To live on campus or off...

Juste Goose

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Aug 1, 2013
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After two-and-a-half years of diligent work at my local community college, I made it into my first choice school. Yay! Now comes but one of many difficult decisions: living on campus or off.

On the one hand, I've been living by myself in an apartment for a couple of years now. A lot of my older friends say that it'd be awful to go from total freedom to dorm living.

On the other hand, I have trouble meeting and talking to people. My sister also started college (as a freshman) this past semester, and she has a ton of close friends already. She told me the if she didn't live in the dorms, she wouldn't have nearly any of the friends she does now. The dorm setting is just very conducive to meeting and bonding with people.

Back on the other hand, I do love my video games, and I couldn't really bring my collection to a dormitory, as there's a good chance some/most of it would be stolen at some point. But back on the other hand, I'd have to live some place cheap if I went off campus, and cheap dwellings can mean high crime.

So, those of you who are/have been in college, which situation do/did you have? If you had a year or two of both, which did you prefer? Any success/horror stories from either side?
 

sneakypenguin

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Off is nicer imo. Though as an upperclassman you might get the "good" dorms. Our at UT ranged from molding non AC buildings in the middle of nowhere to state of the art luxury dorms connected to the TRECS (massive gym n pool facilities) and next to stadium, and most of campus.


Honestly i'd live off you still get to meet way more people than you want too, w/ the added benefit of more than 300 square feet of living space, private bathrooms etc.
 

Scarim Coral

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Oct 29, 2010
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I would suggest you do some background on the town/ city you going to be living unless you're already familiar with it. What I'm getting at is just how safe the town/ city you're in.

I attended the same University as my bro (not at the same time and we attended different courses) and while the city life was fantastic but I wouldn't say the place was safe especially at night.

My brother went off campus for the second year and during that year some jerk actually broke down the door in the place he was staying in! Don't worry nothing bad happen since once the person seen some people were in fact inside (he/ she must of thought it was empty for him/ her to attempt to rob it) he/ she ran away. In saying so he and a couple of his flatmate end up having to stay up throughout the night guarding the entance due to not having a door anymore (and the landlord was away).

As for me I pretty much lived in campur during the three years attending my courses and nothing really bad happen it breaking in wise altought some thief did break into one of the campus accomdation near the one I was living in during the second year.
 

Weaver

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Apr 28, 2008
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I always recommend doing at least your first term on campus! You meet people, get to experience the "university life" and most importantly, learn to really appreciate what having your own place means :p
 

Heronblade

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Apr 12, 2011
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Unless you have some way to pick who you will be rooming with, and have a good choice for that available, go for off campus. Usually, you can get a overall much better deal anyways.

Moving into a dorm room without any idea what your buddy will be like is a lot like playing Russian roulette. Only in this case, only two chambers are empty.
 

mrm5561

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live on campus at least for your first year. i lived two years on and two off and almost all of my friends i graduated with i met while living in the dorms.
 

DkLnBr

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I'd say off, unless you can pick who you live with. Based on what it's like at my college, for what you'd pay for on campus, you could get a much nicer place elsewhere. Not to say that they're bad, just overpriced.
 

Easton Dark

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Living in a dorm does not mean you make friends. That's up to you, so if you're shy, you're not going to do anything to make friends, making it pointless to be in a shitty dorm.
 

Tahaneira

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Feb 1, 2011
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Living in a dorm is only bearable if you can stand your roommate. In my experience, if you can, then yes, you might make some new friends and get social and possibly scholastic support. If you can't, then you'll be spending as much time out of your dorm as possible and you might as well be living off campus, and it'll be yet another source of stress. If you can't choose who your room with, it's up to you if you want to take that risk.
 

SuperUberBob

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Nov 19, 2008
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Off campus is the way to go.

Girls are way more attracted to a guy in an apartment. Banging a girl in your dorm is like having sex in your mom's house. You have to be sure nobody's around. You have to kick out your friends and siblings if they are in the house to have the place to yourself.
 

MysticSlayer

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Personally, I'd choose on-campus, but bear in mind that I'm attending a university surrounded by an extremely rough neighborhood and the campus is arguably the safest place in the area. Still, having done both, I vastly prefer on-campus, especially since I can walk anywhere (conserves gas), don't have a lengthy commute, and it's easier to keep up with on-campus activities.

