Author Topic: A Day in the Life of a College Student  (Read 11044 times)

RWD

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A Day in the Life of a College Student
« on: December 07, 2017, 12:31:15 PM »
I just watched a video about the Day in the Life of a College Student at a university I'm familiar with and was impressed with how wasteful it was. The guy drove to the gym, back home for breakfast, to class, to lunch, to class again, to a fancy dinner + drinks, then finally home. Almost certainly all bikeable too. No wonder student debt is so crazy now if they're spending $30-40+ per day on unnecessary expenses. If you do that every day (unlikely, of course) when getting a four year degree you'll come out of college $30k poorer.

When I was in college my daily transportation routine involved almost entirely biking or walking. Food was included in my rent so I would either bring something with me or come home for lunch/dinner.

PoutineLover

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Re: A Day in the Life of a College Student
« Reply #1 on: December 07, 2017, 12:38:02 PM »
I don't think that's the norm for all college students. Hardly anyone at my university has a car, and they definitely don't drive them to campus where there's very limited and expensive parking. Sure many people bought lunch on campus, especially when they lived in residence and the meal plan was mandatory, but it's pretty hard to cook when you have just have a mini fridge and a kitchenette for a full floor of students. My 30k of debt was from tuition being $8,000 a year and living expenses around $12,000, while all the on campus jobs paid only minimum wage.

boyerbt

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Re: A Day in the Life of a College Student
« Reply #2 on: December 07, 2017, 01:05:09 PM »
What university was this?

My experience was nothing like this when I lived on and off campus.

RWD

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Re: A Day in the Life of a College Student
« Reply #3 on: December 07, 2017, 01:35:30 PM »
I'd rather not specify the university, but it's in a small town where you can bike from one end of the city limits to the other in 30-40 minutes. The restaurant he went to for lunch is only 1 mile from the center of campus, easily bikeable or even walkable. It also has terrible parking options, so if you could avoid driving there that would be preferred. The restaurant he went to for dinner is only a couple more blocks down the street.

I'm sure this video deliberately had more stuff in it to be more interesting. I highly doubt this guy goes out to eat twice every day of the week (hopefully...). But it's annoying that this is presented as a normal day when it's so blatantly wasteful. I wouldn't have even bothered to write a post about it if all he did was drive to campus. Eat out twice at the many options available on campus or within walking distance, and then drove home at the end of the day. That would have been only mildly inefficient. But to make seven car trips in one normal class day is just ridiculous.

ixtap

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Re: A Day in the Life of a College Student
« Reply #4 on: December 07, 2017, 02:13:54 PM »
At a private university, the students generally had better cars than the staff and faculty.

However, at a state university that drew students from some of the state's (and country's) poorest counties, I was still dazzled by my students iPhones and dining habits. Especially since the would complain about homework because they had to work to pay for all of that.

Just Joe

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Re: A Day in the Life of a College Student
« Reply #5 on: December 09, 2017, 10:17:33 AM »
I agree with the "cars better than the staff and faculty" statement. I knew someone who worked in the business office and every year there would be 1 or 2 students who would rack up $1500+ worth of parking tickets b/c they would drive from building to building for classes. Couldn't be bothered to park in student parking, would park in faculty parking and get a ticket. Always running late. Friend said then the parent would call late in the semester and ask how this was possible and the business office would explain to the parent what had happened. Most were surprised, some said they would bail their adorable Miss out of trouble, a few said - Little Miss will have to work it off this summer...

My college town was like most - campus was totally walkable in ten minutes. Town was just a few miles across. Most drove b/c if they lived at home - home was miles away and even in the next rural county.

I hear as parking has gotten more expensive more folks living near campus are walking or biking.

