STrider, I am also a college student. ACtually I'm graduating in a few months.
My parents are LA Republicans, but I won my dad over to the RKBA side though he's more comfortable without a gun, and my mom would flip out if he had one.
Do you play guitar or golf? If I were you and absolutely had to get a shotgun, I'd find something that were really compact, like with a folding stock, and stow it like in a violin case or something while you were away, even if you can't get to it fast. It's better than nothing. A pistol is easier to hide, but more expensive and I know how college budgets get. I'll assume you're less than 21, so that's out of the question.
I have 2 banjos, 2 guitars, a Dobro, a violin, mandolin, Chinese violin, grandpa's chinese violin and grandpa's electric guitar, so my closet is filled with cases...as well as two spare gigbags for my banjo and guitar. Hiding a somg gun in there is pretty easy as long as it locks. My sister plays a little guitar, so I'd be worried about her peeking in there and finding it if I left it at home. I live off campus so it's no problem.
As a dependent adult, it's difficult to spend $300 without mom and dad noticing. If you absolutely had to, I'd do cash, maybe launder it by pulling out $50 of the ATM every week or so, or pull out $200 or $300 the first week at an ATM for "textbooks" and other "school-related fees" as there are a lot esp at the beginning of the semester. Stash the cash and use some of it for a shotgun. Not telling you to piss your parents off, but if it's that important....
To me, I rather live the risk of being unarmed for a while...the chances of us getting attacked are very low, even in LA (decent neighborhood, Westwood, though UCLA has more crime on campus than USC, so I heard) and the chances of my parents finding/getting pissed are very high.