Student Housing: 5 Reasons to Live Off Campus

One of the biggest decisions college students will make is where they’re going to live. Unfortunately, so many students are overwhelmed by the idea of finding somewhere to live that they immediately jump into on-campus housing, without realizing the ease of finding off-campus apartments.

In an effort to help some frazzled students make a decision on where to live, here are 5 reasons why you should live off campus.

No. 1 Living off campus is cheaper

Many students and their parents assume that living on campus is cheaper than living off campus. After all, when you live in a dorm, you share a tiny room with another person. However, Dorm rooms can run upwards of $900-$1000 a month, while you can find rooms in off-campus apartments in the $400-$700 range. Plus, some people don’t realize that you can use financial aid to pay rent. Whatever money doesn’t go directly to the school comes back to you, including money that would go to paying for a dorm room. You can pay your rent and use the extra for groceries, gas or fun.

No. 2 More Freedom

When you live in on-campus student housing, you’re overseen by a resident assistant (RA). They enforce rules such as who is allowed to spend the night with you, how late you’re allowed to make noise and what you’re allowed to bring into your room. In an off-campus apartment, you’re treated like an adult, not a child. You get your own room and while you shouldn’t be shouting at 3 a.m. for the sake of your roommates, you’re not going to get in trouble for little things like having too many posters covering your walls.

No. 3 You Get Your Own Room

College is stressful. When you’re trying to balance school work, a social life, bills and for some of you, jobs, the last thing you want to deal with is a roommate. Whether you get a weird random roommate or end up with your best friend, you have no privacy in a dorm room. When you live off campus, you will get your own room which means a quiet place to study, relax and some much needed privacy.

No. 4 More Convenient

If you live on campus, you will likely have to deal with a communal bathroom, not having a kitchen and having to walk up and down flights of stairs to get to a laundry room. In an off-campus apartment, you will usually have to share a bathroom with 3-4 people at the most. This means you won’t have to walk past 20 rooms in a towel to get to your room after a shower. You will also have a kitchen to prepare healthy meals, so you don’t waste money and calories eating mediocre dining hall food. Cooking your own meals is a helpful way to avoid the freshman 15, but it’s simply not possible in a college dorm room. You also have the option of finding a place with a washer and dryer hookup so that you don’t have to waddle through the halls with a huge basket of dirty underwear.

No. 5 More Options

On-campus options tend to be pretty scarce, most of the dorms are a 5 minute walk from each other.  When living the off-campus lifestyle, you can pick a location that’s right for you, whether that’s in the middle of a town with lots going on or a great law firm where you’d like to get an internship. You can also pick amenities based on what’s right for your personality and budget. Maybe you want your room poolside or you want internet and cable included in your pricing. Only off-campus housing provides you with the options to tailor your student housing experience to you.

If you decide to live off campus, you can use these helpful tips that will make adjusting to off-campus life easier.

After reading these tips, how do you feel about student housing? Do you think the high price tag of living on campus is really worth it? Why do you want to live off campus? Do you have any experiences with student housing to share with incoming students? Let us know in the comment section below.