I did read the whole post. No mention of college schedules; I suspect he had difficulty finding work because he waited 'til mid-May when his classes ended -- by that point, summer jobs would all be snapped up.If you read the whole post, you'd see that DS was available to work for June and July. He got home from school mid May and began seeking employment. He had to return by the first week of August to be available for orientations, etc. on campus. Classes begin the 3rd week of August. Essentially 8 weeks at home.
That's rough when employers only offer a small number of hours. A couple times during college I found myself in such situations, and -- because I NEEDED the job -- I always used the time to look for another job.Cracker Barrel job gave him only 12 to 15 hours at most per week at $7.75 less taxes. By the time they put him on the schedule, it was the first week of June. They paid him on a prepaid debit card. Not a check but a debit card that was difficult to access to put $ in his savings account or pay other bills from. He was very willing to work many more hours, but was not given them.
My girls -- one has been out of college two years, the other is a college junior -- have never had any problem finding part-time jobs in our hometown or in their college town. They've both had their choice of summer jobs, and they've been called with the question, "Would you like to work over Thanksgiving Break? How about Christmas Break?"
Good for him -- his expenses are low. However, he could do the same thing in his hometown, if he started looking earlier. Of course, that might mean losing the college-town job.The rent for his apartment at college shared with 2 others is $350 per month. Utilities are about $75. Food is about $100 for him. Because he's not looking for a job, there's no lag time. He can work all of May, June, July and August and beyond. This job will allow him to work 20 to 25 or more hours per week depending on who wants off when. He makes tips and earns an average of $10 per hour. That's $200 per week-$800 per month. His basic expenses are $525. He'll come out way ahead of Cracker Barrel at this job and gets paid by direct deposit into his own checking account to spend the money wherever and however he needs to. He's also talked about picking up a second job this summer in his college town as kids do leave and there are more summer openings there than in our local area.
Lots of students sub-let their apartments over the summer. My nursing-major daughter was required to take an only-offered-in-summer class, and she sub-let from a friend who was going home for the summer. Worked out well for both. It's a common thing.He'd have to maintain his rent for June and July if he came home to keep the apartment for the next school year anyway. So, yes it does add up for him to stay in his college town. If he came home, he'd lose the apartment and have to start over with utility deposits, storage for his stuff for the summer or hauling it home.
I think this varies from college town to college town. All the apartments (or at least most) in my daughters' college town operate as you say: The landlord gives each roommate a separate lease, and if Roommate A leaves mid semester (which can happen -- even the best of students can get sick, for example), Roommate B is only responsible for his own rent. Of course, the other side of that coin is that the apartment complex is also free to move a complete stranger into Roommate A's room -- or to force Roommate B to move to another apartment.That’s nice the landlord gives each their own lease. That would be my concern about off campus housing. My son is a sophomore and hopes to be an RA in the fall because we feel campus housing works best for him. He doesn’t really know anyone he would want to share an apartment with and if he moved in with strangers it would be risky.
My coworkers and friends who have college-aged kids say it isn't this way near all colleges.
This hasn't been my daughters' experience ... and it isn't what I hear from my friends and coworkers of their college-aged kids.Gone are the days where they call you in for an interview and then ask if you can start tomorrow. It takes forever to process applicants to bring them on to work.