BlueMR2

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Re: A Day in the Life of a College Student
« Reply #6 on: December 09, 2017, 11:04:57 AM »
Eh, back 25 years ago when I was in college it was standard to drive from the dorm to the classroom buildings and back.  They were right across the street from each other...

better late

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Re: A Day in the Life of a College Student
« Reply #7 on: December 09, 2017, 11:16:06 AM »
Wow. That's a pretty lame. Was it an official video from the university Communications Dept? Out to dinner and drinks? I can imagine that turning a lot of kids off that school.

lemanfan

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Re: A Day in the Life of a College Student
« Reply #8 on: December 09, 2017, 12:27:02 PM »
Maybe I'm reading too much in to this, but driving back from dinner with drinks???

ambimammular

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Re: A Day in the Life of a College Student
« Reply #9 on: December 09, 2017, 02:31:20 PM »
My car stayed on campus except for weekends when I went home. Everything you could need was right there, and it seemed pretty lame to give up my parking spot just to get drive-thru when I'm already being ripped off by dining services. It's what ultimately helped me kick my fast food habit.

RWD

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Re: A Day in the Life of a College Student
« Reply #10 on: December 09, 2017, 05:12:03 PM »
Wow. That's a pretty lame. Was it an official video from the university Communications Dept? Out to dinner and drinks? I can imagine that turning a lot of kids off that school.

It was not official. Just some freshman that wanted to show off his awesome life on YouTube.


Maybe I'm reading too much in to this, but driving back from dinner with drinks???

I couldn't confirm for sure that they were drinking, though it did look like beer to me. There was a pretty large group at dinner so perhaps they had a designated driver(s). Not enough information to say for sure.

Sibley

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Re: A Day in the Life of a College Student
« Reply #11 on: December 09, 2017, 05:37:24 PM »
I didn't have a car in college...

TheGrimSqueaker

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Re: A Day in the Life of a College Student
« Reply #12 on: December 11, 2017, 02:33:37 PM »
Maybe I'm reading too much in to this, but driving back from dinner with drinks???

... and, as an American *undergraduate* underclassman, when the legal drinking age is 21?

RWD

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Re: A Day in the Life of a College Student
« Reply #13 on: December 11, 2017, 02:46:49 PM »
Maybe I'm reading too much in to this, but driving back from dinner with drinks???

... and, as an American *undergraduate* underclassman, when the legal drinking age is 21?

Alright, I went back to take a closer look at the video because of all this discussion. The drinks all had straws in them so perhaps it was sweet tea and/or other non-alcoholic drinks.

The description of the video says that he's 21 (though I found this information to be contradicted by info he posted elsewhere, so assume actually 20 at time of video upload).

honeybbq

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Re: A Day in the Life of a College Student
« Reply #14 on: December 11, 2017, 02:58:16 PM »
Most people in America cannot bike 40 minutes. Just saying.

(I'm a hard core athlete and sometimes I have to remember how the other 'half' lives)

It would be great if people could embrace more biking but the truth is most people never will.

RWD

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Re: A Day in the Life of a College Student
« Reply #15 on: December 11, 2017, 03:05:50 PM »
Most people in America cannot bike 40 minutes. Just saying.

(I'm a hard core athlete and sometimes I have to remember how the other 'half' lives)

It would be great if people could embrace more biking but the truth is most people never will.

True, but note that this student started his day by driving to the gym. He is fit enough to bike.

Chesleygirl

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Re: A Day in the Life of a College Student
« Reply #16 on: December 11, 2017, 03:35:45 PM »
When I was in college, I didn't own a car the entire four years. So I wasn't paying for gas, insurance, car repairs, etc.

I remember I spent $100 on a new handbag and a friend of mine was envious. She said, I wish I could have a bag like that, but I had to use the money to buy a new tire. Where do you get money to spend on things like that?

Chesleygirl

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Re: A Day in the Life of a College Student
« Reply #17 on: December 11, 2017, 03:37:06 PM »
I don't think that's the norm for all college students.

No, but it's probably the norm at Southern Methodist University.

Most other college students I know aren't dining out at fancy restaurants. They go to pubs to get beer. 

