You should live off campus while you’re an undergrad in college.
Whether you’re first setting foot in college or a returning senior, one of the big decisions we usually have to make at some point in our college career is whether to live on or off campus. While it seems that underclassmen tend to stay on campus and upperclassmen may be more inclined to get off, it’s undoubtedly an important decision.
There are incredible upsides to each–but from my experiences, here are the top five reasons to live off campus:
Food
If you’re one of the lucky ones who happens to live in a campus dorm where a kitchen is available, congrats! But is it everything you hoped for? Do you often times have to wait for the person in front of you who is baking cookies for his/her club? Or the other person having trouble boiling water as they try to cook ramen?
As a commuter, you’ll always have access to your own kitchen. You won’t have to worry about going to your local dining hall or waiting to use the oven in an on campus kitchen. Instead, you can bring out your inner-Martha Stewart and cook yourself something delicious (well, at least you can try).
As a bonus, you might be closer to local restaurants. This sometimes makes life a lot easier, especially when you’re looking to go out for a friend’s birthday or treat yourself.
Freedom
When living off campus, you’ll never have to be supervised by the infamous RAs or cater to a random roommate. Whatever you do in your house is your business.
Want to watch a movie? No need to worry about your suitemates who have six friends over tonight. Want to go to bed early? Don’t worry about your roommate, who comes home at 1 a.m. as the wind from an open window slams your door shut.
Living off campus can truly be liberating! There is basically no one to tell you how you can act or what time you should be home. It’s your life–live it!
Adult life experiences
Living off campus provides students with the opportunity to become an adult.
I think off campus students have many more responsibilities than most on campus students; besides the work they have for school, off campus students are usually responsible for paying their monthly rent, cooking, cleaning, and taking care of other financial matters regarding their living space.
This truly gives students a chance to be welcomed into the real world. With this new experience they will be prepared to rely on no one but themselves.
Bonding experiences
Living off campus gives you that alone time with friends that you may not have on campus because of residence hall separation.
There’s nothing better than staying up late having a random conversation with a person you thought you would have never gotten along with. Having the chance to experience these one-on-one moments with people can lead to much stronger bonds in the future.
Also, you get the opportunity to meet and network with non-student residents who could teach you new things you might not have known! Meeting others and learning about the area that you live in can be one of the most gratifying things you’ve ever done in your life!
Alone time
Having a designated area that is all yours is perfect for much-needed seclusion from time-to-time and studying for your biggest tests.
As some may know, college can be a little stressful. Sometimes, all a person wants is a little alone time. Having your own room that you can escape to isn’t always available to students who live on campus.
Your own place can also be a great location for studying! While the library is usually the ideal location to write that 15-page research paper or cram for your test next weekend, you might find yourself more productive at your own desk in your own space.
OTHER SIDE: The Benefits of Living On Campus During College
Top photo: Boston Commonwealth Avenue on Wikipedia
You made a good point that having quality time with friends is one of the best reason to live outside of the campus when taking college courses. I’m currently planning to take a second degree soon in order to expand my resume. Perhaps living in a loft apartment would be a fun experience since I’ve never lived in apartment before.
I think students who don’t live on campus at least their freshman year really miss out, but at least for me, by the end of sophomore year I was really tired of communal living. I was tired of sharing a room with someone, I was tired of not having access to a kitchen and being at the mercy of school dining hall and then fraternity house cooks. I was tired of one person on my hall getting a nasty cold or flu meaning only a matter of days before I and everyone else on the floor was sick. I was tired of prank fire alarms. I was tired of being kept awake at midnight on a Tuesday night by morons in the rec room screaming like they just won the World Cup every time they scored a point on the foosball table. Apartment living in college was a nice transition to prepare me for life after college.
Off-campus housing indeed gives a lot of responsibilities. Sometimes, it may be a bit more difficult to find the apartment, but anyway, with the vast variety of platforms like https://rentberry.com/ or craigslist, a modern student should not have any issues.
I appreciate what you said about how living off campus can offer college students an idea of the real world and adult life. My daughter is going off to college soon and I think that she should rent an apartment off campus so that she can be more out on her own and not have RAs or other rules to follow. We will have to look around the area for a good apartment. Thanks again for all your advice about living off campus.
I smiled reading your comment.
Have you tried checking at the advantages of staying in school hostel too?
is it worth it if my university is 1 hr far
I like how you mentioned that being able to live off-campus can train our children to be quite the adults since they’ll be able to learn how to cook for food, have the freedom to learn more about responsibility, and have their much-desired privacy. That should be perfect since I trust that I’ve managed to do my part for my twins and now is the time for them to leave the nest. I just hope that I gave them enough guidance for them to be a responsible and worthy addition to the society. I’ll be sure to grant them their wish of freedom upon their graduation from high school. Thanks!
It’s nice how you mentioned that by living off campus you get the opportunity to do what you want without having to worry about roommates or RAs. My son is going to move to college soon and he’s really excited to have this kind of experience. We just hope that he can find a good place to live!
http://www.ucclermont.edu/
Yeah, absolutely right! These are the main reasons for which university students prefer to live off campus. One of the main reasons from them is freedom. Mostly students leave dorms & move in to off campus so that they can get freedom & there will no one to supervise them.
By choosing off campus housing, students will get lots of benefits like independence, privacy, more space, fewer expenses, fewer distractions, healthy eating, roommate matching, parking& many more. That’s why average of off campus living is increasing day by day.
Well Said. I would also recommend the students to live in off campus. Because of freedom,privacy and also they are extended to their friendship circles.
Very good post. thanks for sharing
I really appreciate this! Helps me not regret my decision of living off campus!
Hi! May I share your post on my company facebook page?
Absolutely!