By AUSTIN HALL
Cutting the cord and leaving the nest is never easy, nor is it necessary. There is not a rule against staying home right after graduating high school. Unless one’s parents are kicking him out, staying home for college makes the most sense.
Moving out means one will have to fend for himself, and no one can survive without food. Since parents usually do all the grocery shopping, by moving out now one must spend money on his own food.
According to scholarships.com, the average price of a dormitory for one year of college is $7,500-$9,000 a year. That is $30,000-$36,000 for four years of college, and that number will rise even more, or even double, if one is planning on getting a masters or doctorate degree.
Most students have to take out loans for things like books, room and board, tuition, and meal plans. According to a New York Times Article, Burden of college loans on graduates grows, the average student leaves college with $24,000 in school loans. A big chunk of that can be eliminated by taking out room and board and meal plans. Unless one has been saving for college for a while or gets a full ride scholarship, financially, staying at home makes more sense. Most parents will either let one stay at home rent-free or have their child pay rent. Either way, it is cheaper than any dormitory.
By staying home, remembering to buy groceries will not be a worry until after college graduation. Everything that has been supplied since birth is still available. Parents have supplied the simple things like medicine, soap and toilet paper for the household, there is no need to buy those bare necessities.
This goes hand in hand with familiarity. There will be no adjusting to a new setting or way of life, no awkward first couple weeks of living with complete strangers and no chance of coming down with the dreaded illness that affects every budding adult: home sickness.
Homesickness is defined as the distress and functional impairment caused by an actual or anticipated separation from home and attachment objects such as parents. This temporary ailment is caused by the falling sensation that comes with jumping from the safety of the nest of childhood.
A study conducted by the Educated Resources Information Center, found that out of 304 freshman polled, 68.8 percent of freshman admitted to feeling homesick. Two thirds of those students experienced homesickness for a week, where 18 percent of those students felt it for up to eight weeks.
Living at home can give the child time to adjust to being an adult without having to dive into growing up, especially on a college student’s budget. The odds of a freshman in college being able to financially support himself is highly unlikely without the help of one’s parents. Once one has graduated, he will have the chance to jump straight into working a consistent, full-time job.
Moving out of the house when going to college is a bad idea. Moving out only leads to poverty, disorientation and crying at night. Being in debt and distressed is not the best way to start out one’s adult life.