RWD

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Re: A Day in the Life of a College Student
« Reply #18 on: December 11, 2017, 03:58:52 PM »
When I was in college, I didn't own a car the entire four years.

That's impressive. Though I never drove to school when I was in college there was a brief period of time when I owned four vehicles...

Freedomin5

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Re: A Day in the Life of a College Student
« Reply #19 on: December 13, 2017, 08:36:48 AM »
Our university gave every student a free annual bus pass. It was one 15-minute bus ride to the grocery store and mall (across the street from each other). The bus even drove through campus so you could take the bus from your dorm to class (1-2 stops, depending on which building you had class in). We had a pub on campus.

I would say most students didn't have cars, unless you lived at home and commuted. Also, they put the parking lots way at the edge of campus, behind the dorms.

Chesleygirl

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Re: A Day in the Life of a College Student
« Reply #20 on: December 13, 2017, 09:18:30 AM »
When I was in college, I didn't own a car the entire four years.

That's impressive. Though I never drove to school when I was in college there was a brief period of time when I owned four vehicles...

It wasn't easy going without a car, though. I couldn't just get away from campus when I felt like it. I had to constantly look for rides and offer gas money, of course. But it did give me some more flexibility with my budget.  Also, lot of other students I knew were mad when they found out my parents were paying for my college tuition. So I had to deal with them accusing me of being some spoiled prima donna. But I went without things when I grew up (like a car), because my parents had been saving money over the years,  so that my sister and I wouldn't have student loan debt. These other students didn't understand the sacrifices that we'd made for me to attend college without debt. After college, all my friends started applying for credit cards and racking up debts even with their student loans outstanding. They'd go on trips and buy all kinds of stuff for their new apartments.

MgoSam

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Re: A Day in the Life of a College Student
« Reply #21 on: December 13, 2017, 10:14:14 AM »
After moving out of the dorms, the closest I live to my classes and the library was a mile. I would walk there and back daily...I can't help but think of how much more weight I would have gained in college without this daily 2+. When looking at the article I couldn't help but think that nowadays college students are likely taking an Uber for that 1 mile.

marielle

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Re: A Day in the Life of a College Student
« Reply #22 on: December 13, 2017, 10:38:36 AM »
Most students drove and bought $450 parking passes at my university. I either walked or caught a ride with my boyfriend who had classes in the same buildings. My last year was great because most of my classes were in one building that was less than a 10 minute walk from home. I had a friend who lived in the same apartment complex and drove to class. I'm 95% sure it took more time to drive to the parking deck and walk to class than it took to just walk the entire way. On the bright side at least it was a cheap beater car.  Other years I wasn't so lucky with my commute, but I could walk to the closest part of campus and typically have a shuttle that goes to the engineering side.

I wish I got into biking back then, but I barely knew how to ride a bike so I didn't consider it as an option. It wasn't too bad though, I put less than 3k miles a year on my car in 4 years. A lot of it came from the 400 mile trips to home.

Something that appalls me is how often students eat out. I could probably count on my hands the number of times I paid for a restaurant meal my last three years (freshman year I was forced to have a meal account for on campus restaurants). Yet I saw people constantly eating out or asking me to go out for a meal. I would have completely run out of money if I did. In a pinch I occasionally spent $2 on something small at a fast food place or split a pizza, but that was a last resort type of thing. The engineering building was across the street from a grocery store so there is basically no excuse to spend $8 at Chipotle for one meal. Even now I see fraternity brothers on the group chat planning Taco Tuesdays, etc...the same people who have mentioned being broke or having money issues. To be fair, my boyfriend did pay for some dates at restaurants since he was working full time my last two semesters and I was making either very little or no money. We still ate out less than most students with no income do...

I don't have much room to talk since I graduated with $28k in student loans but I guess it could have been a whole lot worse.

Chesleygirl

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Re: A Day in the Life of a College Student
« Reply #23 on: December 13, 2017, 12:22:20 PM »
Most students drove and bought $450 parking passes at my university. .

