroshi2]

hey, u'll be in my hometown. anyways, as lethal mentioned u can try for an on-campus job. i know a psych teacher at a&m that may know about how to get that info. i'll ping her and see if she can tell me anything.

all of my hs friends have left or are leaving hsv in the near future. the place is just too damn boring. but that prolly makes it a good place to study. =P but the city is going to grow a lot after this next round of base closings... so maybe new blood and numbers will enliven the place a bit.




Huntsville is too boring, but Birmingham is too dangerous :wink:


BTW, thanks for trying to get the info. I'll try and ask a couple of other dudes who'll be going to A&M in my class what they plan to do too.



kinda OT:

but why do so many southern schools have A&M as their name



A&M stands for Agricultural and Mechincal. Alabama A&M was a farm/agricultural school for black people and it was started by a slave. Now of course, you can study a lot more than agricultural/engineering/mechincal related things - I'm majoring in political science. But that's the basis of the school, matter of fact there's not one, but two farms on campus. When we first pulled up, I thought I was at Tuskegee, the place looked so damn country. But it's right outside of Huntsville, which doesn't look that bad but it probably can get boring, in which case, we'll just go to Nashville (TSU girls) or Atlanta (need I say more?).


From what I understand, there's a lot of people at AAMU from big cities like New York and Chicago who come down there to escape the city life or whatever. I'm kinda doing the same thing - much as I'd love to go to someplace like Atlanta or New Orleans for college, I'm easily distracted and it would probably mess me up too much to be in a big city.

And another thing wongba - you said Huntsville was boring - so what's so exciting about Mobile?

[Hiroshi2]

hey, u'll be in my hometown. anyways, as lethal mentioned u can try for an on-campus job. i know a psych teacher at a&m that may know about how to get that info. i'll ping her and see if she can tell me anything.

all of my hs friends have left or are leaving hsv in the near future. the place is just too damn boring. but that prolly makes it a good place to study. =P but the city is going to grow a lot after this next round of base closings... so maybe new blood and numbers will enliven the place a bit.





BTW is the professior you know asian? A&M on their website claims to have the most diverse faculty of any public 4-year college in Alabama (suprising for an HBCU).

[yoMAMA]

Huntsville is too boring, but Birmingham is too dangerous :wink:


BTW, thanks for trying to get the info. I'll try and ask a couple of other dudes who'll be going to A&M in my class what they plan to do too.







A&M stands for Agricultural and Mechincal. Alabama A&M was a farm/agricultural school for black people and it was started by a slave. Now of course, you can study a lot more than agricultural/engineering/mechincal related things - I'm majoring in political science. But that's the basis of the school, matter of fact there's not one, but two farms on campus. When we first pulled up, I thought I was at Tuskegee, the place looked so damn country. But it's right outside of Huntsville, which doesn't look that bad but it probably can get boring, in which case, we'll just go to Nashville (TSU girls) or Atlanta (need I say more?).


From what I understand, there's a lot of people at AAMU from big cities like New York and Chicago who come down there to escape the city life or whatever. I'm kinda doing the same thing - much as I'd love to go to someplace like Atlanta or New Orleans for college, I'm easily distracted and it would probably mess me up too much to be in a big city.

And another thing wongba - you said Huntsville was boring - so what's so exciting about Mobile?

cool, thanks for the explanation.

Poli sci is a kickass major, and if you want to go to law school later, it prepares you to think critically, which is crucial both in law school and in taking the law school admissions test[LSAT].

[Filiprish]

You don't want to go home (and see your fam, friends) or on vacation while you're on spring and/or fall break? Take off work and relax, you'll be needing/deserving it! As for summer, someone mentioned earlier, you can get a 3-month lease on an apartment, or stay at an extended stay, for $600-$800/month. To save money you'll find roommates/housemates very handy. Find a group of people who're renting a house and rent their couch if you have to! Do what you gotta do. I've done it. College is when you put your hustlin' skill to work. :wink:

Btw, you can always attend summer session, most schools provide housing during this time.

[Hiroshi2]

You don't want to go home (and see your fam, friends) or on vacation while you're on spring and/or fall break? Take off work and relax, you'll be needing/deserving it! As for summer, someone mentioned earlier, you can get a 3-month lease on an apartment, or stay at an extended stay, for $600-$800/month. To save money you'll find roommates/housemates very handy. Find a group of people who're renting a house and rent their couch if you have to! Do what you gotta do. I've done it. College is when you put your hustlin' skill to work. :wink:

Btw, you can always attend summer session, most schools provide housing during this time.




No I was assuming most places wouldn't let me take off from work that long.

[Filiprish]

^ Oh, that's why you have to put in time off well in advanced. If you forget, too busy with school/work or socializing, what you do is pay someone to work for you. There's always someone poorer than you, or has no plans to leave, who's willing to work/take your shift for the right amount of $$$. :wink: