Why do people consider students who go away to school but have parents paying for tuition, room, and board to

Question

be so independent? I don't view them as any more independent than the people who choose to live at home once they turn 18(and either work full time or attend school full time or both). sure, they don't have parental supervision, but I don't see how they're financially independent. Also, I'm not saying this is a bad thing, just again, I don't see how it's so much more independent than the ones who live at home.

Answer 1

You're independent socially. If you're living at home, you've got your parents telling you (or at least trying to tell you) when to sleep, eat, how late you can stay out, who can sleep over, parents often mind if you're drinking, smoking pot and skipping class. Many who live at home continue to rely on their parents emotionally much more than those who would be living away from home. Your parents may also control how you spend your money.

When you're living at university whether on campus or not, you've got no one telling you what you can and cannot do, no one cares if you go to class or do your homework unless you start failing, you can have different over night guests every day of the week if you want. You can choose, like many students do, to eat ramen noodles and spend the rest of your grocery money on cigarettes, weed and alcohol.

It doesn't make you financially independent, but it does make you a lot more independent than those who live at home. A lot of students go to college and start discovering who they are and what they want out of life part of this comes from lack of parental intrusion, since many parents just want miniture versions of themselves and tell their children how to think and behave. If you're living away from home, financially independent or not, you can more feely behave however you like.

Besides, like I already said, if you're living away from home, your parents are likely sending you a certain amount of spending money every month. You have the freedom to do with that what you like.

Answer 2

Without parents around, you are really free.  Free to do what you want.  Fee to spend your time as you want.  Actually, the university doesn't care at all if you don't attend classes.  Flunk the exams, they care.  And your parents would insure that you spend your time studying, not on video games or chasing the other s*x.  It is a big test of your focus, your drive, your mental state to live alone at college where you only touch home base occasionally.