I was in college in the late 80s and I don't recall parking passes costing that much! Although I didn't have a car anyway.

Was that $450 every year or every semester?

marielle

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Re: A Day in the Life of a College Student
« Reply #24 on: December 13, 2017, 01:41:43 PM »
Most students drove and bought $450 parking passes at my university. .

I was in college in the late 80s and I don't recall parking passes costing that much! Although I didn't have a car anyway.

Was that $450 every year or every semester?

$450 for a full year. "Only" $280 for a single semester.

Also, staff have to pay for parking passes too. I think that's typical though, but still crazy to me.

Chesleygirl

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Re: A Day in the Life of a College Student
« Reply #25 on: December 13, 2017, 02:06:50 PM »
Most students drove and bought $450 parking passes at my university. .

I was in college in the late 80s and I don't recall parking passes costing that much! Although I didn't have a car anyway.

Was that $450 every year or every semester?

$450 for a full year. "Only" $280 for a single semester.

Also, staff have to pay for parking passes too. I think that's typical though, but still crazy to me.

It sounds like just another way for the university to make money.

RidetheRain

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Re: A Day in the Life of a College Student
« Reply #26 on: December 13, 2017, 02:15:43 PM »
Most students drove and bought $450 parking passes at my university. .

I was in college in the late 80s and I don't recall parking passes costing that much! Although I didn't have a car anyway.

Was that $450 every year or every semester?

$450 for a full year. "Only" $280 for a single semester.

Also, staff have to pay for parking passes too. I think that's typical though, but still crazy to me.

It sounds like just another way for the university to make money.

I'm sure it's a way, but my experience was that there literally wasn't enough parking to go around and this is how market forces work. Colleges are designed to be walkable (generally) so parking is typically limited. Supply and demand says that if the supply is low and demand is high you should raise prices.

My college was ridiculously walkable (I'm out ~5 years) and there were still plenty of cars around. However, the buses were always packed to bursting day and night, too. I couldn't afford a bike so I'd walk the hour-ish to class usually instead. There are just too many people in a small space most of the time.

kelvin

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Re: A Day in the Life of a College Student
« Reply #27 on: December 14, 2017, 06:49:47 AM »
I just watched a video about the Day in the Life of a College Student at a university I'm familiar with and was impressed with how wasteful it was. The guy drove to the gym, back home for breakfast, to class, to lunch, to class again, to a fancy dinner + drinks, then finally home. Almost certainly all bikeable too. No wonder student debt is so crazy now if they're spending $30-40+ per day on unnecessary expenses. If you do that every day (unlikely, of course) when getting a four year degree you'll come out of college $30k poorer.

When I was in college my daily transportation routine involved almost entirely biking or walking. Food was included in my rent so I would either bring something with me or come home for lunch/dinner.

I did a year at McMaster university. The kids there were often rich, from overseas. There were more BMWs and Mercedes in the student parking lot than the teacher parking lot. This kind of lifestyle was the norm. My classmates had never heard of OSAP (Ontario student loans), and some of them were horrified to see me working on campus. They were attending one of the world premier universities, they honestly believed that everyone on campus was a multi-millionaire.

At Carleton things were more laid back. Lots of kids living with their parents, biking or busing everywhere. Lots of students on OSAP.

At the local community college everyone was working while in school, so that also made a huge difference. It was common to hear a student calling in to work to rearrange shifts so they could write a midterm. Many of them biked or bused, but if you're working full time while in school full time, a car is almost mandatory in Ottawa.

There was a published paper on the OECD site about inequality and how it's going to affect senior citizens going forward. It mentioned, in passing, that income inequality is already more starkly noticeable among the 20-35 age group than it currently is among the 60-75 age group. (The difference between a rich and poor pair of 20 somethings is bigger than the difference between a rich and poor pair of 80 somethings.)

