Having a car on campus is definitely a privilege. You’re one of the lucky ones, no matter if your car is brand new, a car you saved up for all throughout high school, or a family hand-me-down that has passed through your parents and siblings before ending up in your loving hands. However, with all the advantages, there are a lot of annoyances.

Here are some of the pros and cons of having a car on a college campus.

1. Pro: Freedom to go where you want, when you want

I go to school in the middle of nowhere. That can be a good thing and a bad thing. When it starts to feel stifling, nothing beats taking a drive. I love going to populated towns nearby for good food or just driving around the back country roads when school gets stressful.

2. Con: Your friends thinking that you can take them wherever they want, whenever they want

College is super busy, and finding free time can be a battle in itself. So, having friends ask for rides can become annoying, to say the least. An occasional ride to the grocery store or downtown to the bookstore is totally easy, especially if you have to go too! But, granting favors becomes annoying when it takes you away from things like homework or even just your bed and Netflix.

Not to mention that you'll be stuck as a designated driver a few too many times.

3. Pro: Spontaneous Trips

Taking a trip to the city or a weekend trip home is a great break from campus life.

4. Con: Overwhelming options

Should you go home for a cozy weekend or stay at school for a weekend full of parties and friends? Should you take a trip to visit a friend at their school or go to a concert a few hours from your campus? Having a car opens up options but makes it a little hard to decide what’s best for you at the moment.

5. Pro: Keeping your car clean

High school meant piles of sports equipment, backpacks, papers, and coffee cups in your car. In college, everything you need stays in your dorm room, making your car less of a storage unit.

6. Con: Becoming really worried about getting your car dirty

After move-in day, your car is spotless, and you want to keep it that way. You have to remind people not to eat in your car and not to spill, or to, at least, take their trash with them at the end of the car ride. You never have a real opportunity to wash your car, so you just hope your friends have fairly clean shoes and that they don’t put their feet on the dashboard … but you also don’t want them to think that you’re too much of a clean freak.

7. Pro: Convenience!

Having a car makes everything a little easier. You can drive to lectures, get ice cream downtown, and pick up packages that are too heavy to carry around campus.

8. Con: Inconveniences.

Some schools don't let you have cars freshman year. Other schools make you pay for registration or parking. That parking space you pay for might be a mile away from your dorm. If you go to a school where it snows, you'll have to dig out your car every time you want to go to the grocery store. Super inconvenient.

9. Pro: Driving less often

Gone are the days of driving to and from high school all of the time. Even though you'll have to drive back home for breaks, it's less annoying than having to drive everywhere you need to go. And you'll have to fill up on gas less often!

10. Con: Never getting gas money

Giving all those rides to friends downtown, to the airport or train station, or to anywhere can add up quickly. Somehow your friends can always sneak away without paying for gas money, especially since the rides you give them are only 10 minutes at a time. You should totally share this article on a friends wall who owes you twenty

11. Pro: You'll make a lot of new friends ...

... and hopefully your car isn't part of that equation.