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What's your cell phone situation in college?

G5Unit

G5Unit

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Apr 3, 2005
2,107
10
I'm calling the cops
I'll be heading off to college this next semester and I am torn between either continuing on my family's AT&T plan for $9.99 a month(plus $30 unlimited family texting), or switching to a carrier like Metro PCS and getting their $40 unlimited(sort of) plan.

For anyone who is currently in college, could you give any suggestions?
 
Suggestions on what, a text is a text right? What does being in college have to do with it?
 
don't get a cell phone. Get a go-phone and leave in it in your car for emergencies.


Life in college will be richer without a cell phone. You'll bond with people on a more meaningful level rather then getting lost in text messages.
 
if your service with at&t works fine at college i'd stick with them. if it's horrible then you should try metro pcs.
 
Are you debating between paying Metro PCS $40 per month or paying your parents $40 per month?

I'd stick with AT&T -- just because it's easiest that way. That's what I did, and I'm happy.
 
BigPrince said:
don't get a cell phone. Get a go-phone and leave in it in your car for emergencies.


Life in college will be richer without a cell phone. You'll bond with people on a more meaningful level rather then getting lost in text messages.
Click to expand...

What the hell are you thinking that you can get by with out a cell in college? While I was there my cell was my only phone and if you wanted to call me at all you had to call my cell phone since I never once used a land line the entire time I was at school. Hell I have not used a land line now for over 7 years.
In 2004-2005 Texas Tech you were required to supply your own phone to use the land line system in the dorm room and in 2005-2006 they no longer even provided a free landline in room any more since it was discovered that like 80-90%+ of the students were cell phone only any how.

I was at Texas Tech from 2003-2007 so not that far out. Back then texting was just starting to take off on the college age group. but back to the cell phone part is I would stick with AT&T since more people use it and you get that very lovely M2M. Besides the cost are the same.

As for the unlimited family texting you know you could go cheaper and just go to unlimited texting on your line only for 20 bucks. Cuts your parents off from free text messages but does become a little cheaper for you.
 
Rodimus Prime said:
What the hell are you thinking that you can get by with out a cell in college? While I was there my cell was my only phone and if you wanted to call me at all you had to call my cell phone since I never once used a land line the entire time I was at school. Hell I have not used a land line now for over 7 years.
Click to expand...

I agree, haven't used a land line in an absolute age! Even when I go home for the holidays. Don't see the need for one to be honest. The only benefit is when it comes to calling business/non-residential numbers that charge or would normally be free on a land line...but that's pretty rare anyway. The only reason I'll be getting a land line next year when I leave halls, is because it comes with the internet!
 
I never said anything about a need for land line.

What do you really need a cell phone for? We now we have email, instant messengers, and skype to communicate with people at home or wherever.

Cell phones have made it difficult to make close college friends. It used to be that your college friends became your friends for life and many of your high school friends would slowly drop out of communication.

Now everyone's looking down at their phones or absorbed in meaningless conversation with everyone but the people around them. Instead of having nice chats in the coffee shop with people, everyone's texting away on their phone.

During the week everyone's making plans with there high school friends from different colleges and on the weekend they leave and meet up somewhere...turning colleges into Ghost towns...
 
What's preventing you from keeping your old friends as well as being friends with your college friends?

I'm sure that a cell phone would only make that easier..:confused:
 
BigPrince said:
Cell phones have made it difficult to make close college friends. It used to be that your college friends became your friends for life and many of your high school friends would slowly drop out of communication.

Now everyone's looking down at their phones or absorbed in meaningless conversation with everyone but the people around them. Instead of having nice chats in the coffee shop with people, everyone's texting away on their phone.
Click to expand...

Dunno where you study, but it's nothing like that around here.
In fact, one thing I've noticed most is how my friends back home are starting to fade away, and my uni friends are becoming my 'main' friends. Could be because I'm 300 miles from home, but I'm still noticing it.

What if you're not at a computer and one of your friends wants to contact you? Cell phones haven't replaced face-to-face interaction...they've simply made long/short distance interaction easier. If I meet up with a friend we're not going to sit opposite and text each other :p
 
Because people are so enthralled by there devices they aren't looking around at who is around them. Next time you get a chance, people sitting around in lounges, or other public areas on a campus are not chatting with each other unless they are studying on a specific subject together almost forcing them together...Many are texting or wasting time on facebook, and more then likely not texting or facebook stalking their college friends...