For those of you who like graphs and charts,
http://www.oecd.org/social/preventing-ageing-unequally-9789264279087-en.htm

pg 29: "Moving from the average across ages, as illustrated above, to specific age groups shows that the younger age groups are now the most unequal. Figure 1.7 shows that, on average across countries, income inequality among those aged 20-14 is about 6 percentage points - or about 24% - higher for the generations born in the 1980s than it was for those born in the 1950s. Some major trends, such as teh development of education and changes in household structures across generations, are likely to have influenced these developments. Inequality in middle age (45-49 years) also increased especially between the generations born from the 1930s to the 1960s, for older groups, by contrast, it remained broadly stable. This means that inequality among people starting their working life is now already much higher than among today's elderly, which is in stark contrast to patterns observed in the past."

RidetheRain

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Re: A Day in the Life of a College Student
« Reply #28 on: December 14, 2017, 09:27:12 AM »
I just watched a video about the Day in the Life of a College Student at a university I'm familiar with and was impressed with how wasteful it was. The guy drove to the gym, back home for breakfast, to class, to lunch, to class again, to a fancy dinner + drinks, then finally home. Almost certainly all bikeable too. No wonder student debt is so crazy now if they're spending $30-40+ per day on unnecessary expenses. If you do that every day (unlikely, of course) when getting a four year degree you'll come out of college $30k poorer.

When I was in college my daily transportation routine involved almost entirely biking or walking. Food was included in my rent so I would either bring something with me or come home for lunch/dinner.

I did a year at McMaster university. The kids there were often rich, from overseas. There were more BMWs and Mercedes in the student parking lot than the teacher parking lot. This kind of lifestyle was the norm. My classmates had never heard of OSAP (Ontario student loans), and some of them were horrified to see me working on campus. They were attending one of the world premier universities, they honestly believed that everyone on campus was a multi-millionaire.

At Carleton things were more laid back. Lots of kids living with their parents, biking or busing everywhere. Lots of students on OSAP.

At the local community college everyone was working while in school, so that also made a huge difference. It was common to hear a student calling in to work to rearrange shifts so they could write a midterm. Many of them biked or bused, but if you're working full time while in school full time, a car is almost mandatory in Ottawa.

There was a published paper on the OECD site about inequality and how it's going to affect senior citizens going forward. It mentioned, in passing, that income inequality is already more starkly noticeable among the 20-35 age group than it currently is among the 60-75 age group. (The difference between a rich and poor pair of 20 somethings is bigger than the difference between a rich and poor pair of 80 somethings.)

For those of you who like graphs and charts,
http://www.oecd.org/social/preventing-ageing-unequally-9789264279087-en.htm

pg 29: "Moving from the average across ages, as illustrated above, to specific age groups shows that the younger age groups are now the most unequal. Figure 1.7 shows that, on average across countries, income inequality among those aged 20-14 is about 6 percentage points - or about 24% - higher for the generations born in the 1980s than it was for those born in the 1950s. Some major trends, such as teh development of education and changes in household structures across generations, are likely to have influenced these developments. Inequality in middle age (45-49 years) also increased especially between the generations born from the 1930s to the 1960s, for older groups, by contrast, it remained broadly stable. This means that inequality among people starting their working life is now already much higher than among today's elderly, which is in stark contrast to patterns observed in the past."

I do like graphs and charts :)

Although, I didn't see a chart of how today's 80-year-olds fared at age 25. I'm imagining that the gap shrinks? Or is that wishful thinking?

honeybbq

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Re: A Day in the Life of a College Student
« Reply #29 on: December 14, 2017, 11:34:21 AM »
Most people in America cannot bike 40 minutes. Just saying.

(I'm a hard core athlete and sometimes I have to remember how the other 'half' lives)

It would be great if people could embrace more biking but the truth is most people never will.

True, but note that this student started his day by driving to the gym. He is fit enough to bike.

Most people I see at the gym never break a sweat lol.

