Going to be a freshman in college but college says I can't live off campus? HELP?

First of all, there is a reason that nearly all colleges require you to live on campus or with your parents for the first year or two (or three). You are not the first person who thought it would be a great idea to save a few bucks and have a great time in an apartment or rented house off campus. It is a bad idea for many reasons that you can probably imagine and that's why colleges don't allow it. Second, you are not the first person who thought about tricking the college by claiming you are a commuter student. I have even heard of parents buying a house in a college town a year or more in advance of Johnnie or Susie arriving to "establish residency" in the area. That doesn't work either. Do your parents live in Kent or very nearby? If not, you will not be able to claim you are a commuter student. Just live on campus and enjoy the experience. You may even find that living on campus gives you more involvement and a sense of being part of the full university experience - and you may decide to stay on campus all four years. Give it a chance and decide later if you want to live away from the campus life.

Colleges often require freshmen to live in residence on campus because long experience shows this is necessary in the first one or two years when students often "go wild" and ruin their college chances. If you can't live with these rules stay home and find a commuter college.

Colleges require you to live on campus because studies have shown that students who live on campus for their first couple of years in school do better in school, and feel more connected to the campus, than students who live off campus do. Normally, the rules are that you can't commute unless your parents home is within X miles of campus, and you live with your parents. I see that Kent State requires your family to live within 50 miles of campus. So unless your parents live within that commuting distance of campus, you can't list their address as your own. But if they do... I suppose you could lie, yes. However, what the studies show would still be true - you may be putting your academics at risk by living off campus in your first year. Living off campus will also make it a *lot* harder to make friends at school. One idea is to live on campus, but room with your friend. Most colleges try hard to honor roommate requests. And if you're offered a choice of residential area, check each one out and try to find one you think you'd like the best, and apply for that one.

You may want to ask why this is so (to encourage people to get to know each other? Living off campus can make it harder to make friends). Is there a punishment? If you have financial need, then the school might make an exception. You could also just give them your parents address and number (so long as they are okay with that...). You have to be aware that all mail may go to them instead, and so if there are bills or notices, you might not get them right away.

Great Idea if your smooth about it if they dont ask you dont tell & DONT LET ANYONE ON YOUR CAMPUS KNOW cos people can be haters when you piss them off

I could tell you to try living on campus, but if your mind's made up your mind's made up. Assuming your parents' houses are within commuting distance, here's what you and your friend need to do: 1. Get your parents on board. 2. List your parents' addresses and phone numbers as your primary contact information. Do not list the apartment anywhere. 3. If you really want to cover the bases, have your parents co-sign the lease. It's not entirely necessary, but it does give you a little extra coverage. 4. Keep your living situation to yourself. Don't go telling everyone, don't throw any parties, don't do anything that will draw attention to yourselves. The last thing you want are cops showing up or someone reporting you. A word of caution about living with friends; being good friends doesn't mean you'll be good roommates. This is something that's particularly important to keep in mind when considering a living arrangement that goes against university codes. It's not like you can request a new room halfway through the year if things don't work out. You're stuck. If you really want to make things work, you both need to be on board with the same ground rules. Talk well in advance about things like parties, guests, shared food, shared appliances, chores, and quiet hours. If you can't both get on board with the same rules, you might want to find another roommate.

The other posters have already given you good information, but I'm going to give you yet another reason to reconsider living on Campus. Your freshman year is HARD! It's a new experience living on your own and learning how to balance social life with heavy course and study load can be difficult. Remember, it's not High School work anymore. You have double the homework and double the study. Freshman year is fun, but strenuous and VERY easy to mess up. If you live in an apartment, you will be adding the stress of having to pay for rent, cable bills, internet bills, electric bills, groceries, gas money to get to college, and paying for a parking pass to park on campus. Have you thought about how to pay for all that?? Will you have to then add a part time job to your schedule to pay for all that? Paying bills is an added stress you DON'T need as a freshman. If you live on Campus, all those expenses are already taken care of. If you live on Campus, you will even have a Meal Plan so you don't have to worry about going grocery shopping to get yourself food. There are a lot of perks for living on campus your freshman year. It's designed to take as much stress off of you as possible. Just food for thought.

This is not a good idea. First of all, it is not to your benefit not to live off-campus your first year. Second, this is a good way of getting expelled. It's not that much cheaper to live off-campus. Dorms at Kent State are about $2,800 per semester. Remember if you get an apartment, you'll need to sign a one-year lease, whether or not you plan to live there for the summer. The apartment that will cost less than You'll have at least two month's rent to pay up front. In addition to rent, you will need to pay for utilities, TV and internet access, and transportation to and from school. All of your school mailings (perhaps even your report card) will go to your parents' house. Your own apartment will not be more fun than staying in a dorm. Any apartment that is cheaper than the dorm (considering all of the additional expenses) is not going to be in the safest of neighborhoods. If you make too much noise, your neighbors will call the police - they have to work the next day. How is that more fun than a dorm where there are lots of other students Are your parents really on board with this?

I think that you should communicate with your dean and your parents and have a meeting about the situation. It is never good to be dishonest (it is not about getting caught, but about your moral integrity). Your dean will definitely work something out for you if you tell him/her your circumstances. And yes, if you are asking, there is a rule for all children under 21 not allowing them to stay off-campus. My advice: Go ahead and talk to the dean of housing, and he/she WILL help you out. They are there to help! :)