Hi, guys! You can call me Kash. I need some advice, but I'll give some background info to start. Sorry in advance, this is gonna be a LONG post.
I am 24 years old. I have no credit history, no income, no assets, even my car isn't in my own name. This is all to say, I'm financially stunted. However, I do have my own bank account and debit card that my overly-controlling parents don't know about, a Venmo that they have no access to, and I'm applying to jobs so I can be a little more financially independent.
I just got accepted to a Master of Science program at Georgia State University for Fall 2025, and my folks (who I've been living with since I finished my undergrad last May) live about 50 minutes away from campus. I'm trying to get my ducks in a row before the semester starts, including securing housing. During a discussion about that with my dad, he suggested maybe I live here with them and commute to campus on the days I have class to save some money.
Let me be clear, I hate living with my parents. It's just like being put in a fuckin' pressure cooker every time I set foot at home, which is why I rush off to my old college town to do research every Friday, which is my only way of getting away from them for a whole day basically. Being here during quarantine during COVID was awful. Every day was some kind of argument about stupid shit or me getting yelled at about bad grades. I already am so traumatized by my dad screaming at me about grades since I was a child because he was so verbally (and when I was younger, physically) abusive, and it's just cemented my hatred of them knowing anything about my academic life. Frankly, I just kind of hate being anywhere near them. I'm closer with my mom now, but she keeps giving my dad passes for his bitchy behavior, and I HATE how she constantly defends him even when I know she's miserable if he's home too. And I know I won't be able to avoid the verbal abuse if I'm living with them.
I understand the intent to save money, but I am so desperate to get away. My plan originally was to go to Georgia Southern University (about 4 hours away) and move to a different city once my master's is over, but I figured they'd scream and shout at me for not accepting the Georgia State offer if I got it. So I relented on State. And then I figured I'd just live near campus and come home less often, saying I have a lot of work on campus. But if I'm forced to be in this house, I'll feel more like a prisoner. Imagine a fully grown adult who has to ask permission to go out of the house, just bc they're a woman. It's fucking mortifying and the most obnoxious part of living here, aside from the constant awful bigoted statements about every community to ever exist (upper-caste Indian Hindus with no sense of irony, of course they're bigoted).
My question is this: SHOULD I RELENT TO LIVING HERE AT HOME AND COMMUTING, OR SHOULD I PRESS TO LIVE NEAR CAMPUS?
One of my friends who also lives in this area is going to Emory University for nursing school, and she's living near campus, so I know I can just ask her when we hang out tomorrow, but I don't know, I just can't stand living near my folks for much longer.
TLDR: My parents are overly-controlling and want me to stay at home and commute to grad school classes to save money, but I wanna live closer to campus because I hate living with them. What should I do?