Chesleygirl

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Re: A Day in the Life of a College Student
« Reply #30 on: December 14, 2017, 11:53:25 AM »
Wow, there is a lot of judging on this thread.

My husband tried riding a bike to work for a while. The traffic was bad, it was a long trip and he eventually had to give it up. In the summers, temps get to 110 and at his age, he'd be more likely to have a heat stroke.

Let it go. If you want to bike, great. Others may have their reasons for driving cars.

Just Joe

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Re: A Day in the Life of a College Student
« Reply #31 on: December 14, 2017, 07:35:01 PM »
Well it IS the Antimustachian Wall of Shame and Comedy... ;)

I poke at people anonymously here so I can be friendlier in real life.

Coworker or cousin does something really dumb? I won't even blink an eye b/c last Wednesday on the MMM forum I read that....

TheGrimSqueaker

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Re: A Day in the Life of a College Student
« Reply #32 on: December 14, 2017, 08:57:33 PM »
Well it IS the Antimustachian Wall of Shame and Comedy... ;)

I poke at people anonymously here so I can be friendlier in real life.

Coworker or cousin does something really dumb? I won't even blink an eye b/c last Wednesday on the MMM forum I read that....

I use this forum as a vaccination against the financial stupidity I see in real life.

jinga nation

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Re: A Day in the Life of a College Student
« Reply #33 on: December 15, 2017, 07:07:48 AM »
Well it IS the Antimustachian Wall of Shame and Comedy... ;)

I poke at people anonymously here so I can be friendlier in real life.

Coworker or cousin does something really dumb? I won't even blink an eye b/c last Wednesday on the MMM forum I read that....

I use this forum as a vaccination against the financial stupidity I see in real life.
That's the first time I've seen MMMForums have a medical benefit.

jinga nation

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Re: A Day in the Life of a College Student
« Reply #34 on: December 15, 2017, 07:11:06 AM »
Most people in America cannot bike 40 minutes. Just saying.

(I'm a hard core athlete and sometimes I have to remember how the other 'half' lives)

It would be great if people could embrace more biking but the truth is most people never will.

True, but note that this student started his day by driving to the gym. He is fit enough to bike.

Most people I see at the gym never break a sweat lol.
Depends on the gym and time of day.
Go early morning, lunch or evening to some gyms and it'll be dripping bodies. Go other times and it's the show-off crowd and/or social hour.
College gyms are hook-up spots where you bait the fitter fish. Or birds of a feather...

MrsPete

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Re: A Day in the Life of a College Student
« Reply #35 on: December 25, 2017, 05:36:03 PM »
Parking passes at the state university my daughters attend are $700/year.
A few businesses near the university offer super-prime parking places for over $1000/year, and they're reserved years in advance. 
At the university near us, they're $700/semester. 

MgoSam

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Re: A Day in the Life of a College Student
« Reply #36 on: December 26, 2017, 09:56:57 AM »
I just rejoined LA Fitness and got a pretty sweet deal. Went there on Saturday and can concur that maybe 25% of the people there were actually working out. Most of the people in the weight section were chatting or on their phones and most people on the cardio equipment were walking. That said, there are worse things that someone can do with their time. If you're going to watch the TV it's healthier to do so while walking on a treadmill than sitting on the couch.

Chaplin

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Re: A Day in the Life of a College Student
« Reply #37 on: December 26, 2017, 11:05:16 AM »
In the  early 90's at a Canadian university I didn't need to spend a lot of money at all, so having a car would have been a massive increase in expenses. From what I understand of current costs at US universities/colleges you're already paying so much that a car might seem like a minor addition. It's pretty easy for (some) people to think that if they're going to be $200K in debt, what difference does a few extra $K matter?