Some things to consider when looking at on-campus housing and your options are:
1. What kind of dorms does your college offer? Mine offers three types, each ranging in the level of privacy and number of roommates you have. For me, I have three roommates and we each have our own bedroom, which we are capable of locking on our own, which would be good if you're worried about stuff getting stolen. However, there is the possibility to go up to seven roommates with two to each bedroom (it can get more crowded for freshmen). Basically, look at your options, as they might offer different types with a wide range of privacy options.

2. Check to see if there are any communities on campus. Some colleges have certain communities that take up one of the dorm buildings. This is excellent for meeting like-minded people and, at least at my college, they traditionally get a little more privacy, but it varies from community to community.

3. Bear in mind that your college may force you to take a certain number of credits while living on-campus anyways. Do some research into this.

As far as your gaming is concerned, personally, I've limited myself to handheld gaming, but that's more for space and noise, not because I'm worried about it getting stolen. If you are truly worried about roommates stealing your stuff, try to get in a dorm where you get your own bedroom and make sure to lock it whenever you leave. That's what I did until I determined that my roommates were trustworthy enough for me to leave my door open at times.
 

CriticalMiss

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I went off campus but still in student accommodation for my first year, then went private for the remainder. It was way cheaper to go private, I had more privacy and a lot more freedom. In the UK some Universities rent out the student rooms that are on campus so everyone needs to bugger off during the vacation periods, I was able to stay all year round if I wanted to so I didn't need to haul all of my belongings back home at the end of every term.

It would be best to do some research and find out what the on and off campus options are, then decide what the best things would be for you. You can always meet people and still live off campus, just join some clubs or talk to people on your course. I made more friends from lectures/classes and sports clubs than from my accommodation. Also bear in mind that the internet connection might be a lot shittier in student halls than in a private house/flat, so DRM or multiplayer could be a nightmare.
 

LetalisK

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May 5, 2010
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Off-campus > On-campus

From my experience, on-campus dorms are completely over-priced pieces of shit. Yes, making friends might be easier to make in on-campus housing. Just in the same way it's easier to breed guinea pigs when you basically force them to fuck by locking them in a shoe box together. Or they might eat each other. There are likely to be a metric shit ton of different clubs and activities available to you where you can make more friends than you can shake a stick at and when it's party night, guess where everyone will want to go. The dorms? Fuck no, if one of the friends has a decent off-campus place where you don't have to worry about getting busted for drinking even if you're a legal adult, guess who suddenly becomes Mr. Popular?

The chasm between the two only gets wider when you start considering dating as well.
 

ShrimpMania

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Jan 3, 2012
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I decided to live on campus this semester. I don't like it really. People play loud music fairly often. Starting at 6 a.m. some times. Also loud cursing from people telling others to shut up or turn off music. I have to see shirtless guys walking around too much for my tastes(they are coming from the shower). Public showers takes take some getting used to. Also loud snoring from certain people and people sleeping through their alarms.

On the social side I can't really make up things to talk about past greetings and stuff, so no friends yet. Same goes for my roommate; just greetings.

On the up side I get food every day no matter what. Sure I payed for it but I don't have to cook or go to the store. Great for me since I usually got to eat maybe once a day or not at all at home.

Maybe you should stay off campus but join a club or something at the school.
 

an annoyed writer

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Jun 21, 2012
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I never ever EEEVVVVEERRR want to live on-campus. Between the tiny dorms, the breaches of privacy, and the constant need to move in and move out, honestly it's much safer and more stable to just rent out a nearby apartment and live there for a while.
 

Mr.Cynic88

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Oct 1, 2012
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I started college on-campus, then moved off, and then moved back on-campus for my senior semester when I was 22. Personally, even though I loved on campus living when I was 18-19, after I was a bit older and had experienced living on my own, I hated living on-campus.

Dorms are a nice bridge between leaving your parents house and truly living on your own, but once I experienced actually living on your own, I felt out of place living in the dorms. Dorms tend to be more expensive than living on your own and you have less control of your environment.

Personally, one of my biggest regrets from my senior year of college was living on campus. I felt like they were treating me like a kid when I was past the age of needing to be coddled. I also didn't even make any dorm friends. I made tons when I was 18-19, but being a little older impacts how you interact with dorm people I think.

Also, about the video games -- bring them. What's the point of having a great gaming collection if you don't have access to it? Things can get stolen no matter where you are, and if you can't play your games when you want to, it's like they're stolen anyways.