Colleges love money. They love to take your money. That’s something anyone will tell you once coming face-to-face with the five-digit terror, better known as their tuition bill, for the first time. But that’s old news, we all knew that statement would be creeping up on us at any minute after our high school graduation. Something I didn’t consider prior to arriving on campus were the additional costs involved with being a part of the culture.

Do you want to join a club and network? That’ll be a $15 member fee, well, plus all of the business attire you’ll have to purchase for formal events. What about meeting new people on campus and expanding your circles? You should totally join a frat or sorority! That’ll only be a couple extra stacks. You name it, there’s a cost. My concern is that, if you don’t have buckets of extra cash laying around, does your quality of life on campus take a hit? 

Last night at around nine, I was hanging out with one of my friends and asked her if she wanted to order a Domino’s pizza and split the cost. We both hadn’t eaten dinner yet, because it had been a busy day for both of us. She had just spent about five minutes complaining about how hungry she was, so it shocked me when she replied, “Eh, I probably just won’t eat dinner tonight.” I looked at her sideways and that’s when she explained that between having to buy a new dress for her boyfriend’s bid night, ubering back and forth from parties, and paying for food at the all “girl dates” she’s had to go to with sorority sisters, she had spent quite too much money this week. 

Earlier today I FaceTimed another friend. She has recently joined a sorority at the University of Maryland and needed some good ol’ venting therapy. She told me she’s never felt so burnt out (note that this is coming from a good student, who has always had a job, and was a 12 season athlete in high school). Not because of the sorority itself, but due to the new job she shoved into her schedule in order to pay the whopping $2,500 fee. Between work, classes, and sorority events she has found little time for the basic necessities of sleeping and eating. Not to mention the added stress that going to a ‘bar school’ has caused her, being as anytime she wants to go out with friends, it requires spending money. This is the same friend who joked in the texts above that she needs a sugar daddy, but really can you blame her? Desperate times call for desperate measures. 

Lastly, my roommate. She has had a job the entire school year because she has to pay for a portion of her own tuition. In comparison to my other friends, she has prioritized work, grades and her own well-being above her social life, which I truly respect. However, I’ve watched her struggle, passing up on going out to go to work instead, and choosing not to join a sorority in the effort of saving money. She has mentioned to me countless times how she knows she’s making the right decision, but it’s really difficult to sit alone in our dorm room or to rush around serving plates of food while she knows all of her friends as well as all the kids on our floor constantly have exciting events to go to. She only lives 20 minutes away from campus and told me that on certain tough nights like those, she might just go home so she can focus on what she needs to do and not be distracted by the fact that she might be missing out. 

As for me, I’ve seen firsthand the damage that ubering around, ordering late-night meals to my dorm after a sorority event, and purchasing clothes required for themed mixers and formals can do to a bank account. I thought I was good at saving money until college, where some ‘optional’ costs all of a sudden seem very necessary if you want to fit in here. Sure the school does have options that help save money, but when C.R. closes at 8:30, shuttle buses don’t guarantee getting you to your destination on time, and boys under 21 essentially can’t go out unless they join a frat, sometimes a fat check seems like the only way to succeed academically, physically (personal-health wise), and socially without facing tradeoffs. 

I wanted to end this with a positive spin, just because who likes a crappy ending? But in all honesty, just like college likes to take our money, so does the real world. Which looks bleak for us broke college kids, shielding our eyes from the hideous socioeconomic system which awaits us. But here’s what I think the takeaway should be: you can’t do everything, so prioritize, plan, budget, and make the most of what you’ve got. Welcome to ‘adulting’ in America!…or just move to Denmark. I think I might.