mudphud

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Re: A Day in the Life of a College Student
« Reply #38 on: December 28, 2017, 10:28:35 AM »
My university was sort of a tale of two cities.  Majority of students rode bikes, took the bus, split bedrooms in houses and apartments close to campus.  The other group that was wealthy (a lot of international students) owned new luxury cars and splurged on housing, food, nights out, etc.  Any college student who has enough time and the will to document their daily exploits is probably from the latter.

jinga nation

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Re: A Day in the Life of a College Student
« Reply #39 on: December 28, 2017, 02:55:04 PM »
I just rejoined LA Fitness and got a pretty sweet deal. Went there on Saturday and can concur that maybe 25% of the people there were actually working out. Most of the people in the weight section were chatting or on their phones and most people on the cardio equipment were walking. That said, there are worse things that someone can do with their time. If you're going to watch the TV it's healthier to do so while walking on a treadmill than sitting on the couch.
TVs in weight rooms are a nuisance. It just makes people sit there and hog the benches and equipment.
In my college days, when they put in stupid TVs in non-cardio areas, hell broke loose every evening. You'd have the hardcores hustling the casuals to get their sets done and move on. There'd be that DYKWIA from some frat trying to put up a fight with the heavies. Some of these heavies were medical and engineering students and ex-athletes in grad school. Bad move, frat boy!

My YMCA renovated over the last 2 years. The best thing they did was make a massive weights and crossfit room, a "ninja fitness room", and a resistance machines area, none of these have a single TV screen to gawk at. The only place for this is the cardio equipment area. And not all machines have a screen.

One of the gym chains around here has free pizza days... genius business idea. Another gym chain took away all free weights, but there's TV screens everywhere you look. There are so many gyms that I wonder about which one will fold at the next economic wobble, but I'm glad people are exercising more.

MgoSam

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Re: A Day in the Life of a College Student
« Reply #40 on: December 28, 2017, 03:13:13 PM »

TVs in weight rooms are a nuisance. It just makes people sit there and hog the benches and equipment.
In my college days, when they put in stupid TVs in non-cardio areas, hell broke loose every evening. You'd have the hardcores hustling the casuals to get their sets done and move on. There'd be that DYKWIA from some frat trying to put up a fight with the heavies. Some of these heavies were medical and engineering students and ex-athletes in grad school. Bad move, frat boy!

Agreed, the two LA Fitness locations I've been to have most of the cardio machines in a balcony section. That way when you workout you can either watch TV or watch the weight lifting section. I don't see any TVs in the weight section though I did see plenty of people lounging around on their phone.



One of the gym chains around here has free pizza days... genius business idea. Another gym chain took away all free weights, but there's TV screens everywhere you look. There are so many gyms that I wonder about which one will fold at the next economic wobble, but I'm glad people are exercising more.

Planet Fitness does the free pizza days. I believe that also discourage serious gym members, like if you drop your weights an 'alarm' will go off. Their philosophy is that serious gym people scare off casual members and they want casual members. Last time I checked their rates are $10 a month with no enrollment. My guess is that they are hoping for people to sign up and forget about the gym and not show up, other than maybe the free pizza days.

clarkfan1979

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Re: A Day in the Life of a College Student
« Reply #41 on: December 31, 2017, 03:18:22 PM »
I have taught college full-time for the past 7 years. The biggest surprise for me was seeing the college students eat out and get Starbucks "to go" Another is bottled water from the vending machine. I always brought my refillable water bottle to class. I was surprised that very few students did the same thing as me.

I was guilty of going to Starbucks in 2000-2002 as an undergrad. However, it was mostly for the free wifi and I would stay for 3-4 hours. I would never think of getting it to go. Brewing at home was much easier and cheaper.

There was a student that worked in my department three days a week. He got food delivered pretty much every day he worked. Mostly Jimmy Johns. It was around $14 total. About $10 for the sandwich, chips and drink. Then another $4 for the delivery charge, tax and tip. Seems kind of expensive for someone working 18 hours/week at $10/hour. 

I think it's an easy explanation. Their parents are paying the bill, so they do what ever is the easiest.