College can be a scary experience. You have harder classes than you probably had in high school. Add to that the uncertainty which comes with living away from your parents and it can be tempting to live at home while going to college, particularly if you are going to college in your hometown. If you are considering living at home with your parents while going to college, consider these three benefits of apartment living versus living at home during college.
Independence
No matter how much your parents try to give you your independence, if you’re living with your parents, it’s hard for them to treat you like an adult if you’re living in their home. Even if you no longer have a curfew, often there are certain expectations about when you should be home. If you’re living with your parents, chances are your parents will be worried if you’re not home by a specific time.
Living in an apartment with other college students gives you the freedom to come and go as you please. Depending upon your roommate situation, you may decide it’s best to let your roommates know when you’re leaving for an extended period of time, but even then, it’s not quite the same as feeling like you have to check in with Mom or Dad.
Establish Responsibility
Although having to be responsible might not always sound appealing when you’re in your late teens and early 20s, it can actually be an enjoyable experience. Living in an apartment allows you to make decisions which may affect you financially. If you have to pay for electricity, you may find yourself turning off lights and putting more blankets on your bed rather than turning up the heat. You may make decisions concerning if you really need cable or if you want to buy those new shoes. You are also making bigger decisions about how you are going to decorate your apartment. If it’s unfurnished, you will even make choices about couches, chairs and other furniture. This can be a lot of fun.
Living in an apartment generally requires you to pay monthly bills. If your rent is not paid on time, you might be penalized. Although some apartment leases enable college students to have separate contracts for each occupant, you may also have to work together to split the rent and other bills fairly if they are not already split. Whether you split the bills yourself or it’s done through your lease, this helps teach budgeting, a skill you will appreciate later in your life.
Although it might seem scary at first to think about paying rent and dealing with bills, paying rent while in college helps to establish a rental history. Once you graduate from college, you will appreciate having created a rental history, which will help you when you are searching for your first post-college apartment or home. Even if you pay Mom or Dad “rent” while living at home, you will not be establishing a rental history.
Involvement in College Life
Apartment living is the best mix of the socialization of dorm living without having to share your bathroom with twenty other people. Generally, if you are living in an apartment while going to college, the apartment is near campus, and your roommates as well as many of your neighbors are also college students. Whether you need help with a difficult assignment or you just want to have fun with a few friends, there is someone nearby to help you.
With campus nearby, you can also be on campus within minutes. Whether you need to do a group project, study in the library or visit with a professor, you have easy access to campus if you’re living in a nearby apartment. This also gives you better opportunities to be involved in clubs, intramural sports and other activities offered by your university.
Sometimes students living at home do not realize how much they are missing out on the socialization aspect of college.
Of course, there are a variety of other reasons why living in an apartment might be a better choice than living with your parents, even when your family lives near campus. Whether you’re a college student or you have already graduated from college, what have you found to be the best aspect of apartment living, or what do you look forward to the most about living in an apartment? Let us know about your experiences in the comment section below.
Equal Housing Opportunity
