As a college student, I'd say it all depends on your situation. I'm just going to keep it to two balls until I know I can support more. You have to remember that on top of text books and tuition and living expenses you'll have to pay for food and vet bills. Thankfully, snakes don't really get expensive until they're sick. I'd consider them one of the lower maintenance pets as far as I'm concerned. At least they're less work than my fancy goldfish were xD Geckos require more room, so I'm not so sure about that. But hey, live off campus and cheaply, you should be fine