We are so connected that we almost become disconnected.


This imbalance makes it difficult for one from having a meaningful relationship with both high school and college friends.
 
I'm not saying you don't have college friends because of cell phones, but I think cell phones help prevent the friends you make in college from becoming as significant and meaningful....(EDIT:but not impossible)

I go to college in Northeast PA, and this a phenomenon I witness from many schools throughout our region from central pa where we have Penn State, to Southeast PA, where we have many Philly schools...I happen to go to school in my hometown I observe many people from my hometown come back consistently on the weekends making trips as far as 3-4 hours and I have observed how my college empties out as though we have deployed ever living soul into combat.
 
BigPrince said:
I never said anything about a need for land line.

What do you really need a cell phone for? We now we have email, instant messengers, and skype to communicate with people at home or wherever.

Cell phones have made it difficult to make close college friends. It used to be that your college friends became your friends for life and many of your high school friends would slowly drop out of communication.

Now everyone's looking down at their phones or absorbed in meaningless conversation with everyone but the people around them. Instead of having nice chats in the coffee shop with people, everyone's texting away on their phone.

During the week everyone's making plans with there high school friends from different colleges and on the weekend they leave and meet up somewhere...turning colleges into Ghost towns...
Click to expand...

Um... It sounds like you're attributing your own experiences to the larger society as a whole. And in a large, large percentage of the time, they are not applicable.

You just said you are going to college in your hometown. This right there shows a lack of expanding. Makes me doubt how much worth your theories hold when you speak of "other colleges."
 
BigPrince said:
don't get a cell phone. Get a go-phone and leave in it in your car for emergencies.


Life in college will be richer without a cell phone. You'll bond with people on a more meaningful level rather then getting lost in text messages.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure what this guy is talking about... Without a cell phone in college, I would be totally lost. Just recently, Ive reconnected with an old HS friend through texts. It makes things much easier, you can have this "meaningful" conversation over the period of a day when you have time in between classes, taking a break, whenever you have the time. Its not like a phone call that both people have to be available to talk at a specific time.

Also, I've been in the situation where it would be easier to text a group mate a meeting place (one text to multiple people) but one didnt have texting. Made life difficult for everyone.

My recommendation? Stick with your att plan. I've never had a problem with ATT service where I go to school. As a matter of fact, I have full 3g bars just about everywhere around here I go.
I have never had experience with Metro however...
 
FrankieTDouglas said:
Um... It sounds like you're attributing your own experiences to the larger society as a whole. And in a large, large percentage of the time, they are not applicable.

You just said you are going to college in your hometown. This right there shows a lack of expanding. Makes me doubt how much worth your theories hold when you speak of "other colleges."
Click to expand...

If you have had different experiences I am more then willing listen...I can only provide my experience to the original OP.

I am attributing it to what I have witnessed as a phenomenon where I am and what I have discussed with a variety of other people, some of which agree and some of which disagree.

I am not exactly sure how going to college in my hometown skews this in a negative way for the position I take...so I hope you elaborate on that.
 
BigPrince said:
If you have had different experiences I am more then willing listen...I can only provide my experience to the original OP.

I am attributing it to what I have witnessed as a phenomenon where I am and what I have discussed with a variety of other people, some of which agree and some of which disagree.

I am not exactly sure how going to college in my hometown skews this in a negative way for the position I take...so I hope you elaborate on that.
Click to expand...

Well it skews things a lot to tell you the truth because it allows you to see your home town friends really easily and that distance that separates you all is not a forced issue.

It goes even double for one that is a very heavy commuter school. I am willing to bet that at University of Houston that you would see what you describe more often because it is a very heavy commuter school and a lot of the people do go home on weekends if they do not already drive. As such they get to see their HS friends so those bonds are never weakened by distance.

I went to Texas Tech which is about 600 miles from my home town and people at Texas Tech for a large part are pushing 300+ miles from home as such we start to loss our home town friends and make bonds with people in our dorms, dinning halls or organization we become part of.

While I was their most of my closest friends I met threw a bible study I was part of. I did not form close bonds with a lot of my class mates but instead threw group I was part of. The other group of friends I made was at the dinning hall table and in the dorms. But still my closes was part of the bible study.
 
I guess because I live in my hometown I would see them more often, but even so, they would still be coming home if I wasn't in my hometown...

I do agree that this is probably more prevalent at commuter schools, which my school is.
 
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